The Cal State Long Beach College of Natural Science and Mathematics (CNSM) Fellows Colloquium Dean’s Breakfast will be hosting a speech on “Sex, Drugs, and Radical Chemistry Wednesday.
According to their Web site, the CNSM Fellows program consists of a group of people and companies that provide funding for the CNSM programs here at CSULB. Some of the members include the American Chemical Society, the California Wellness Foundation, and the Boeing Company.
The speakers will be CSULB professor of biological sciences Kevin Kelley and professor of chemistry and biology Stephen Mezyk. Their discussion will center around the effects that pharmaceuticals and personal care products have on our water supply, even after being treated at water treatment facilities. Solutions for dealing with these lingering pollutants will be the main topic of discussion.
Kelley is an endocrinologist in the CSULB department of biological sciences, and received his doctorate from UC Berkeley. He will address the effects of contaminants on our wildlife, and how they have disrupted the endocrine systems of fish in affected areas.
One example is the development of female characteristics by some male fish as a result of an overabundance of estrogens in the ecosystem resulting from improper disposal of pharmaceuticals like birth control products.
Mezyk’s area of expertise is physical chemistry, water remediation (the treatment of water
to remove environmentally harmful substances), cancer and atmospheric zone depletion.
He received his doctorate from the University of Melbourne, Australia.
His research, according to the CSULB Web site, deals mainly with the examination of “free radical” molecules and how they relate to the development of cancer in living things.
According to his profile, Mezyk will be his research on, “the removal of dangerous chemicals from drinking water…[through the] use of oxidizing hydroxyl radicals and reducing hydrated electrons to destroy unwanted chemicals in drinking water…currently our investigations are focused upon the removal of different classes of carcinogens, pharmaceuticals, pesticides/herbicides, and their residues.”
The Fellows Colloquium Dean’s Breakfast Briefing is free for Fellows members and CNSM students, and $25 for non-members and other students. Registration starts at 7:15 a.m. in the conferance room at the Pyramid Annex.
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