DURHAM, N.C. – Three doctoral students at 91’s Nicholas School of the Environment will present overviews of their recent research on coal ash at the Duke Environmental Health Scholars Fall Forum, “Health and the Environment in North Carolina” on October 27-28.

Nancy Lauer, Jennifer Harkness and Jessica Brandt will present their work in sessions on Oct. 28.

Avner Vengosh, professor of geochemistry and water quality at the Nicholas School, will also present an overview of his research that day.

The forum, which is open to the public, will take place at the 21c Museum Hotel in Durham. Attendance is free for all students, university faculty members and government employees. A nominal attendance fee will be charged for other members of the public.

In addition to the Oct. 28 session on coal ash, the forum will also feature sessions on the effects of the Clean Smokestacks Act in North Carolina, and the effects of concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs) in the state.

Vengosh will lead off the Oct. 28 coal ash sessions with a presentation on “Overview of Coal Ash Risks” at 8:30 a.m.

Lauer will present on “Radioactivity of Coal Ash” at 8:50.  

Harkness will present “Evidence for Coal Ash Pond Leaking to Water Resources” at 9:10.

Brandt will present “Selenium Ecotoxicology in Freshwater Lakes Receiving Coal Combustion Residual Effluents: A North Carolina Example,” at 9:30.

For a complete forum schedule, including the times of presentations by other speakers associated with Duke and the Nicholas School, go.

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