Mel Oliven Lecture: What's In Your Water? Featuring Dr. Claire Hruby at Kirkwood Community College

Overview

Join Kirkwood Community College for the 54th Annual Mel Oliven Lecture on Thursday, March 12, from 11:15 a.m. to 12:10 p.m. on Kirkwood's main campus in Cedar Rapids! The lecture will take place in Iowa Hall Room B and is free and open to the public.

This year's lecture features Dr. Claire Hruby, Assistant Professor of Environmental Science and Sustainability at Drake University, presenting, "What's in Your Water? Using Genetic Techniques to Determine Sources of Contamination in Iowa's Recreational Waters."

This presentation focuses on the research done by Dr. Hruby and her team testing for E. coli and using genetic techniques like microbial source tracking to determine the sources of fecal wastes at both beaches and streams. Over the past two years, they have been sampling all over Iowa, including the Little Sioux River in NW Iowa, Catfish Creek and the Maquoketa River in NE Iowa, Lake Darling and the Skunk River in SE Iowa, the East Nishnabotna River in SW Iowa, and within the Des Moines and Raccoon River watersheds in Central Iowa.

Dr. Claire Hruby's passion for water started with annual trips to the Boundary Waters in Minnesota with her family. She received her bachelor's degree in environmental science from Wesleyan University in Connecticut, her master's at Iowa State University in geology, and her Ph.D. at Iowa State in the Ag & Biosystems Engineering Department.

Hruby worked for the Iowa Department of Natural Resources for 20 years, where she coordinated the ambient groundwater monitoring program, tested for pathogens at beaches and PFAS in public water supplies, created interactive maps, evaluated risks posed by manure storage and application, investigated surface and groundwater connections in karst terrain, worked on river restoration planning and source water protection projects, and dabbled in policy-making.

In August 2023, she joined the faculty of Drake University's Environmental Science and Sustainability Department. Her focus at Drake is on soil and water quality monitoring, understanding public health risks, and sustainable water resource planning. Her courses include geology, water resources and policy, soil and water monitoring field methods, hydrogeology, and biogeochemical cycles, and she was recently awarded Teacher of the Year by the Iowa chapter of the Izaak Walton League. When she is not working, you can find Claire kayaking down Beaver Creek, walking her two big sled dogs, salsa dancing, and, of course, continuing the family tradition of visits to the Northwoods!