October, 2016 Presentation

Speaker: Christina Devine, Virginia Tech 

Date: Tuesday, October 18th, 2016

Topic: Flint Michigan Water Crisis

Presentation: Not available

Summary: In April of 2014, the city of Flint, Michigan switched from purchasing water from Detroit, Michigan to treating the Flint River water for potable water. Flint residents immediately noticed issues with their water. However, they were repeatedly told by government officials that their water was safe to drink.  Flint resident LeeAnne Walters, contacted Dr. Marc Edwards and his team at Virginia Tech in late July 2015. The Flint Water Study Team was officially launched in August 2015. Since its launch, the Virginia Tech team has made several trips to Flint to meet with local residents, collect water samples, and learn more about the issue. Lab tests were also performed at the team's labs in Blacksburg Virginia. This presentation will provide an overview of the Virginia Tech Flint Water Study team's efforts combining ethics engineering, citizen science, laboratory experiments, investigative science, and social media to confirm the high lead levels in Flint's water. All results have been posted to: http://flintwaterstudy.org/ 
 
Speaker:  Christina Devine received her bachelor's degree in Engineering Science and Mechanics from Virginia Tech in December 2014. She began working with Dr. Marc Edwards and his research group in the Spring of 2015 as a graduate research assistant in the Civil Engineering department at Virginia Tech. Her main research project is autogenous repair of potable water pipelines through smart precipitation of calcium carbonate. The goal of this project is to find an innovative and in-situ solution to repair the leaks in the pipelines. She has been a member of Virginia Tech's Flint Water Study team since its start in August 2015.