Arthur H. Black Science Education and Research Lecture: The Perils of Plastic

The University of Toledo's Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry will welcome a leading expert on plastic pollution in freshwater ecosystems to campus to present a free, public lecture on Monday, Oct. 5. Dr. Sherri "Sam" Mason of Gannon University will present the second annual Arthur H. Black Science Education and Research Lecture, titled "The Perils of Plastic," at 4 p.m. Monday, Oct. 5, in Wolfe Hall Room 1205. Mason is the director of a water quality and economic revitalization initiative called Project NePTWNE at Gannon University, as well as an expert on plastic pollution whose body of research has influenced policy and public awareness. In "The Perils of Plastic" she will discuss plastic as a paradox in the world of material science, with the same qualities of versatility and durability that make it attractive for myriad applications also making it an environmental bane with impacts on human health. The Arthur H. Black Science Education and Research Lecture is named in honor of the late Arthur H. Black, an analytical chemist who enjoyed a six-decade association with UToledo as a student, educator and administrator. After Black retired as an associate dean in 1983, he continued to teach chemistry as a part-time instructor until 1996.