St. Anthony Falls Laboratory - SAFL

“We started putting salt on roads to melt snow and ice in Minnesota in the 1950s, and the concentration of salt in our lakes and groundwater has steadily increased ever since.”

Researchers Andy Erickson (Ph.D., P.E.) and Sara Heger (Ph.D.), have been studying the impact of increased salt use in our environment through water softeners and salting our roads and sidewalks during the wintertime. Results showed that salt from both de-icing and water softeners have affected plant and wildlife in aquatic ecosystems, raised the cost of water utilities, and elevated sodium chloride levels in surface waters.

“These areas are often drastically over-salted to prevent slips and falls, and research shows that too much salt can be just as dangerous for slips and falls as the ice it’s trying to melt.”

More about this research, including ways communities can reduce salt in our ecosystems, can be found at Duluth News Tribune or UMN news and events (link in Bio)

At SAFL, PhD candidate Michael Chiappone runs flooding experiments that mimic nature to study how animal bones catch, get buried and (sometimes) become fossils. His work contributes to a more legible fossil record. Check out the fantastic video that Michael created about his research, or read more in the link in bio.
ScienceInAction