Environmental Health Sciences Research Center

University of Iowa College of Public Health

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2019 Iowa Climate Statement Released

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Members of the EHSRC, along with partners from around the state has released the 2019 Iowa Climate Change Statement, focusing on extreme heat and heatwaves.

View the statement document here 

View all of the Iowa Climate Change Statements from previous years here

Dr. Thorne and Dr. Schnoor at a press conference about Iowa Climate Change Statement
Dr. Peter Thorne (left) and Dr. Jerald Schnoor discuss the Iowa Climate Statement 2019 at a news conference Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2019, in Cedar Rapids. (Photo by James Q. Lynch/Gazette Des Moines Bureau)

 

Press Coverage of the Statement

Iowa Public Radio-  Severe Heat Waves Will Likely Threaten Iowa Residents, Workers, Farmers

 

Cedar Rapids Gazette- Iowa scientists, educators warn time running out to combat climate change

Radio Iowa- https://www.radioiowa.com/2019/09/18/iowa-climate-statement-dangerous-heat-events-will-be-more-frequent-and-severe/

 

KCRG TV- https://www.kcrg.com/content/news/Iowa-scientists-warn-about-extreme-heat-more-severe-weather-in-coming-decades-560741611.html

 

Des Moines Register, written by EHSRC Member Dr. Jerry Schnoor –

https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/opinion/columnists/2019/09/16/we-must-act-quickly-minimize-damage-climate-emergency/2346043001/

 

Quad City Times- https://qctimes.com/muscatine/news/local/iowa-scientists-educators-warn-time-running-out-to-combat-climate/article_22905bd6-5f5b-5b5e-b63e-773eb6c02c9a.html

 

 

 

Upcoming events of EHSRC

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We are excited to announce the dates for some of our regular EHSRC programs!

 

Human Toxicology and EHSRC Research Seminars:

Fridays at 10:45 am View info  here 

Research Translation Mini Seminar Series view poster here

Specific Aims Review Meetings:

View info here

All meetings are from 1-2 pm in CPHB room S302.

October 17, 2019

January 9, 2020

February 20, 2020

April 2, 2020

May 15, 2020

June 25, 2020

August 6, 2020

 

Science Cafes:

View here

Fall 2019 dates  are:

September 12- 5 pm in Mt. Vernon

September 17- 7 pm in Fairfield

October 17- 5 pm in Mt. Vernon

October 22- 7 pm in Fairfield

November 14- 5 pm in Mt. Vernon

November 19- 7 pm in Fairfield

University of Iowa Receives $1.07 Million for Water Quality from EPA

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Article by Ashley Murdie
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)

(Lenexa, Kan., Aug. 14, 2019) – Today, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced the University of Iowa will receive a $1.07 million EPA Farmer to Farmer Cooperative Agreement to fund a project that improves water quality, habitat, and environmental education.

The University of Iowa will receive $1,064,926 for its project, “Connecting Rural and Peri-Urban Farmers to Demonstrate and Disseminate Innovative Nutrient and Sediment Reduction Practices.” The university will partner with rural farmers and urban consumers in Johnson and Iowa counties to demonstrate innovative nutrient and sediment reduction practices. To maximize the ability to demonstrate how practices perform through intensive water quality monitoring, this project will focus on oxbow lake restorations, alternative tile intakes, and nitrogen-removing wetlands and ponds. These practices also provide flood storage, which watershed residents have identified as a high priority.

“These Farmer to Farmer grants will promote innovative, market-based solutions for monitoring and improving water quality throughout the Gulf of Mexico watershed,” said EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler. “These grants are an important part of our efforts to support America’s farmers in a manner that strengthens both American agriculture and the protection of our nation’s vital water resources.”

“Farmer to Farmer Cooperative Agreements directly support science and technology-based water quality initiatives needed to protect our watersheds, while also maintaining a vital agricultural economy,” said EPA Region 7 Administrator Jim Gulliford. “Here in Region 7, a combined $3.15 million in funding will support Iowa in the restoration and installation of wetlands, as well as the use of cover crops, to help provide measurable water quality improvement to waterways across Iowa and further downstream in the Gulf of Mexico.”

“The College of Engineering, Iowa Flood Center, and IIHR-Hydroscience & Engineering at the University of Iowa are excited to partner with rural farmers and urban consumers in Johnson and Iowa counties to demonstrate innovative nutrient and sediment reduction practices in Iowa,” said University of Iowa Vice President for Research Marty Scholtz. “This grant recognizes the university’s national leadership in water research. The $1.07 million from EPA will leverage watershed restoration funds from the $97 million Iowa Watershed Approach project to create measurable water quality improvements in stream segments within the Lower Iowa River watershed.”

A ceremony honoring the Iowa recipients took place today at the Iowa State Fair and was led by EPA Region 7 Administrator Gulliford. EPA anticipates awarding seven Gulf of Mexico Division cooperative agreements totaling more than $7.5 million to fund projects that improve water quality, habitat, and environmental education in the Gulf watershed.

EPA Region 7 Administrator Jim Gulliford (center) and Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Mike Naig (fourth from left) pose with 2019 Farmer to Farmer Cooperative Agreement recipients and EPA staff. Pictured, left to right: Danny Wiegand, EPA; Doug Jones, EPA; Jerry Binninger, EPA; Naig, Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship; Gulliford, EPA; Alisha Bower, Practical Farmers of Iowa; Sarah Carlson, Practical Farmers of Iowa; Dr. Craig Just, University of Iowa; Troy Pierce, EPA; and Tripp Boone, EPA.

