Virginia Tech Flint, Michigan, water crisis research team named ‘Newsmaker of the Year
Members of the VT research team gathers at Dr. Edwards’ home. Dr. Edwards is center front. To his left (right in photo) is the Walters family who contacted him from Flint, Michigan, setting the project in motion.
A research team comprised of three professors (Marc Edwards, PhD; Amy Pruden, PhD; and Joe Falkinham, PhD) and two dozen undergraduate, graduate and post-graduate students at Virginia Tech has been named 2016 VPC Newsmaker of the Year.
The team uncovered high levels of lead in the water in Flint, Michigan, resulting in an international scandal that has made worldwide news and will continue to do so for many years. Four students from the team, Christina Devine, Emily Garner, Anurag Mantha and Siddhartha Roy will accept the award on behalf of the team at the VPC Annual Conference in Winchester on April 14.
VPC’s Newsmaker Award is given annually to a nominee who has made significant news in the past year or throughout their career. This is the first time that a group has won the Newsmaker Award. It is also the first time that the award has been given based on service to an under-represented group.
The Virginia Tech team’s work helped the citizens of Flint, Michigan, where 41 percent of the 100,000 residents live at or below the poverty line. Nearly 60% of the population is African-American, and this troubled city is one of the most dangerous in the U.S., with a crime rate that is seven times higher than average.
Doctoral student William Rhoads examines a pipe removed from the home of Flint resident Nora Carthan. Carthan’s water tested the highest for lead in Flint Water’s August 2015 sampling of 269 homes. (VT photo)
“The Flint Water Crisis revealed the very worst problems in our government, and the very best in people from all walks of life, which included efforts of our team at Virginia Tech,” said Edwards, the research advisor at Virginia Tech. “We were proud to play our part, revealing the nature and scope of the man-made disaster in Flint, and helping to find answers to the humanitarian response.”
After Flint switched its water source two years ago from Lake Huron to Flint River to save money, people began getting sick, but officials denied that anything was wrong. Virginia Tech became involved last April when Lee Anne Walters, a Flint resident and mother of a lead-poisoned child, contacted Edwards. Virginia Tech tested the Walters home and found high levels of lead, but officials brushed off their concerns.
The Virginia Tech students passed out and collected 200 water sample kits in one week to Flint residents. (VT photo)
VT set a plan in motion to help citizens in the best way they knew: with science. Over just four weeks, Flint residents helped them gather and analyze 861 water samples. Their results clearly showed a widespread lead-in-water problem. The team’s findings, combined with data on blood lead levels in Flint children finally prompted city, state and federal officials to declare emergencies in Flint and switch back to Detroit water.
The Flint Water Study Team is comprised of — Principal investigators: Marc Edwards, PhD, the Charles Lunsford Professor with the Virginia Tech Charles E. Via Jr. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering; environmental engineering faculty member and professor Amy Pruden, PhD; Joe Falkinham, PhD, of the Department of Biological Sciences within the Virginia Tech College of Science. Also:
Dr. Edwards speaks to a reporter in Flint, Michigan. (VT photo)
Undergraduate Students: Margaret Carolan, Kim Hughes, Rebecca Jones, Alison Vick
Graduate Students (in alphabetical order): Christina Devine, Emily Garner, Pan Ji, Anurag Mantha, Rebekah Martin, Jake Metch, Victoria Nystrom, Colin Richards, William Rhoads, Siddhartha Roy, Laurel Strom, Owen Strom, Min Tang, Ni “Joyce” Zhu
Post-docs/Research Scientists (in alphabetical order): Drs. Brandi Clark, Dongjuan Dai, Sheldon Masters, Jeffrey Parks, Kelsey Pieper, David “Otto” Schwake, Fei Wang
