Guy Riefler and John Sabraw
Science Café presents Dr. Guy Riefler and John Sabraw on Wednesday, Oct. 5, at 5 p.m. in the Baker Center Front Room. They will discuss “Acid Mine Drainage: From Environmental Disaster to Art.”
Can sludge be beautiful?
Riefler, Associate Professor of Civil Engineering, has spent the past 10 years perfecting a process to treat acid mine drainage from abandoned mines. As these mines age, they discharge large quantities of harmful heavy metals into the streams of Southeastern Ohio. But simply mitigating the problem wasn’t enough for Riefler. In 2009 he partnered with John Sabraw, Professor of Art, to transform this regional pollution into beauty.
Riefler and Sabraw will discuss acid mine drainage, how its effects might be mitigated, and the creation of art using pigments made from these heavy metals.
As part of the café, the audience will be invited to try their hand at making their own works of art using these pigments.
Café events are free and open to students, faculty and staff. Café Conversations and Science Cafés are both venues for students to share their interests informally during a conversation exchange in a friendly setting. The Science Cafe is hosted by Dr. Sarah Wyatt, Professor of Environmental & Plant Biology and Vice President of the Ohio University Chapter of Sigma Xi. The two series are sponsored by the Ohio University chapter of Sigma Xi and the Office of the Vice President for Research. Find the Science Café on Facebook and Twitter.
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