Concentrations of chloride in surface water have increased substantially since the 1950’s, coinciding with increased application of road salts. NRT trainee Kristy Gutchess has been studying central New York rivers with different land uses to characterize the possible sources of salinity in the rivers. She presented some of her findings in a poster at the recent Syracuse Center of Excellence (COE) Annual Symposium.
The COE hosted its 16th Annual Symposium in late September. The focus of this year’s symposium was “Transforming Design and Energy for a Sustainable and Resilient Future.” In addition to presentations by experts from industry, government, and academia, the symposium featured a student poster competition.
Kristy’s poster had steep competition! A total of 33 students from several academic institutions presented posters in the competition. Judges met with each student for 5-10 minutes to discuss their projects. Posters were further evaluated on content, layout and design.
Kristy earned third place in PhD category. Her poster, entitled Increased salinity in central New York headwater catchments associated with long-term road salt application was co-authored with fellow graduate student Shannon Garvin, SUNY Cortland faculty member Li Jin, EMPOWER Program Director Laura Lautz, former graduate student Xiaoli Zhou, and Kristy’s dissertation advisor Zunli Lu.
For the full story, please see the Syracuse Center of Excellence website (syracusecoe.syr.edu)