michigan water

In the news today: For our first headline of the day focusing on community news, the Spartan Marching Band fosters community through storytelling. For our second headline focusing on city news, Michigan's free-well water testing program runs out of funds. For our final headline focusing on campus news, here is what's happening during MSU's homecoming week.

On this week’s The Sci-Files, your hosts Chelsie and Danny interview Anna Raschke. Anna is a master's student in the MSU Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering department. Anna's lab is called 'Computational-Ecology', meaning they simulate ecology! She is specifically working on modeling the movement of polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) through the Huron River Watershed. PFAS embodies over 4000 different compounds and some have been observed to have toxic effects. Unfortunately, PFAS have been around since the 1950s and are of great use due to their water and oil repelling properties, but have been shown to move through the environment and remain for a long time, which is why they are called "forever chemicals".
So far, the movement and accumulation of the chemicals are not well understood. Anna hopes to develop models to simulate the movement through soil, surface water, and groundwater to help implement effective remediation practices and prevent exposure not only in Michigan, but around the world.
If you’re interested in talking about your MSU research on the radio or nominating a student, please email Chelsie and Danny at scifiles@impact89fm.org. You can ask questions about future episodes here. Check The Sci-Files out on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube! 

On this week’s The Sci-Files, your hosts Chelsie and Danny interview Vanessa, Mary, Greg, and Emma.

Together this team of students conducts research on Per-and Poly-fluoroalkyl Substances (PFASs) at the Center of Diamond and Coating Technologies-Fraunhofer USA. These students are Vanessa Maldonado (2nd year Ph.D. Student in the Department of Chemical Engineering and Material Science), Mary Ensch (3rd year Ph.D. student in Chemical Engineering), Greg Landis (undergraduate student in Chemical Engineering) and Emma Davis (undergraduate student in Environmental Engineering).

PFASs are a group of synthetic chemicals used in a wide variety of products including firefighting foams, non-stick cookware, and water-proof clothing. However, due to their high chemical and thermal stability attributed to the carbon-fluorine bond, PFASs are extremely difficult to degrade and persist in nature. The state of Michigan has identified multiple sources of surface water and groundwater polluted with these compounds.

The aim of the research is to develop electrochemical treatment technologies for different wastewaters containing PFASs, including landfill leachates and wastewater streams from industries using PFASs.

If you’re interested in talking about your MSU research on the radio or nominating a student, please email Chelsie and Danny at scifiles@impact89fm.org. Check The Sci-Files out on Twitter @SciFiles89FM and Facebook!