"Connecting Hydrogeology and Geohealth for Improved Water Security"
What journey does water take to reach your cup, and how does it affect your health? Answering this question requires perspectives from chemistry, microbiology, Earth system science, and the health sciences to understand how water moves through the environment, interacts with the subsurface, and ultimately impacts the people who rely on it.
This talk begins with the hidden processes that govern groundwater quality, focusing on coal combustion products, a legacy of energy production often stored in unlined impoundments across the United States. In leachate-impacted aquifers, interactions among minerals, groundwater, and microbial communities determine whether contaminants are mobile or sequestered. Through field and laboratory studies, we show how coupled microbial and geochemical processes influence the mobility of elements such as arsenic, chromium, and molybdenum and how these processes can be leveraged to promote contaminant sequestration.
The second part of the talk shifts to the emerging field of geohealth and how groundwater shapes human health. Millions of households rely on private wells that rely exclusively on groundwater and are managed independently by the well user. Using a community-engaged approach, we combine hydrogeologic characterization, water quality data, and stakeholder input to identify key drivers of contamination, including natural geochemical processes, septic system impacts, and land use. This work includes testing private wells, evaluating low-cost screening tools as “first alert” systems, and examining barriers that limit well testing and treatment. By linking environmental data with human behavior and decision-making, we aim to better understand exposure risks and support more effective, accessible interventions.
By connecting the journey of water in the subsurface to human exposure, this work highlights the need for transdisciplinary approaches to protect public health and improve water security in vulnerable communities.
Speaker Bio
Ann Sullivan Ojeda is an Associate Professor in the Department of Geosciences at Auburn University. Her research focuses on understanding how groundwater connects humans to the geosphere, with an emphasis on water quality and contamination. She integrates geochemistry with community-engaged research to address challenges at the intersection of environmental processes and public health.
Ojeda earned a B.S. and M.S. in chemistry from Lyon College and Texas A&M University, respectively, and a Ph.D. in Geology from the University of Oklahoma. She is committed to advancing water resource management and interdisciplinary research through her service as a member of the National Academies Board on Earth Resources and as Treasurer of the Alabama Section of the American Water Resources Association.