 |
 |
 |
|
||||||
|
|
|||||||
|
||||||||
|
||||||||
|
USGS Eastern Region Workshop on Emerging Issues in Water Quality
Nearly 100 people attended the Workshop on Emerging Issues in Water Quality, which was sponsored by the USGS Eastern Region and held in Orlando, FL, November 26 to 30. The conference was intended for technical personnel of the USGS who are actively pursuing programs involving emerging issues in water quality. The purpose of the workshop was threefold: (1) to bring together experts working on these issues with project personnel, scientists, and managers; (2) to exchange ideas and experiences; and (3) to develop plans for potential collaborative studies between disciplines and programs that address emerging issues in water quality. Ed Oaksford (Assistant District Chief, Tallahassee), Lisa Robbins (Chief Scientist, Center for Coastal Studies, St. Petersburg) and Mike Meyer (Supervisory Geochemist, Water Quality Laboratory, Ocala) gave opening comments. Experts from within the USGS, as well as from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and several universities, presented keynote speeches. Dale Griffin (USGS, St. Petersburg), one of the keynote speakers, spoke on "A Microbiological Survey of Florida's Waters." Christina Kellogg and Chris Reich (USGS, St. Petersburg) also presented papers. Christina spoke on "Marine Recreational Waters: A Bacterial Indicator Study of Pinellas County, Florida, Beaches." (St. Petersburg is located in Pinellas County.) Chris Reich's talk was titled "Sources and Transport of Potentially Contaminated Ground Water to Coral Reef Environments, Florida Keys and Biscayne National Park." Highlights were talks by international water-quality authority Joan Rose from the University of South Florida's St. Petersburg campus and toxic-algae expert JoAnn Burkholder from the Center for Applied Aquatic Ecology in the Biology Department at North Carolina State University, Raleigh. The keynote speeches and research presentations covered a range of environmental contaminants: pathogens, algal toxins, pharmaceuticals, pesticides and their degradates, hormones, and metals. Breakout groups discussed analytical methods, occurrence and fate of these contaminants, source tracking, hydrologic and ecologic effects, and strategies for developing partnerships with stakeholders. These discussions were distilled into content for a Web site, intended to be a crucial resource for both the public and scientists working on water-quality issues. For more information, please visit the conference Web site or contact Mike Meyer (mmeyer@usgs.gov).
|
 |
in this issue:
Sea-Level Rise & Coastal Disasters Water Quality Restoring Louisiana's Coastal Ecosystems  |
|||||||||||||||||
U. S. Department of the Interior | U.S. Geological Survey
previous story
cover story:
