In January 2004, Washington, D.C., residents were outraged to learn that hazardous levels of lead had been present in their drinking water supply for several years. Dr. Marc Edwards spent six years investigating the origin and aftermath of this crisis to reveal how local authorities distorted scientific studies to hide the truth.
Edwards will discuss “Lead in Drinking Water and Public Health: A Scientist’s Descent into the Activist Netherworld,” at Missouri University of Science and Technology from 2:15-3:30 p.m. Friday, April 23, in Room 125 Butler-Carlton Civil Engineering Hall, 1401 N. Pine St. The lecture is part of the Stueck Distinguished Lecture Series organized by the Missouri S&T civil, architectural and environmental engineering department.
Edwards is the Lunsford Professor of Civil Engineering at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech), where he teaches and performs research related to environmental engineering. He has received the H.P. Eddy Medal, the Walter Huber Research Prize and the Praxis Award in Professional Ethics.
In 2007, Edwards received the MacArthur Fellowship, or “Genius Award,” given by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, for “playing a vital role in ensuring the safety of drinking water and in exposing deteriorating water-delivery infrastructure in America’s largest cities.” He also testified before Congress about the issue and was dubbed “The Plumbing Professor” by Time Magazine for his investigation.
The Neil and Maurita Stueck Distinguished Lecture Series is made possible by a fund established by Maurita Stueck to bring outside perspectives to Missouri S&T, and to honor her late husband, Neil Stueck, a 1943 civil engineering graduate of the university.