AUDUBON MEETING WILL FOCUS ON POTOMAC FISH PROBLEMS

January 10th 7:30 PM

The January meeting of the Potomac Valley Audubon Society will focus on
fish kills and the increase in intersex fish in the Potomac River and its
tributaries, and the possible relationship to "emerging contaminant"
issues.

The speaker will be Dr. Vicki S. Blazer, the fish pathologist at the
Leetown Science Center's National Fish Health Research Laboratory.
The meeting will be held at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, January 10, at the U.S.
Geological Survey's Leetown Science Center, 11649 Leetown Road (County
Route 1), Kearneysville.

Interested members of the public are invited to attend.

Dr. Blazer explains that emerging contaminant issues involve contaminants
only recently recognized as problematic and not routinely monitored. They
include pharmaceuticals and chemicals from personal care products, which
pass through wastewater treatment facilities into natural bodies of water;
antibiotics and other substances from animal manures, which are carried
into rivers and lakes by runoff; and pesticides and herbicides from
agriculture and lawn care, which are also carried away by runoff.
Dr. Blazer has worked at the Fish Health Research Laboratory since 1992.
Since that time, she has been involved in numerous fish disease issues in
the Chesapeake drainage area, as well as national and international fish
health issues.

Previously she was assistant leader of the Georgia Cooperative Fish and
Wildlife Unit at the University of Georgia, where she taught courses in
fish diseases, fish pathology, and fish nutrition and directed graduate
student research.

She has a B.S. in Marine Biology from Southampton College of Long Island
University and a Ph.D. from the University of Rhode Island. She did two
years of postdoctoral work at the University of Georgia's Veterinary
College.

For more information contact Peter Smith at 304-876-1139 or
pvsmith@frontiernet.net.

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