Dr. Lex van Geen  will give a talk titled The Unrealized Potential of Field Kits to Reduce Toxic Exposures: Case-studies from Bangladesh (Arsenic in Groundwater) and Peru (Lead in Mine Tailings).

Dr. Alexander (Lex) van Geen is a Lamont Research Professor at the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory and the Associate Director of the Earth Clinic. Dr. van Geen has been with Lamont since 1993, prior to which he was a post-doctoral investigator with the Water Resources Division of the U.S. Geological Survey in Menlo Park, CA. His research interests include: geochemical cycling of trace elements in natural and perturbed environments, particularly redox-sensitive processes affecting metals and metalloids; applications to mine tailings, coastal sediment, estuaries, and groundwater, as well reconstructions of past climate change in nearshore environments; more recent interest in the bridging of disciplines, including the health and social sciences, to address multi-faceted environmental problems. Some of Dr. van Geen's projects include: reconstruction of climate change along the west of coast of the Americas, geochemistry of cadmium and iron in coastal upwelling systems, and mitigation of groundwater arsenic problem in Bangladesh.