Environmental Health Sciences Research Center

University of Iowa College of Public Health

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2020 Distinguished Faculty Lecture coming Dec 2

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The College of Public Health’s Distinguished Faculty Lecture will take place on December 2, 2020, from 12:30-1:30 P.M. This year’s lecture will be given by EHSRC member, Dr. Fred Gerr, and will provide an overview of historical and current occupational injury and illnesses among meat packing plant workers.

Dr. Gerr has served as a professor in the Department of Occupational and Environmental Health for the last 18 years. He has been the director of both the Great Plains Center for Agricultural Health and the Occupational Medicine Residency Training Program in CPH for many years. He has taught Occupational Health Practice, Occupational Medicine, and Interpreting Occupational Health Research. His research focuses on occupational and environmental risk factors for neurological impairment and musculoskeletal disorders. He has made significant contributions in the specialty of occupational and environmental medicine.

2020 CPH Distinguished Faculty Lecture | December 2 at 12:30 P.M.

Join via Zoom (https://uiowa.zoom.us/j/93121351181)

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

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

Challenges to Providing Safe Drinking Water in the Midwest – A Symposium

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On September 21-22, 2017, a statewide symposium was held at Drake University in Des Moines to examine various impediments to providing safe drinking water in the Midwest.  The symposium was co-sponsored by several University of Iowa centers, including the Environmental Health Sciences Research Center (EHSRC), Center for Health Effects of Environmental Contamination (CHEEC), Center for Global and Regional Environmental Research (CGRER), and the UI Public Policy Center.  Partnering organizations included the University of Northern Iowa, Drake University, The Iowa Public Health Association, Iowa League of Cities, the Iowa Association of Water Agencies, the Iowa Environmental Council and the Central Iowa Drinking Water Commission.

Over the course of a day and a half, 13 speakers delivered presentations and participated in panel discussion on subjects such as the Health Impacts of Nitrate in Drinking Water, New Technologies and Approaches for Mitigating Unregulated Contaminants in Drinking Water, Health Impacts from Drinking Water Treatment, New and Emerging Threats, Ordering our Priorities, and Communicating with the Public on Drinking Water Issues.

Approximately 150 people attended the symposium, including water regulators, researchers, state legislators, students, educators, and environmental and public health representatives from across Iowa.

Speakers represented several universities, both in Iowa and nationwide, the National Institutes of Health, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the press, and various water and environmental organizations and agencies.