News Article
Hope springs amid water safety concerns
Working Towards Safe Water Supply
In 2018, a history professor from Virginia Tech, Nick Copeland, initiated collaborations with community organizations in Guatemala to address concerns about water safety. The team discovered elevated arsenic levels in surface waters near the Escobal silver mine, although the exact cause could not be determined. However, they did find that the water treatment plant was not effectively removing arsenic from the water. This prompted the professor and his team to conduct workshops and testing with rural and Indigenous communities to equip them with the knowledge and skills to protect their waterways.
Continued Efforts and Grant Support
Thanks to a $360,000 grant from the Science and Technology Studies program of the National Science Foundation, the professor and his team will be able to continue their monitoring and water defender training for the next three years. The grant will also support the team’s ethnographic exploration of how Indigenous environmental justice movements are utilizing water science to address industrial development. Through interviews and observations, the team aims to understand how participation in science shapes the knowledge, ethics, and skills of community members.
Promoting Water Safety and Environmental Justice
The professor’s work highlights the importance of grassroots efforts in protecting waterways and ensuring safe water supply. By empowering community members with basic water science knowledge and field testing kits, the team aims to create a network of water defenders who can actively address contamination concerns. The collaboration between the professor, his team, and various organizations in Guatemala serves as a model for promoting environmental justice and addressing the impact of extractive industries on water quality.
