Science Café: Tree Leaves Monitor Windsor’s Air Pollution

Air pollutants from traffic and industrial sources are strongly correlated with medical conditions such as asthma and diabetes. Deployment of accurate monitoring devices for pollution can be costly and time-consuming, but Alice Grgicak-Mannion is investigating the novel use of tree leaves to track air pollution by heavy metals. In particular, her research employs Littleleaf Linden and Norway Maple leaves as effective air quality monitors for heavy metals near roads with varying traffic/industrial sources in Windsor, an industrial border city in southwestern Ontario, Canada, sharing the world’s busiest trade route with its industrial neighbour, Detroit, Michigan, U.S. She will discuss her investigations and results during the Science Café at Canada South Science City on Wednesday evening, June 18, 2014.
Alice Grgicak-Mannion, a Windsor native, is the Geospatial Learning Specialist in the Great Lakes Institute for Environmental Research (GLIER) at the University of Windsor. She has been working on geospatial projects for over 18 years and is currently principal investigator (PI) or co-PI on four sponsored research programs.
As usual at Science Cafés, light refreshments will be served and there is no admission charge. The evening is part of a series of Science Cafés – interactive discussions of important science research for the general public – held at 7:30 PM on the third Wednesday of the month from October through June at Canada South Science City, 930 Marion Avenue, Windsor. The series is co-sponsored by the Faculty of Science at the University of Windsor. For a poster and more details, visit www.cssciencecity.com or call (519)-973-3667.