News

2 scientist collecting ice on Mississippi to sample

| Pratt School of Engineering

Lithium-Ion Batteries Are an Unidentified and Growing Source of PFAS Pollution

Lee Ferguson and colleagues discover that the manufacturing and disposal of lithium ion batteries is a large and growing source of environmental contamination from a sub-class of so-called "forever chemicals"

Lee Ferguson

| Nicholas School of the Environment

The Next Frontier in Forever Chemicals: Environmental Implications of Clean Energy

As the world endeavors to extricate itself from a carbon economy in favor of clean energy, Lee Ferguson is working to shed light on the potential environmental risks posed by bis-perfluoroalkyl sulfonimides, a primary electrolyte in lithium-ion batteries

water sample being collected

| Pratt School of Engineering

Dipping into Sri Lanka’s Rural Wells

Duke researchers implement a large water sampling campaign in rural Sri Lanka, aiming to discover the origins of a cluster of chronic kidney disease cases

Contaminated drinking well water might be the cause for a mysterious kidney disease has been affecting farmers in rural Sri Lanka for decades. (Photo by Dr. Nishad Jayasundara)

| Duke Graduate School

Ph.D. Student Investigating Potential Cause of Mysterious Kidney Disease

Jake Ulrich, a Ph.D. candidate in the Civil and Environmental Engineering department on the Environmental Health Engineering track, has been working to identify potential contaminants in rural Sri Lanka well water that might be related to a mysterious kidney disease.

phone displaying reporting guide

| Duke Graduate School

Ph.D. Student, Graduate School Collaborate on Guide for Reporting Misconducts

The interactive guide, based on the work of Ph.D. candidate Kirsten Overdahl, helps graduate students better understand the options and processes for reporting harassment, discrimination, and other concerns

| Center for Biological Diversity

Plastic Pollution Activist Heads to Washington (Virtually)

Imari Walker Karega joined a panel of advocates and experts to discuss how petrochemical expansion is worsening both pollution and the climate crisis, and what meaningful actions could be taken immediately by the President-elect. The virtual event was sponsored by The Center for Biological…

Chemours Sign (photo credit: Vince Winkel)

| WHQR

CoastLine: Water Contamination By PFAS Still Plagues NC And The Cape Fear Region

PFAS, a class of manmade chemicals in the drinking water supply of the Cape Fear region, are unregulated, likely carcinogenic and otherwise toxic to humans

| Duke Nicholas School of the Environment

New Project Aims to Combat Toxic Power Dynamics and Enhance Equity in PhD Education

Developed with support from the Nicholas School Dean’s Office and the Duke-wide Re-imagining Doctoral Education (RiDE) initiative, a new project empowers and protects students by establishing standards for productive and respectful relationships between students and their faculty advisors,…

car near storm drain

| San Francisco Estuary

Match Points in Stormwater Soup

Regional Monitoring Program (RMP) finds urban stormwater runoff is major source of some less-studied chemicals in San Franciso Bay waters

Imari Walker

| Duke Today

Imari Walker Is on a Mission to Protect Our Health From Microplastics

Imari Walker hosts a YouTube science education series, and she has a message: These microplastics are ubiquitous in our environment, and they have an impact on our health and bodies.

Imari in the lab

| Pratt School of Engineering

Water Bottles: Canceled

CEE PhD student Imari Walker Karega wants the public to understand why environmental engineering research is important to daily life

Japanese medaka fish

| Duke Today

Microplastic Fibers Linked to Respiratory, Reproductive Changes in Fish

Anna Lewis and Lee Ferguson collaborate with Nicholas School colleagues to show that exposure to microplastics causes cellular changes in fish and may disrupt endocrine systems

Ferguson

| Duke Today

What's in North Carolina Drinking Water?

Faculty report on potential contaminants in the state's drinking water—and how they are helping us get a handle on the problem

lecture about water

| Duke Research Blog

Contaminated Drinking Water in Our Backyard

Ferguson and his research team have tested more than 400 sites in North Carolina for PFAS compounds. Efforts were presented at a Duke SciComm Lunch-and-Learn.

flooded building in Robeson

| Environmental Factor, NIEHS News

Researchers respond quickly after Hurricane Florence

After Hurricane Florence devastated southeastern North Carolina, NIEHS grantees hit the ground running to test for contaminants.