Media Advisory: UB to spotlight Diana Aga’s forever chemical research at new symposium

BUFFALO, N.Y. — The University at Buffalo College of Arts and Sciences will hold a symposium this Friday and Saturday to put a spotlight on chemist Diana Aga and her research on pollutants like forever chemicals.

Designed to honor a particular faculty member by inviting distinguished speakers to campus who share the honoree’s research field, the first annual Spotlight Symposia Series will honor Aga, PhD, SUNY Distinguished Professor, Henry M. Woodburn Chair in the UB Department of Chemistry and director of the UB RENEW Institute.

Aga is a recognized world leader in environmental analytical chemistry who investigates contaminants in the environment, including per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), a group of synthetic compounds that have been widely used in consumer products for decades and take so long to break down in the environment that they’re known as “forever chemicals.”

Members of the news media are invited to attend Friday’s opening event at the Center for the Arts, which will include remarks from Aga and other UB researchers and officials, a keynote address by Rice University researcher Pedro J.J. Alvarez and a performance of “Toward a Climate Haven.”

The symposium continues Saturday with a day of technical talks in the Natural Sciences Complex. Speakers there will include researchers from UB and other universities across the country.

When: Friday, Oct. 25, from 4 to 6 p.m.

Where: Center for the Arts Drama Theatre on UB’s North Campus.

Who: In addition to Aga and Alvarez, speakers will include A. Scott Weber, provost and executive vice president for academic affairs; Robin G. Schulze, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences; and Javid Rzayev, professor and chair of the Department of Chemistry.  

Additional background on honoree: Aga is the principal investigator on a $3 million grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to study chemicals that leak into the environment and exacerbate the emergence and spread of antimicrobial resistance. Since joining UB in 2002, Aga has been awarded over $15 million in federal, state and industrial grants to support her research.

Listen to Driven to Discover podcast featuring Diana Aga

Additional background on keynote speaker: Alvarez, PhD, is George R. Brown Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Rice University and founding director of the NSF Engineering Research Center on Nanotechnology-Enabled Water Treatment (NEWT). 

Alvarez’s keynote address will examine emerging opportunities for nanotechnology to improve the selectivity and efficiency to remove priority pollutants, decrease electrical energy requirements and meet a growing need for safer and more affordable decentralized water treatment and reuse.  

Background on ‘Toward a Climate Haven’: Presented by the UB Department of Environment and Sustainability and the UB Department of Theatre and Dance, “Toward a Climate Haven” blends sustainability science with performance art to address Western New York's role as a potential climate refuge amid its own climate uncertainties.