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SALTON SEA SUMMIT 2024

Advances at the nexus of water, air, and health

October 18th and 19th, 2024
UCR Palm Desert Campus

Saturday Agenda

October 19

8:00 Registration and Breakfast

8:30 Greetings and Welcome

8:45 Friday Recap and Q&A

9:15 Science to Policy Primer

9:30 Keynote: Rep. Raul Ruiz

9:45 Policy and Planning Roundtable

11:30 Community Needs Session

12:45 Lunch

2:00 Projects and Development Session

3:45 Ecology

4:45 Concluding Remarks

Water Session

Friday, 9:00 AM
Moderator: Tim Lyons

  • Background on past and projected water balance

  • Water composition and chemical relationships

  • Ecology of Salton Sea microbiomes

  • Sediment composition
     

Tim Lyons
UCR Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences

Kurt Schwabe
UCR School of Public Policy

9:15-9:35 Water balance in the short and long term

Hoori Ajami
UCR Department of Environmental Sciences

9:15-9:35 Water balance in the short and long term

Caroline Hung
UCR Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences

9:35-9:55 Water column nutrients, oxygen, and sulfur relationships

Linton Freund
UCR Department of Microbiology & Plant Pathology

9:55-10:15 Microbial ecology and ecosystem health of the Salton Sea

Charlie Diamond
UCR Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences

10:15-10:25 Sediment composition: metals, pesticides, and herbicides

Air Session

Friday, 11:00 AM
Moderator: Will Porter

  • Sources and composition of particulate matter around the Salton Sea

  • Drivers of Salton Sea wind and dust events

  • Significance of lake and sea spray mechanisms

  • Connections between dust sources and health outcomes

  • Benefits of indoor air filtration
     

Will Porter
UCR Department of Environmental Sciences

Source-specific health impacts of Salton Sea particulates

Indoor air filtration as an effective PM exposure intervention

Mohammad Sowlat
South Coast AQMD

11:05-11:25 Physico-chemical Characterization of Dust: A Comprehensive Study of Particulate Matter in the Environmental Justice Community of Eastern Coachella Valley

Amato Evan
Scripps Institute of Oceanography/UC San Diego

11:25-11:45 Dust Storms in Southeastern California: Current Insights and Future Challenges

Raymond Leibensperger
Scripps Institute of Oceanography/UC San Diego

11:45-12:05 Mechanisms and Impacts of Lake and Sea Spray Aerosols

Health Session

Friday, 2:00 PM
Moderator: Emma Aronson

  • Patient-centered perspectives on environment and childhood asthma

  • Dust immune impacts

  • The dust lung microbiome

  • Sea water and dust impacts on microbiome and health
     

Emma Aronson
UCR Department of Microbiology & Plant Pathology

Sea water and dust impacts on microbiome and health

Ann Cheney

UCR School of Medicine

2:05-2:25 Patient-centered perspectives on environment and childhood asthma

Conchita Pozar
Community Investigator

2:05-2:25 Patient-centered perspectives on environment and childhood asthma

Keziyah Yisrael
UCR School of Medicine

2:25-2:50 Salton Sea dust bacterial toxins induce severe inflammation

Talyssa Topacio
UCR Department of Microbiology & Plant Pathology

2:50-3:10 Dust lung microbiome impacts

Friday Keynote

Friday, 3:45 PM

Assemblymember Eduardo Garcia
36th California Assembly District

Poster Session

Friday, 4:00 PM

  • One-minute lightning introductions followed by a catered poster session

  1. Thomas Hile, Loma Linda University Health
    Microbial contamination of drinking water from water- dispensers in the Eastern Coachella Valley, California
     

  2. Nathan White, Agess, Inc
    Salton Sea and Laguna Salada Restoration
     

  3. Gev Geshgian, University of Pennsylvania, Mobile Stat Clinic
    Occupational Health Hazards and Surveillance Recommendations
     

  4. Isabel Jorgensen, University of Waterloo
    Who owns the desert lakes of the American West?
     

  5. Michael Davidson, ChucaoTech US
    The efficacy of Nano bubble technology to mitigate eutrophication and high levels of phosphorus and nitrogen compounds of the Salton Sea
     

