PART 1 – Mythbusters: Myths and Misconceptions

Misconceptions and assumptions in the environmental world often prove to be costly in both man hours and resources when corrective action needs to be taken because of tightly held myths. These misconceptions, assumptions and myths can often be held as truths when in reality they are far from it. In this class, you will learn of some of the most widely held environmental myths and misconceptions in order for you to stay on course as a company while avoiding costly mistakes. Some of the misconceptions and myths that will be tackled in this class will include: speeding up remediation by adding “extra” substrate/bugs, starting pH close to neutral means you don’t need a buffer, adding non-native bugs is pointless because they are bound to die and RNA is always better than DNA. We will cover these topics and so much more in this mythbusting class that you cannot afford to skip.

Dora Taggart is the President of Microbial Insights, Inc. She holds a Biomedical Engineering degree from Vanderbilt University and has focused on the optimization and implementation of molecular tools for environmental remediation, microbiologically influenced corrosion and microbial source tracking. Dora has become a global ambassador for the environmental restoration industry, regularly presenting as an invited/keynote speaker at environmental and corrosion conferences, leading hundreds of technical workshops worldwide, and co-authoring guidance documents with advisory groups like the Interstate Technology Regulatory Council (ITRC) and Environmental Remediation Wiki (Remediapedia) to support appropriate use and interpretation of molecular tools.

Lydia Ross is the Remediation Application Engineer at EOS Remediation. Lydia is a licensed Professional Engineer in NC and SC with over 15 years of experience designing in situ remedial solutions for contaminated soil and groundwater sites across the US and around the world. Lydia bridges the gap between the active R&D Program at EOS Remediation and her clients’ remedial goals and her 13 years of consulting experience allow her to speak consultants’ language and understand the concerns of responsible parties.