Cafe Scientifique Orlando is a gathering of scientifically-inclined people in Central Florida, who meet at a cafe, coffee house, pub, or nonacademic location to discuss events and ideas in the world of science. We enjoy beer and wine, and we use plain language to talk about extraordinary ideas.

Full Title: 
Cleaning Up the Mess: Using Chemistry to Degrade Persistent Pollutants in the Environment
Presenter: 
Geiger, Cherie
When: 
Wednesday, 2 March 2011 - 7:00pm - 8:30pm
Venue: 
Taste
Where: 
Taste
Street:
717 W. Smith Street
City:
Orlando
,
Province:
Florida
Postal Code:
32804
Country:
United States

The chemical industry’s discovery and production of new compounds have led to great improvements in many areas of our lives. However, the effects of these substances on the environment were poorly understood, and they were often assumed to be harmless. Time and much research have shown that not only do some of these chemicals persist in nature but they can also be toxic to many forms of life. Dr Geiger’s presentation will describe the extent of contamination by some of these chemicals and the processes that a team of researchers have used to develop ‘green’ technologies for environmental clean-up.

Dr. Cherie Geiger is an Associate Professor of Chemistry at UCF, and past president of the Florida Academy of Sciences. Among her areas of current research are new catalyst systems for removing and destroying PCBs from painted surfaces, soils, and sediments; catalysts for removing heavy metals from fresh-water and marine soils and sediments; and synthesis of new screening aerosols that don’t harm the environment. She has won several awards in the past two years including: The Federal laboratory Consortium Commercialization Award, NASA Invention of the Year Award, Government Commercialization of the Year Award, Induction into the Space Act Hall of Fame, and Induction as one of the 2007 Intel Environmental Laureates in the Tech Museum of Innovation.

Dr Geiger spoke at Café Scientifique in late 2008.

Slides from talk, opendoc, pdf, powerpoint formats

Past Café Scientifique Events

Race to the Moon 18 November, 2014 - 18:30 downtown library
Good Bacteria 9 September, 2014 - 18:30 downtown library
Marine Ecosystems 8 August, 2014 - 18:30 downtown library
Solar System 7 July, 2014 - 18:30 downtown library
Robotics 6 June, 2014 - 18:30 downtown library
Cloud Computing 13 May, 2014 - 18:30 downtown library
Nanoscience 8 April, 2014 - 18:30 downtown library
Fire Ants 11 March, 2014 - 18:30 downtown library
Food Preservation 5 March, 2014 - 19:00 Eden Bar at...
Marine Mammals 11 February, 2014 - 18:30 downtown library
Bees 14 January, 2014 - 18:30 downtown library
Frankenfood 10 December, 2013 - 18:30 downtown library

Topics We'd Love to See

What are some topics you’d like to have? Tell us in your comments below. See our full schedule to know what we’ve had and plan to have, before adding something new.

Additionally, if you are a scientific expert interested in presenting a topic, please email us.

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