Background

Since 2018, approximately $9.5 million has been awarded to support novel or innovative agricultural techniques, methods or approaches through EPA’s Farmer to Farmer Cooperative Agreements. These projects support farmer-led and/or farmer-focused organizations with experience implementing programs and demonstration projects through collaboration with farmers. The projects will center around innovative monitoring systems that will measure and report field-scale water and nutrient dynamics to farmers in support of informed crop management decisions. The program supports science and technology-based water quality initiatives needed to protect watersheds while also maintaining a vital agricultural economy.

The Clean Water Act provides authority and resources that are essential to protecting water quality in the Gulf of Mexico and larger Mississippi River Basin. EPA’s regional offices and the Gulf of Mexico Division work with states to continue to maximize the efficiency and utility of water quality monitoring efforts for local managers by coordinating and standardizing state and federal water quality data collection activities in the Gulf region. Enhanced monitoring and research are needed in the Gulf Coast region to make data more readily available.

 

 

See article as posted on EPA website

EHSRC Hosts NIEHS Core Centers Meeting

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On June 19-21, 2019, the Environmental Health Sciences Research Center (EHSRC) hosted the annual meeting of the 23 national NIEHS Core Centers funded to conduct research, training and community engagement in the environmental health sciences.  The meeting is traditionally hosted at one of the Center sites, and this year, the University of Iowa’s EHSRC was selected.

On the evening of June 19, a small delegation of meeting participants from NIEHS and UI toured three local farms – Morning Glory Farms, Broulik Farms and Mallie Farms – to discuss current farming practices in the Midwest.  Following, a community forum which attracted approximately 110 people was held in Mt. Vernon, Iowa, where a series of speakers talked about water quality concerns in the state.

Over the course of the next two days, approximately 200 participants joined the full meetings in the College of Public Health Building, with a social event at Hancher Auditorium on the evening of June 20.

The conference agenda included sessions for the Community Engagement Cores, the Center Administrators, and the scientific community.  Keynote presentations were delivered on the first day by Dr. Jerald Schnoor, UI Department of Engineering on A new paradigm for supplying safe drinking water, and Dr. Detlef Knappe from North Carolina State University on Drinking water contaminants in the Cape Fear watershed. 

Concurrent breakout sessions were held on a variety of topics including Disaster Research Response, Emerging Issues with Pesticides, and Reporting Back Research Results, among others.  Poster sessions featured the research of early stage investigators, and New EHSCC Research was highlighted in a series of lightning presentations on Day 2.  In addition, three presentations and a panel discussion were held on Emerging issues with electronic nicotine delivery systems (E-cigarettes).

NIEHS Director, Dr. Linda Birnbaum delivered a stimulating presentation on perfluoralkyl substances, an emerging class of water pollutants, entitled, PFAS: Emerging but Not New.

  (Article by Nancy Wyland)

Members of the Community Engagements Cores participate in discussion activity during a CEC session.

 

The NIEHS team and EHSRC planning team talks with farmer Donna Warhover at Morning Glory CSA.

 

Community Tour group photo at Broulik Farms.

 

Dr. Edith Parker (Dean of College of Public Health), Dr. Peter Thorne (Director of EHSRC), and Dr. Linda Birnbaum (Director of NIEHS)

For more information on the program and speakers view the meeting booklet here:  EHSCC 2019 Annual Meeting Program Booklet

Community Engagement Core Hosts Environmental Journalism Summit

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The Environmental Health Sciences Research Center (EHSRC) hosted more than 40 journalists, researchers, and students on March 5, 2019, to discuss challenges and opportunities in the field of science communication and environmental reporting. The summit, held at Drake Community Library in Grinnell, Iowa, aimed to increase journalists’ interest in reporting about environmental issues, as well as to help researchers better communicate effectively to general audiences.

Part of the mission of the EHSRC Community Engagement Core is to improve environmental health literacy. Bringing together journalists with environmental health researchers is one way to increase the public access to science. For this event, the EHSRC collaborated with IowaWatch, the UI School of Journalism and Communications, the Center for Health Effects of Environmental Contamination (CHEEC), and the Center for Prairie Studies at Grinnell College.

Speakers included journalists Amy Mayer from Iowa Public Radio and Lyle Muller from IowaWatch along with University of Iowa faculty and researchers from the School of Journalism and Mass Communication and Colleges of Engineering, Medicine, and Public Health. Chris Martin from the Department of Communication Studies and Digital Journalism at the University of Northern Iowa and his daughter, a student journalist from the award-winning Cedar Falls High School newspaper, The Tiger Hi-Line, gave a presentation about engaging high school student journalists in environmental reporting.

Journalists from media outlets across the state participated, including the Dubuque Telegraph-Herald, The Des Moines Register, Estherville News, the Iowa City Press-Citizen, and Iowa Public Radio. A diverse group of students were in attendance as well with representation from the University of Iowa, Iowa State University, Grinnell College, and Muscatine Community College.

The event included panel discussions about science in the media and nitrates in water, hands-on activities about environmental storytelling, and a brainstorming session to generate environmental topics for future reporting. Darrin Thompson, a PhD candidate in occupational and environmental health, discussed his research on neonicotinoids, and Peter Thorne, professor and head of occupational and environmental health and director of the EHSRC, gave a presentation about his experiences as chair of the EPA Science Advisory Board. Participants also engaged in a group literature discussion to comment on real stories that have been published recently in Iowa.

This story is also published on the College of Public Health Website

 

You can view 5 of the sessions from the Environmental Journalism Summit. View them here