Next WSSS Meeting:
4:00pm, Friday, Dec 4, 2009
Tufts Institute of the Environment
Miller Hall, rear basement
Medford Campus

"The interdisciplinary nature of the WSSS program was the primary reason I came to Tufts. With an undergraduate degree in biotechnology and an M.S.P.H. in tropical medicine, I specifically looked for a Ph. D. program that would enable me to focus on the diverse challenges facing water resources in tropical regions, particularly in Africa. At Tufts, I’m fortunate to count an immunologist, an epidemiologist, and a professional engineer/water chemist among my advisors as I seek to address the problem of schistosomiasis, a disease caused by a parasitic worm transmitted by water."

- Karen Kosinski, student, Ph.D. candidate in Environmental and Water Resources Engineering

"Many of Boston's buildings are on shaky ground—literally. That's because many of the city's neighborhoods were created out of fill, culminating in the creation of Back Bay by 1890. To keep the buildings from sinking, wooden pilings were driven deep into mud to support them. Those original wooden pilings still survive, but must be covered by groundwater to keep from rotting..."

WSSS Director Rich Vogel is developing a computer model to help the Boston Groundwater Trust, a city agency, understand and manage this problem.

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From Tufts Journal, October 21, 2009

"Jeff Trull is behind the wheel of a massive camper with green curtains and beige carpeting and $140,000 worth of scientific equipment inside. It’s a laboratory on wheels. Each week, he and another Tufts University graduate student, whom he calls his “co-pilot,” drive this RV up and down the streets of Somerville collecting pollution data..."

Jeff Trull and Allison St. Vincent, current WSSS students, were featured on WBUR for their work as part of an air pollution research project that's taking place in this giant RV, which can be seen parked behind Anderson Hall and cruising the streets of Somerville.

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From WBUR Morning Edition, October 19, 2009

"Cholera, an acute diarrheal disease caused by the bacterium Vibrio cholerae, has reemerged as a global killer. Outbreaks typically occur once a year in Africa and Latin America. But in Bangladesh the epidemics occur twice a year -- in the spring and again in the fall.

"Now, researchers from Tufts University, led by Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering Shafiqul Islam, have proposed a link between cholera and fluctuating water levels in the region's three principal rivers -- the Ganges, Brahmaputra and Meghna..."

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From ScienceDaily, November 4, 2009