Renowned expert on water-to-air pollution to speak at College of Science J. Mark Sowers Distinguished Lecture Series

The Virginia Tech College of Science’s J. Mark Sowers Distinguished Lecture Series will host a talk on Thursday, Sept. 26, by Kimberly Prather, a member of the National Academy of Sciences and distinguished professor at the University of California San Diego’s Scripps Institute of Oceanography.

Prather, of the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, has researched how water pollutants — previously believed to remain in the water — can turn into aerosols and affect air quality, climate, and health. Once airborne, Prather said, the pollutants can travel great distances and affect ecosystems over wide areas.

“With a large portion of the global population living near and contributing to polluted waterways, understanding these impacts is vital,” Prather said, “as increasing water pollution worldwide poses growing threats to public health and air quality.”

Prather’s lecture is titled:“From Water to Air: How Pollution Impacts Air Quality and Health in Coastal Regions.” Her talk will be 7:30 p.m. in Assembly Hall at Holtzman Alumni Center. The lecture is free and open to the public.

Prather’s talk that evening will cap a day of discussion on the Blacksburg campus about the health of the coastal environment. During the day, the Seale Coastal Zone Observatory will conduct a symposium and workshop on Coastal Studies: Environmental Microplastics Fate and Effects. Prather and Michael F. Hochella  Jr., University Distinguished Professor Emeritus at Virginia Tech, will deliver the keynote addresses.

Prather’s Sowers talk will highlight key findings from over a decade of research by the National Science Foundation's Center for Aerosol Impacts on Chemistry of the Environment, which developed an “ocean-in-the-lab” approach to study how pollutants are released into the atmosphere. This led to the Scripps Ocean-Atmosphere Research Simulator, a facility that simulates waves, winds, temperature, and biological activity to examine sea spray production and gas transfer processes at the air-sea interface.

Building on these lab studies, current research examines how pollution from the Tijuana River and the coastal ocean influences air quality and health. Flowing across the U.S.-Mexico border into the Pacific Ocean near southern San Diego, the Tijuana River serves as a critical case study for understanding how pollutants transfer from water to air, affecting coastal communities and underscoring environmental justice concerns.

The J. Mark Sowers Distinguished Lecture Series in the College of Science at Virginia Tech is a forum for the exchange of new and innovative ideas in scientific fields. The series began in February 2017.

It has attracted national and world-renowned scholars, including a laser physicist, a nanoscientist, an astrophysicist, an applied mathematician, the director of the NASA Astrobiology Institute, and a statistician who specializes in machine learning. Discussions have delved into brain sciences, speech and hearing development, black holes, and more. Generously supported by Mark and Debi Sowers, this series provides opportunities for the university community and general public to interact with and learn from eminent scholars and industry experts.

Sowers is a Richmond-based businessman and developer and longtime supporter of the College of Science. He sponsors the series to share with others his fascination with the sciences.