Sept. 21, 2009
UWSP faculty members secure prestigious
National Science Foundation grant
University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point scientists are on their way
toward better means of detecting harmful contaminants in water,
thanks to a nearly half-million dollar grant from the National
Science Foundation.
The grant will allow researchers from UWSP’s Center for Watershed
Science and Education to acquire equipment that can detect a wide
variety of pollutants, such as metals, pharmaceuticals and
pesticides, in water, according to researcher and water quality
specialist Paul McGinley.
The project titled “Acquisition of a Mass Spectrometry Facility for
Research, Education and Outreach on Drinking and Groundwater
Quality” builds on more than 30 years of education, research and
outreach by center staff through UW-Extension, according to
McGinley. While much of the center’s work is for statewide education
and research projects, the center’s laboratory is a working
laboratory in the CNR curriculum, with 20 to 30 student employees
and several classes working in the laboratory each year. The
laboratory tests more than 5,000 drinking water, lake and river
samples each year from throughout Wisconsin.
“The National Science Foundation review panel was enthusiastic about
the center’s combination of college teaching, scientific research
and community education,” said McGinley. “With this new equipment we
will be able to substantially expand our research in drinking water
quality and provide students with important hands-on research
opportunities.”
UWSP faculty members taking part in the project include McGinley,
associate professor of water resources, Bill DeVita, organic
laboratory manager for the center, Richard Stephens, inorganic
laboratory manager for the center, Kevin Masarik, associate outreach
specialist, and George Kraft, director of the center.
“This NSF grant gives us the ability to identify lower levels of
contaminants such as arsenic and mercury and better help people
understand what is in their water,” according to Stephens. The new
equipment will also enable laboratory staff to analyze pollutants
that they previously could not measure.
DeVita, who has been analyzing pollutants in drinking water for more
than 25 years, is planning to use the equipment to test water for
compounds such as pharmaceuticals and personal care products.
“These compounds were not of concern twenty years ago, but are
becoming increasingly important,” said DeVita. “Some of these
chemicals persist in the environment once they leave a treatment
facility or a septic tank.”
McGinley noted, “We know that these compounds can get into water and
that they could still be biologically important. With this grant and
the statewide testing activities of the laboratory we have a unique
opportunity to better understand where and why these pollutants are
found.”
tm/vc/CWSE NSF grant 09
