Paige Novak, Professor of Environmental Engineering, spoke on the importance of estrogen in wastewater and its effect on ecology. Humans create pollutants in wastewater and our treatment plants have not kept up, having been designed over 100 years ago. Estrogen removal is particularly difficult, stemming from Deet, fragrances, medications, etc. that end up in water. The estrogen has serious biological effects on the ecosystem. Novak says the removal of estrogen is a huge challenge without an easy fix. Her research is seeking a bacterial solution, but the issue is complicated and cannot guarantee success.