SRP Annual Meeting 2013: UA Takes Wetterhahn Award, and more!
Nov. 28, 2013
Ten students, staff, and faculty from the University of Arizona Superfund Research Program (UA SRP) attended the 2013 National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) SRP Annual Meeting in Baton Rouge, LA from October 14-17, 2013. This national scientific meeting brought together scientists from SRPs across the country. Due to the concurrent government shutdown, we were disappointed to miss our friends from NIEHS and other government agencies, but were able to carry on with the business of understanding health and environmental issues related to hazardous waste.
At the meeting UA SRP graduate trainee Corin Hammond was named the 16th recipient of the Karen Wetterhahn Memorial Award! Each year the NIEHS SRP presents the award to an outstanding scholar to pay tribute to the life and scientific accomplishments of Karen E. Wetterhahn, metals expert and former director of the SRP at Dartmouth College. To date, Hammond is the fifth UA SRP recipient of this award. She received this prestigious honor for her doctoral research on phytostabilization, or using plants to stabilize metals in mining waste sites. Hammond is a graduate student under the guidance of UA SRP investigator Jon Chorover, in the Department of Soil, Water, and Environmental Science at the UA College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. As the Wetterhahn awardee, she will receive support to attend a conference of her choice, as well as an invitation to present at NIEHS. Congratulations, Corin!
The rest of the UA SRP team stayed busy at the meeting as well! Trainee Christopher Olivares served as co-chair of the “Emerging Contaminants and Pollutant Mixtures” scientific session. The “Arsenic and Heavy Metals” scientific session was co-chaired by our Director, Raina Maier, and included a research presentation by trainee Anastasia Sugeng. Community Engagement (CE) coordinator Denise Moreno Ramírez and Research Translation (RT) coordinator Sarah Wilkinson participated in an informative and fun day of pre-meeting RT/CE activities. Wilkinson also gave a presentation at the Administrators’ meeting, on “Creating and distributing a compelling newsletter.” In addition, Hammond, Olivares, Sugeng, Moreno Ramírez, Wilkinson, and trainee Eric Ditzel all presented posters.
We are already looking forward to the 2014 SRP Annual Meeting!