“Water in Baltimore & the World: Triumphs and Struggles to Maintain a Clean Water Source”

The world faces critical issues relating to water as the result of human pressures and climate trends. In short, we need to answer the following critical question: how can we provide better prediction and management of water quantity and quality for the sustained health of mankind and ecosystems, now and for future generations? In meeting this challenge, we must think and act both locally and globally. Only integrated and evidence-based approaches will find efficient and sustainable solutions for the diverse array of complex global water problems. This discussion will highlight water resources and needs both domestically and internationally.

Dr. Kellogg Schwab is a Professor in the Department of Environmental Health and Engineering at the Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health and Director of the JHU Water Institute. The Water Institute integrates Hopkins researchers from public health, engineering, chemistry, materials science, medicine, behavior, policy, and economic disciplines to address the critical nexus of water, food, and energy. The goal of this program is to achieve sustainable, scalable solutions for domestic, agricultural, and industrial water challenges. Dr. Schwab’s research laboratory focuses on environmental microbiology and engineering with an emphasis on the fate and transport of chemicals, emerging contaminants and pathogenic microorganisms in water, food, and the environment. Current research projects involve investigating innovative water reuse treatment options as well as improving environmental detection methods for noroviruses (the leading cause of non-bacterial gastroenteritis worldwide). He is also working with Hopkins colleagues to integrate mobile data collection to assess family planning along with water, sanitation and hygiene around the world.