PEOPLE'S UNIVERSITY- West Virginia Watersheds, Class 1 - Water: The Source of Life

September 04, 2018
7:00pm - 7:00pm

Water issues underlie everything in the natural world, from quality of life and health to economics, politics and culture. Water is common ground for all disciplines. Recognizing its elemental importance to our world, nation and state, West Virginia University founded the Institute of Water Security and Science (IWSS) in 2016, to promote stewardship of water resources. This IWSS presentation will emphasize the ways in which we utilize freshwater and the importance of maintaining clean sources of water. West Virginia is home to over 32,000 miles of streams, and pollutants we put into these streams ultimately impact the drinking water for millions of people across the U.S. How much freshwater exists on planet earth? How many miles of stream in West Virginia have been impacted by various pollutants? Can we remedy polluted waterways? Why is it important for us to clean up and maintain freshwater sources? This presentation will help provide the answers to these questions and emphasize the importance of West Virginia’s water resources.

This presentation by Dr. Elliott Kellner is supported in part by the National Science Foundation under Award Number OIA-1458952.

Dr. Elliott Kellner serves as the Associate Director and Assistant Research Professor in the Institute of Water Science and Security at West Virginia University. Dr. Kellner is a physical hydrologist with 6 years of hydrological field research experience, including watershed hydrology, groundwater hydrology, groundwater modeling, and environmental soil chemistry. Dr. Kellner researches a wide-range of topics related to physical hydrology, hydro-biogeochemistry, and hydroclimate variability. He is interested in the influences of subsurface hydrology on aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems, and the interactions of competing factors (e.g. anthropogenic and climate impacts) contributing to patterns of water quality and quantity.

Academic Credentials

University of Missouri, Columbia, MO       Interdisciplinary Studies                              B.A., 2005

University of Missouri, Columbia, MO       Forestry                                                        M.S., 2013

University of Missouri, Columbia, MO       Natural Resources                                       Ph.D., 2015

The series is organized by the non-profit Capstone Group, Inc. (www.capstonegroupinc.org), in cooperation with the Institute of Water Security and Science at West Virginia University (https://iwss.wvu.edu).

Funding for this series is provided by the Walmart Foundation and its affiliate store in Triadelphia, WV.

Additional support is provided by Ohio County Public Library.