June 19, 2015 | Erin Bluvas, bluvase@sc.edu
Geoff Scott, Chair and Clinical Professor in the Department of Environmental Health Sciences, presented “Climate Change, Coastal Urbanization and Water: A Recipe for Disaster” at the Metcalf Institute for Marine & Environmental Reporting's June 10 annual public lecture series, Scientists and Journalists: Getting the Point Across. Scott discussed the effects of urban runoff, pollution, and contaminants on water quality and ecosystem health. He also highlighted the potential impact of climate change on water quality.
Scott based his talk on decades of research experience, including work for National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) National Ocean Service’s National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science and the Center for Coastal Environmental Health and Biomolecular Research. He has served as director of NOAA’s Center for Coastal Environmental Health and Biomolecular Research (2001-2014) and acting director for NOAA’s Center for Human Health Risk at the Hollings Marine Laboratory (2009-2011). Scott has also held positions on numerous national and international advisory panels to government and industry, such as the Interstate Shellfish Sanitation Conference and S.C. Sea Grant Advisory Board. Prior to joining the Arnold School, he worked as an aquatic toxicologist for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Research Planning Institute.
His research has focused on the impact of nonpoint source runoff and pesticides including agricultural insecticides/herbicides and mosquito control agents on estuarine ecosystems and organisms. Scott has also examined the impact of bacterial pollution from septic tank systems and waste water treatment plants as well as the effects of oil and hazardous materials spills in coastal ecosystems throughout the United States.
Altogether, Scott has served on more than 100 graduate student research committees, published more than 120 peer reviewed scientific publications and authored or co-authored 23 national reports. His numerous awards include USC’s Outstanding Research Investigator Award, NOAA Unit Citation for the Ixtoc Oil Spill Research, the NOAA Peer Rafting Award for leading research on Vibrio bacterial hazards posed to workers during the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill, and the NOAA Administrators Award for leadership in directing outstanding research at his NOAA Research Center.
Scott received his BS in Biology from Wofford College and his MS and PhD in Marine Science from the University of South Carolina. In addition to his positions at the Arnold School of Public Health, he holds faculty appointments in the Marine Biomedicine Program at the Medical University of South Carolina, the Marine Biology Program at the College of Charleston and the Institute for Environmental and Human Health at Texas Tech University.