AT: Clean Coast Texas – Bacterial Pollution in Galveston Island Assessment

This month’s Lunch & Learn will explore the history, hot spots, and potential drivers of coastal bacterial pollution along Galveston Island. Featured speaker, Dr. Gabriele Bonaiti, Program Specialist with the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service, will share findings from a joint water quality study conducted by the GLO and Texas A&M AgriLife Texas Beach Watch monitoring data, island visitation information, and related metadata.

Dr. Bonaiti will present an analysis of long-term data, including trends and relationships to variables such as rainfall, water level, potential sewage contamination sources, visitation, and the identification of areas with long-term elevated bacteria results. Dr. Bonaiti is an Extension Program Specialist with Texas A&M AgriLife Extension and has developed and implemented educational programs for water districts to help them conserve and efficiently use water resources, and for homeowners to help them correctly manage onsite wastewater and water resources.