Wednesday Nite at the Lab
press release: For the fall semester, WN@TL goes hybrid both with Zoom and with in-person (Room 1111) presentations. The zoom registration link is still go.wisc.edu/240r59. You can also watch a live web stream at biotech.wisc.edu/webcams
On June 22: "Geologic Mapping for Predicting Groundwater Contamination," by Eric Stewart
Dissolved arsenic in private drinking water wells remains an important problem for many Wisconsin residents. Arsenic is a known carcinogen that can lead to various cancers. While release mechanisms and sources of arsenic have been well studied in parts of northeastern Wisconsin, less work has been done to the south in Fond du Lac and Dodge counties. Additionally, the role of bedrock folding, fracturing, and faulting has not been systematically studied to determine if a link to arsenic detection probability exists.
This talk will describe the various causes of arsenic contamination in groundwater wells in eastern Wisconsin, as well as ongoing work to try to model risk and potential solutions. Using geologic maps as the foundation, this talk will describe the process of identifying and quantifying statistically significant variables that influence arsenic detection in wells. It will also cover modeling efforts to determine how casing requirements on groundwater wells might help reduce risk.
Bio: Eric studies the Precambrian to the Paleozoic history of bedrock folds, faults, and fractures in Wisconsin, and how these structures affect Wisconsin’s natural resources today. Most of his research is based on the construction of geologic maps. He uses new geologic mapping to solve problems in the geosciences from the plate tectonics scale (such as how subduction zones initiate) to the local scale (e.g. the probability of detecting arsenic across a township). He has worked at the Wisconsin Geological and Natural History Survey since 2019.
Explore More: https://wgnhs.wisc.edu/