From k.savage at vanderbilt.edu  Thu May 18 12:02:43 2006
From: k.savage at vanderbilt.edu (Kaye Savage)
Date: Thu, 18 May 2006 12:02:43 -0700
Subject: [Healthwksp] Fwd: Call for GSA abstracts: As & related metalloids
Message-ID: <7ee2f3d9ffed7b4a882a57f172bad47b@vanderbilt.edu>

Geology & Health colleagues:

Abhijit Mukherjee (University of Kentucky), Andrea Foster (U.S. 
Geological Survey), Prosun Bhattacharya (Royal Institute of Technology 
[KTH]-Sweden) and I are convening a topical session entitled? 
"Distribution of Arsenic and Related Metalloids in Surface and Ground 
Waters: Controls and Challenges" at the 2006 Annual Meeting of the 
Geological Society of America. The meeting will take place in 
Philadelphia, October 22-25, 2006. This session is co-sponsored by the 
GSA Hydrogeology Division, the GSA Geobiology and Geomicrobiology  
Division, Geology and Health Division, and the Geochemical Society.

Naturally occurring arsenic adversely affects the quality of drinking 
water for millions of people worldwide, and has led to catastrophic 
impacts on human health. A challenging problem in understanding the 
distribution of arsenic and other metalloids in natural environments, 
and in designing effective remediation strategies, stems from the 
variability in concentration and speciation observed over a range of 
temporal and spatial scales. Papers describing field, experimental or 
modeling approaches that address the  interdependent physical, 
geochemical and/or biological processes controlling this heterogeneity 
are encouraged. We also welcome a broad spectrum of other 
contributions, including case histories of contamination, laboratory- 
and field-based studies of arsenic cycling, and possible strategies for 
remediation.

Invited speakers who have agreed to participate include Dr.Yan Zheng 
(Queens College/Columbia University), Dr.Peter Ravenscroft (Cambridge 
University), and Dr. Stephen Peters (Lehigh University).

GSA membership is not required to participate, although members receive 
a discount on the registration fee. Abstracts must be submitted on-line 
at

  	http://gsa.confex.com/gsa/2006AM/top/papers/index.cgi?sessionid=18041

The abstract deadline is July 11; the times and date(s) of the session 
will be determined in early August. Please note that abstracts will be 
subject to review and that a single person cannot be listed as the 
speaker on more than one volunteered abstract, except for poster 
presentations in geoscience education or public policy.

More information about the meeting, including a list of other proposed 
sessions, is at http://www.geosociety.org/meetings/2006/

Feel free to contact me (k.savage at vanderbilt.edu) or my co-conveners 
Abhijit Mukherjee (amukh2 at uky.edu), Andrea Foster (afoster at usgs.gov) or 
Prosun Bhattacharya (prosun at kth.se) if you have any questions. We hope 
you will join us.