Spotlights
John Hart defends thesis on microbial source tracking for site remediation
John Hart successfully defended his Master’s thesis on March 17th, 2023 titled "The Application of Microbial Source Tracking to aid in Site Prioritization for Remediation in Lower Michigan". His thesis committee was chaired by Dr. Rick Rediske and included Dr. James McNair, Dr. Sean Woznicki, and Dr. Charlyn Partridge.
Fecal pollution presents a large issue to aquatic ecosystems and has negative impacts on both human health and the environment. John’s research focused on improving assessment efforts of non-point source fecal pollution in a variety of waterbodies in Michigan using a combination of geospatial and molecular methods. His thesis project was divided into three phases, 1) enhance current non-point source fecal pollution monitoring efforts using watershed characteristics, 2) the creation of a conceptual fecal impairment framework to aid managers in better assessing fecal pollution risk, and 3) offering improvements and enhanced utility to a current geospatial model being used to assess runoff in agricultural systems. The results of this work will help managers and health departments make better informed decisions on the identification and remediation of fecal pollution. This will maximize limited resources to treat non-point source fecal pollution and offer the most improvement in their systems.
After graduation, John will be pursing a career in environmental consulting and has accepted a position as a Watershed Scientist at Kieser & Associates LLC in Kalamazoo, MI, where, he will be working on a variety of lake and watershed management efforts.
Share this spotlight
Return to the listing of spotlights.