Dr. Guy Riefler
Science Café presents Dr. Guy Riefler discussing “Cleaning up Pollution and Turning It into Paint” on Wednesday, Sept. 18, at 5 p.m. in the Front Room at Baker University Center.
Athens, Ohio is a lush, rural environment surrounded by large swaths of dense forest. But, underneath those hillsides, hundreds of miles of abandoned coal tunnels cut their way through ancient sediments and fossils below those green forests. In some places, those passageways fill with water, exposing these 300-million-year-old rocks to water and oxygen, and triggering an amazing and deadly series of chemical and biological reactions.
In one location, less than 10 miles from the Ohio University campus, 1 million gallons of heavily polluted water pours into Sunday Creek every day. That mine seep deposits more than 4,000 pounds of iron every day into Sunday Creek, the equivalent of junking two cars into the stream every day for the past 40 years.
Over the past decade, Riefler and his collaborators have been developing a new technology that can clean the water as it exits the mine. They are now engaged in designing a $7 million water treatment plant that will collect and process the iron; by creating and selling a paint pigment using the recovered metal, they plan to offset operational costs. If successful, their technology will clean the pollution, restore the stream, create jobs and a new industry out of a prevalent Appalachian waste, and make money in the process.
Riefler, Professor of Civil Engineering at Ohio University. will lead a discussion about the cause and scope of the problem, demonstrate the magic of the chemistry involved in treating the water, display the amazing art produced from these new pigments, and explain the economics of their proposed treatment system.
Science Café events are held on Wednesdays at 5 p.m. in the Front Room at Baker University Center. They are free and open to students, faculty and staff. Science Café is a venue for students to share their interests informally during a conversation exchange in a friendly setting.
The Science Café is hosted by Dr. David Ingram, Professor and Chair of Physics & Astronomy, and Roxanne Malé-Brune, Director of Grant Development and Projects in the Office of the Vice President for Research and Creativity.
Science Café and Café Conversations are sponsored by the Office of Vice President for Research and Creativity and the Ohio University Chapter of Sigma Xi.
Fall 2019 Science Café & Café Conversations
Sept. 18: Guy Riefler, Professor, Civil Engineering, “Cleaning up Pollution by Turing It into Paint,” A&S TV
Sept. 25: Felipe Aros-Vera, Assistant Professor, Industrial and Systems Engineering, I”Interconnected Networked Societies: The Good, The Bad, The Ugly,” A&S TV
Oct. 2: Rebekah Crawford, Visiting Professor, Social and Public Health
Oct. 16: Shiyong Wu Professor, Chemistry & Biochemistry and Director, Edison Biotechnology Institute
Oct. 30: Shannon Nicks, Assistant Professor, Social and Public Health
Nov. 13: Deb McAvoy, Professor, Civil Engineering
Dec. 4: Cory Cronin, Assistant Professor, Social and Public Health
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