Union kicks off drinking water lecture series

PHOTOGRAPHER: Zachary Matson

A series of four lectures on safe drinking water and environmental justice kicks off Wednesday night at Nott Memorial at Union College.

The series, titled “Get the Lead Out: Safe Drinking Water and Environmental Justice,” is the college’s 20th annual Environmental Science, Policy and Engineering Winter Seminar Series.

The first speaker, Rennsselaer Polytechnic Institute sociologist Michael Mascarenhas, will deliver a lecture on “neoliberal racism” and the tragedy of Flint, Michigan’s lead-contaminated water, according to a Union College release.

Here is a look at the other speakers:

Feb. 1: E. Yvonne Lewis, executive director of Faith Access to Community Economic Development, which provides health services to low-income residents of Flint.

Feb. 8: Kelsey Pieper, a U.S. Department of Agriculture Postdoctoral Fellow researching lead exposure in well water. He is also a member of the Flint Water Study Team.

Feb. 22: Robert A. Bilott, an environmental lawyer who has been involved in contaminated water investigations in Hoosick Falls.