News
Inaugural Horwitz-Barreto Visiting Scholar Talks Clean Water
By Upper School Science Teacher Gigi Mathews
Parker welcomed Argonne National Laboratory Lead Water Strategist and Great Lakes Water Innovation Engine Co-Principal Investigator Dr. Junhong Chen to campus as part of the inaugural Horwitz-Barreto Visiting Scholar program.
The Horwitz-Barreto Visiting Scholar program came about after I accompanied Parker parents Tem Horwitz and Sandra Barreto for the FACCTS program in Paris in April 2024. FACCTS stands for France and Chicago Collaborating in the Sciences, and it is “...designed to enhance science at the University of Chicago by encouraging closer relations between researchers in the Physical Sciences Division (PSD), the Biological Sciences Division (BSD) and the Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering (PME) with high-level research teams and institutions of higher education in France. The FACCTS program accomplishes this goal by providing seed funding for new and potentially fruitful project-based collaborations.”
Horwitz and Barreto travel to Paris annually as “Confrères” to participate in the selection of myriad research projects that are presented. Horwitz and Barreto travel with a Parker science teacher who helps them choose which project would not only be the most fruitful, but also be of the most interest to Parker students. Horwitz and Barreto wanted to find a better way to bring the scientists who were awarded FACCTS funding to the Parker campus, and thus the Visiting Scholar program was born. The Horwitz-Barreto Visiting Scholar program supports in-person engagement between University of Chicago researchers and Parker students by bringing them to Parker for a few hours and interacting with the students.
Horwitz and Barreto travel to Paris annually as “Confrères” to participate in the selection of myriad research projects that are presented. Horwitz and Barreto travel with a Parker science teacher who helps them choose which project would not only be the most fruitful, but also be of the most interest to Parker students. Horwitz and Barreto wanted to find a better way to bring the scientists who were awarded FACCTS funding to the Parker campus, and thus the Visiting Scholar program was born. The Horwitz-Barreto Visiting Scholar program supports in-person engagement between University of Chicago researchers and Parker students by bringing them to Parker for a few hours and interacting with the students.
This visit was all about water—the chemistry of water, why fresh water that is clean is so important and vital to humanity, how this can impact our carbon footprint and how we can use the waste in water to provide wealth. Dr. Chen is the co-leader of the Great Lakes ReNEW coalition, and his research is all about taking out the waste in the water that comes from our homes, as well as from runoff, to create a clean water resource. According to Dr. Chen, “Water is needed everywhere for daily life. For manufacturing in particular, it is critical to our economic prosperity. But water is limited in supply, especially fresh water. The only way to get us out of this challenge is to be able to recycle and reuse the water.”
Recycling water requires stripping out dangerous “forever chemicals,” such as per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), a group of synthetic chemicals used to make many consumer products, such as non-stick cookware. The task also will include transforming filtered-out waste metals into new types of batteries that help power the nation’s switch to clean energy, and it will require removing agricultural runoff such as phosphates and nitrates from the water supply, putting them to productive use fertilizing new rounds of crops. Cutting carbon emissions, protecting public health and revitalizing local communities are all part of the process. To showcase this work, students worked to clean water through various means and tested the purity of the water left.
Recycling water requires stripping out dangerous “forever chemicals,” such as per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), a group of synthetic chemicals used to make many consumer products, such as non-stick cookware. The task also will include transforming filtered-out waste metals into new types of batteries that help power the nation’s switch to clean energy, and it will require removing agricultural runoff such as phosphates and nitrates from the water supply, putting them to productive use fertilizing new rounds of crops. Cutting carbon emissions, protecting public health and revitalizing local communities are all part of the process. To showcase this work, students worked to clean water through various means and tested the purity of the water left.
“I feel that we take our clean water for granted here in the Chicago area,” Upper School Science teacher Ryan Zaremba shared when speaking on the importance of this visit. “We have a great supply of fresh water from Lake Michigan, but if we are not careful with what we put in the water, our fresh water supply could be in danger. Every day, large amounts of natural and synthetic contaminants leech off and run off the surfaces of the land and end up in our freshwater supply. The more we can work toward a circular water supply, one that recycles water in an efficient and useful manner, the more resilient our communities will be to climate and environmental change. In addition, it requires huge amounts of energy to clean our water, so finding ways to strip water of its contaminants in an energy-efficient way benefits all of us, our environment and our climate system as a whole.”
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Francis W. Parker School educates students to think and act with empathy, courage and clarity as responsible citizens and leaders in a diverse democratic society and global community.