Science Cafe Orlando

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