Dartmouth Research Translation Core (RTC) Coordinator Laurie Rardin and partners from NHDES (Department of Environmental Services) and NHDHHS (Department of Health and Human Resources) Public Health Lab presented a program on private well testing as part of their ongoing outreach efforts to connect with NH communities about the need to test and treat private well water for arsenic and other contaminants. The August 13 presentation in Fitzwilliam, NH, which relies almost entirely on private drinking water wells, had 60 people in attendance. The audience had many questions, ranging from why should we be concerned about cancer risk, to who can I contact for help and how do I access the Be Well Informed online tool. At least 60 test kits were distributed.

SRP researcher and Project 2 Co-Leader Mary Lou Guerinot, Ph.D., gave a seminar at the American Society of Plant Biologists
August 3-7 Annual Meeting as recipient of the Society’s 2018 Stephen Hales Prize. Her talk, “Micronutrient Dynamics: From the Soil to the Seed”, which was attended by more than 1000 people, focused on regulation of iron uptake from the soil and the role of vacuolar transporters in storing iron and manganese in seeds.

Dartmouth SRP Director and Project 2 Leader Celia Chen, Ph.D., was interviewed for a WBUR story on a recent study in Nature that suggests that rising seawater temperatures could cause mercury concentrations to rise in fish. According to Dr. Chen, relaxing mercury rules in the US could also effect this scenario. “If we don’t reduce mercury emissions we are going to end up having more mercury in our fish.”

The July 6-11  MDI Biological Laboratory Applied Bioinformatics Course, co-directed by Dartmouth SRP researcher Bruce Stanton, was attended by 31 students from more than 15 institutions, including Dartmouth. The course provided intensive hands-on experience in bioinformatics, with a focus on gene expression analysis with RNA sequencing. Highlights included consultation clinics to help students incorporate bioinformatics into their own research and data, group exercises to practice skills, and a lobster bake. Dartmouth SRP Trainee Cecilia Gutierrez Perez was a TA in the course. As a TA, she “…was able to assist faculty with students and expand my Bioinformatic expertise. Having taken the course last year, helping this year was instrumental in my development as a scientist. I was able to refresh the skills previously learned and to learn by teaching others.”

“Is There Arsenic in Your Drinking Water?” was the subject of an MDI Biological Laboratory Science Café held on July 8. The successful program was attended by 82 people, including four representatives of the Environmental Health Strategy Center in Portland, ME. Presentations were delivered by Jane E. Disney, senior staff scientist and director of education at MDIBL, and Bruce Stanton, a professor of microbiology and immunology at Dartmouth’s Geisel School of Medicine and the former director and current project leader of the Dartmouth Toxic Metals Superfund Research Program and a visiting scientist at MDIBL.

Our Community Engagement Core leader, Anna Adachi-Mejia, PhD, gave a presentation for 52 participants on Photovoice as a tool to engage community members’ perspectives, for the July 11 NIEHS SRP Community Engagement and Research Translation monthly webinar. She briefly explained the philosophy behind this technique, how it can be applied to community engagement work within the SRP and showed examples of her work using Photovoice with communities in New Hampshire and beyond. Anna answered multiple questions and is providing an opportunity for SRP team members to be part of a Photovoice working group going forward.