News and Updates

🎤 Eve Leads Water Lead in NJ Schools Session

Eve co-led a session on protecting NJ children from waterborne lead in their schools alongside The Watershed Institute's JoLynn Moloughney and Jersey Water Works' Heather Sorge.

🌍 Jennie Presents on Corrosion (Control) in Small Water Systems

Jennie was a panelist and presented on her ongoing research at the Rural Water Supply Network webinar on rapid corrosion of handpumps, with colleagues from across Europe and Africa.

📊 Seminars on lead in Ghana paper

Sid presented findings from new research on addressing waterborne lead in rural LMIC water systems to the Rural Water Supply Network's Stop the Rot Action Group and Rutgers Department of Human Ecology.

📰 Boston Globe coverage

Article examines why New England schools are enrolling fewer new PhDs this year, including insights from leading researchers on academic careers in STEM.

🌐 Global Lead Free Water side event

Sid participated in a Side Event organized by the Global Lead Free Water Initiative at the UNC Water and Health Conference 2025.

🧪 Charlene leads educational outreach at Chester Expo

Charlene led our efforts at the Lead Free Expo in Chester, PA, to publicize our ongoing study and conduct real-time lead testing for community members.

Funded by NIEHS and Penn Medicine

🔬 Dueling XRFs

The University of Washington RAPID facility sent us their Bruker XRF to conduct a laboratory challenge study. Eve and Charlene ran a between-device comparison with our lab's Vanta XRF.

Funded by NIEHS, Penn Medicine, NSF, and NIH

👥 NJDEP and Paterson Community Engagement on Flooding Project

Eve led our team at the NJ Department of Environmental Protection's Listening session at Eva's Village in Paterson to publicize our ongoing flooding research and recruit participants.

Funded by USGS

📰 Lead in Ontario schools

Article explores how lessons from the Flint Michigan water crisis could help reduce lead in Ontario schools.

📑 New article on addressing lead in rural LMIC water systems

Paper on preventing lead contamination in rural community water systems in low- and middle-income countries published in Groundwater for Sustainable Development.

🎓 UW Disaster Research Response Fellowship

Sid spent the week learning at University of Washington's Disaster Research Response workshop as an IDEAAL DR2 Fellow in Seattle.

🤖 Aanand Presents at NIST AI Workshop

Aanand presented his poster at the 6th NIST Artificial Intelligence for Material Science Workshop in Rockville, MD.

📺 HxA 2025 Conference Panel

Panel discussion: "The Well-intended Perversion of Science" at the Heterodox Academy 2025 Conference.

🔬 Preprint: Lead Leaching from Water System Components

Preprint published on lead leaching from galvanized handpump tanks, leaded brass taps, and stainless-steel alternatives in rural LMIC settings using NSF 61 protocol.

📰 Undark Coverage

Article examining the uncertain and shifting future of PhDs in science, exploring career challenges and institutional changes in academic research.

📊 Charlene and Leyla Present at NJWEA Conference

Charlene and Leyla presented their research poster at the New Jersey Water Environment Association Annual Conference in Atlantic City, NJ.

🏆 Research Assistants Present Posters at Aresty Symposium

Aanand, Bobo, Charlene, Ella, and Leyla presented their research posters at the Aresty Research Symposium at Rutgers University.

📑 New Publication on Legionella Management and Control

Foresight 2035: A perspective on the next decade of research on the management of Legionella spp. in engineered aquatic environments published in FEMS Microbiology Reviews.

📰 New Scientist Coverage on the Nocebo Effect

Article explores how mass nocebo effects spread real symptoms, from headaches to tics, based on recent research including our work on the Flint water crisis.

📻 NPR Coverage

Radio interview discussing Denver Water's progress on replacing lead pipes and exploring why this urgent infrastructure replacement didn't happen sooner.

📰 Detroit News Coverage on New Study on Teacher Perceptions in Flint

Research study fuels discussion about whether teacher views are hurting Flint student learning more than lead exposure itself.

🎤 Columbia and Sorbonne Lead Panel

Joint event between Columbia University and the Sorbonne exploring the evolution of priorities and regulation in reducing lead exposure globally.

📑 New Paper on the Nocebo Effect in Flint

Publication examining a possible nocebo effect in children following the Flint water crisis, using schoolteacher perceptions and neuropsychological evaluations as evidence.