Water research on Crow Reservation led by Tim Ford highlighted in EPA newsletter

A project led by Timothy Ford, Ph.D, UNE vice president for research and dean of the College of Graduate Studies, was highlighted in the EPA's Environment, Health and Society Bulletin. The project , funded by the EPA, seeks to measure, communicate, and mitigate the risk of contaminated water on the Crow Reservation in south central Montana. 

The researchers examine water on the reservation for everything from coliform and other disease-causing bacteria to dangerous chemicals like mercury and manganese. To gather data they not only test water directly but conduct interviews and surveys with people using the water to better gauge their current health and the possible effect of the water upon health. Even before beginning the research, data indicated that around 40 percent of the wells were contaminated and that river water was problematic as well. Ford has led the project with Dr. Anne Camper of Montana State University where Ford was department head of microbiology and director of the state-wide NIH IDeA Networks for Biomedical Excellence (MT-INBRE) Program.

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