Loyalist Professor Appointed to Quinte Region Drinking Water Source Protection Committee
Loyalist College Bioscience Professor Eric Bauer has been appointed to the Quinte Region Drinking Water Source Protection Committee. The committee is charged with ensuring that municipal public water systems, and other systems designated by individual municipalities in the region, are protected in compliance with the Clean Water Act and regulations.
The committee was formed with representatives from the municipal, economic and a range of public sector interests. Professor Bauer represents one of the general public seats and was named to the committee following an interview process. His responsibilities include providing input during the process of developing the terms of reference for Quinte drinking water source protection planning, and reviewing the state of the science pertaining to drinking water in the Quinte catchment, in order to prepare a water budget for the region and a source protection plan. He will also participate in ensuring scientific rigour during the implementation of the drinking water source protection plan.
“I’m very excited about the work with the Source Protection Committee,” said Eric Bauer. “I think the science will be very interesting, and additionally, the community educational opportunities appear to be outstanding. In the short time that the Quinte committee has existed I have already been fortunate to develop local community-partnered projects around planning issues for our environmental students. It will be interesting to see how well the eastern source protection areas (Ottawa, Prescott, Cataraqui, Quinte) integrate, as I hope to extend my professional network in this field over the next few years of my appointment.”
“The excellence of our Bioscience programs is a direct reflection of professors such as Eric, who are actively involved in organizations such as this in the community and beyond,” said Loyalist President Maureen Piercy. “His work with this group will strengthen our association with environmental experts throughout the Quinte region, particularly the network interested in the water environment and water quality. This is important new legislation and our Bioscience students, particularly those in environmental programs, will benefit from Professor Bauer’s involvement.”
“I am always very proud to have our faculty and staff participate in and contribute to initiatives such as this which are important to our communities,” President Piercy added.
Bioscience students at Loyalist College study in the fields of Environmental, Bio-Food, Biotechnology, Chemical Engineering, Chemical Laboratory Assistants and Food Safety. In addition to the technical skills they acquire, a sense of community responsibility is encouraged. Loyalist hosted and participated in the Sustainable Living Symposium 2007, Living Today for Tomorrow. Loyalist students and professors worked with community partners to plan and offer a day filled with information including topics regarding healthy and efficient homes, ecological farming and renewable energy. For more information regarding the College’s Bioscience programs contact Professor Karen Holder at (613) 969-1913, ext. 2384.
Media Contact: Marilyn Warren, Communications, Loyalist College, (613) 969-1913 ext. 2332; e-mail: mwarren@loyalistc.on.ca or Eric Bauer, Bioscience Professor, (613) 969-1913, ext. 2300