Registration for the AIPG MN Section's April 18th, 2023, technical talk is now open online!

The April technical talk is co-hosted by the MN Section of AIPG and the Minnesota Chapter of the Association for Women Geoscientists (AWG MN Chapter)!

The cost is $10 for non-members and $5 for members when registering before April 18th, 2023, before 9:00 AM Central Time. Students may attend free of charge. 

You must register by 9:00 AM Central Time the day of the talk to be sent the login link/information, otherwise check the meeting page or your registration receipt.

As always, non-members and non-geologists are welcome to attend!   

Fees go toward supporting the online meeting platform and the Education Fund. Your contribution to the Education Fund helps support many activities, please see our Giving Back page.

Incorporating Historic Disparities into National Prioritization of Geogenic Constituent Water Quality Studies

Presented by Dr. Melinda L. Erickson (she/her), U.S Geological Survey

Presentation Overview

Water availability depends on water quantity and quality. Geogenic contaminants, including trace metals and radionuclides from geologic sources, are among the most prevalent contaminants limiting water availability in the U.S. and globally. Geogenic contaminants often occur in groundwater due to subsurface water-rock interactions, and typical geologic materials have geogenic concentrations such that dissolution of very small fractions can cause concentrations exceeding drinking water, ecological, and other water use thresholds. Geogenic contaminant mobility can also be affected by human activities such as mining, energy production, irrigation, and pumping practices, but many processes are not well understood and require additional research. Sociodemographic features and how they relate to drinking water sources and water quality information are often overlooked when evaluating, determining, and ranking the merit and benefit of research. Sociodemographic features, data gaps resulting from historical data collection disparities, social vulnerability indices, socioeconomic status, and infrastructure condition/age are examples of environmental justice (EJ) factors. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) is working to quantitatively incorporate and prioritize EJ factors in ranking regional-scale, geogenic-related water availability research priorities. This talk presents the process and results of ranking and prioritizing basins across the contiguous United States considering conventional physical and geochemical variables along with novel EJ variables.

Speaker Biography

Dr. Melinda (Mindy) Erickson, is a research hydrologist in the Upper Midwest Water Science Center (UMid) of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), and an adjunct faculty member of the University of Minnesota. She has been working in the environmental hydrogeology field since 1993. Dr. Erickson’s primary research interests are the geochemistry, fate, and transport of geologic-source (arsenic, manganese) and anthropogenic (nitrate, organics) contaminants in groundwater. She is also a founding and active member of UMid Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility Council and an ad-hoc member of the USGS Environmental Justice Task Force.