Seats were filled and even left some students standing in Building 8 Room 101 at Valencia East Campus on November 15 as many came to listen to Dr. Michael T. Meyer’s presentation about glyphosate, an herbicide that is increasingly being used in corn, soybean, and cotton fields.  The presentation lasted for about an hour.

Dr. Michael T. Meyer is the research geochemist for the United States Geological Survey and the director for the Organic Geochemistry Research Laboratory located in Lawrence, KS.  Invited by Earth Science Professor James Adamski and sponsored by the Valencia Earth Studies Association and Student Development, Dr. Meyer came to Valencia to present “The Occurrence of the Pesticide Glyphosate (Roundup) in Water”.

According to Dr. Meyer, “Glyphosate is widely used relative to a lot of other herbicides. This research done by the Organic Geochemistry Research Laboratory was one about glyphosate’s occurrence in surface water and things we knew about the least about.  Over the last ten years we’ve studied it quite a bit and got to know quite a bit more about how its transported.  But there’s a lot more about the potential effects of glyphosate or its formulations that is probably yet to be determined, and people are trying to figure out that are beyond my expertise.”

Some students, like 18-year-old Biology Major Marcus Mosquera, attended the event for “extra credit, pizza, and knowledge.”  Others, like 16-year-old duel-enrollment student Alicia Hessert, came “hoping to learn stuff that isn’t in all the lessons”.

In addition to drinks and pizza, leftover t-shirts and glass cups from Valencia’s Earth Day event were given away.

Photo: Kim Dang.