  6. Keilani Bonis-Ericksen and Camila Bautista, National Audubon Society
    Assessing Suitability for Public Access at the Salton Sea
     

  7. Rick A. Reynolds, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UC San Diego
    Improving Capabilities for Satellite Remote Sensing of Water Quality in the Salton Sea
     

  8. Aydee Palomino, Alianza Coachella Valley, Brown University, Loma Linda University, UCLA
    Salton Sea Communities' Knowledge and Perspectives about Hydrogen Sulfide to Seek Solutions and Answer Research Gaps
     

  9. Miranda Vega-Redeaux, University of California Riverside
    Agua es Vida: Tap water quality and geochemistry in Polanco communities in Coachella Valley
     

  10. Mohammad Sowlat, South Coast AQMD
    Physico-Chemical Characterization of Dust: A Comprehensive Study of Particulate Matter (PM) in the Environmental Justice (EJ) Community of Eastern Coachella Valley (ECV)
     

  11. Samantha Sanborn, U.S. Geological Survey
    Characterization of well depth by well type in the Salton Sea Watershed
     

  12. Jena Herbst, UC San Diego, Scripps Institution of Oceanography
    Lake Spray Aerosols- A Potential Source for Climate and Human Health Concerns
     

  13. Tom Sephton, Sephton Water Technology, Inc.
    Salton Sea VTE-MED Pilot with Geothermal Waste Steam

Science to Policy

Saturday, 9:15 AM

  • Insights and perspectives on the science to policy pipeline

Barry Wallerstein
UCR School of Public Policy

Saturday Keynote

Saturday, 9:30 AM

Congressman Raul Ruiz
California's 25th Congressional District

Policy and Planning

Saturday, 9:45 AM
Moderator: Michael Cohen

  • Perspectives on the science-to-policy pipeline

  • Roundtable discussion on policy and planning needs

Michael Cohen
Pacific Institute

Scott Epstein
South Coast AQMD
9:50-10:00

Ryan Kelley
Imperial County Board of Supervisors
10:00-10:10

Silvia Paz
Alianza Coachella Valley

10:10-10:20

Samantha Arthur
California Natural Resources Agency
10:20-10:30

Jessica Neuwerth
Colorado River Board
10:30-10:40

Community Needs

Saturday, 11:30 AM
Moderator: Laurel Firestone

  • Community perspectives on recent discoveries and needed research priorities

  • ​Findings from community-engaged research efforts

Laurel Firestone
State Water Resources Control Board

Evon Willhoff
California Natural Resources Agency
11:40-11:50

V. Manual Perez
Riverside County Fourth District Supervisor
11:50-12:00

Eric Reyes
Los Amigos de la Comunidad
12:00-12:10

Aydee Palomino
Alianza Coachella Valley
12:10-12:20

Krystal Otworth
Leadership Counsel
12:20-12:30

Projects and Development

Saturday, 2:00 PM
Moderator: Jeremy Brooks

  • Updates on state and local Salton Sea-related actions

  • Lithium Valley Master Plan

Jeremy Brooks
Bureau of Reclamation

Mario Llanos
California Natural Resources Agency
2:07-2:27

Melinda Dorin
California Department of Water Resources
2:07-2:27

Jessica Humes
Imperial Irrigation District
2:27-2:37

Camila Bautista
Audubon Society
2:37-2:47

Patrick O'Dowd
Salton Sea Authority
2:47-2:57

Aelna Sakamoto
Army Corps of Engineers
2:57-3:07

Matthew Valerio
Dudek
3:07-3:22

Ecology

Saturday, 3:45 PM
Moderator: Tim Bradley

  • The ecological importance of the Salton Sea

  • Novel foodwebs

  • Resident and migratory birds

  • Endangered desert pupfish

  • Emergent wetlands

Tim Bradley
UC Irvine

Razia Shafique-Sabir
US Fish and Wildlife
3:57-4:09

Brett Daniels
California Department of Fish and Wildlife
4:09-4:21

Dan Orr
Audubon Society
4:21-4:33

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