Ion Flux Study Kick-Off
The ion flux study has kicked off and is currently underway! Fairfax Water will be sampling the raw and finished water at the Corbalis Water Treatment Plant, while Virginia Tech is sampling hourly at a manhole immediately upstream of the Cub Run Pump Station. Sampling will continue for approximately two weeks, accounting for various residence times in the system. All samples will be analyzed for chloride, sulfate, sodium, calcium, potassium, and magnesium. From these data, our goal is to isolate the contributions of a variety of sources to the ion loading at the Cub Run Pump Station, including: raw water from the Potomac River, water treatment, households and businesses’ morning and evening activities, and groundwater infiltration.
Congratulations!
Isabel was born July 7th, 2021, at 9 am.
Here she is with proud Papa, co-Principal Investigator, Assistant Professor Jesus Gomez-Velez!
2021-2022 William R. Walker Fellowship Awardee
NSF-GCR, M.S. student, Caitlin Shipman was awarded the Virginia Water Resources Research Center’s William R. Walker Graduate Research Fellow Award. This fellowship supports individuals with work experience who are returning to graduate school to pursue a degree in fields related to water resources. Caitlin graduated from James Madison University in May 2015 with a B.S. in Integrated Science and Technology and a minor in Biology. She then worked at Virginia’s Department of Environmental Quality as a VPDES Permit Writer from December 2015 – January 2021. She is currently pursuing her Master’s in Environmental Science and Engineering at Virginia Tech.
Promotion of Co-Principal Investigator Todd Schenk to Associate Professor with Tenure!
Todd Schenk, a co-Principal Investigator on the project, was recently promoted to Associate Professor with Tenure. Schenk is a faculty member in Virginia Tech’s School of Public & International Affairs and is affiliated with VT’s Fralin Life Sciences Institute, Global Change Center, and Center for Coastal Studies. His work focuses on collaborative governance, particularly in the context of complex environmental policy and planning domains.