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2009 News in Brief

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Alumnus writes book about his groundwater research in Bangladesh

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A book written by Doherty Associate Professor Charles Harvey and recent alumnus Khandaker Ashfaque about their research tracing the source of arsenic in Bangladeshi wells was published in the summer.  “Arsenic Mobilization in Groundwater: A Case Study in Bangladesh” (VDM Verlag, June 2009Picture of new book) describes the co-authors’ findings on research carried out for six years beginning in 2001. The authors write: “Naturally occurring arsenic in groundwater has emerged as a global problem. Millions of people throughout the world are affected by arsenic poisoning in drinking water. However, very little work has been conducted to understand hydrogeochemical dynamics and the transport of arsenic. We use a small region in Bangladesh where high levels of arsenic have been found as the study area. We carried out various field experiments, laboratory analyses and numerical modeling to investigate the geochemical and hydrological impacts on arsenic mobilization in groundwater.” Ashfaque, who received his Ph.D. in 2007, is now a remediation engineer with ARCADIS Inc. working out of the Newtown, Penn. office.