USGS Friday’s Findings Webinar Series – Addressing Knowledge Gaps on the Potential Effects of Critical Minerals on Aquatic Life

Date: Friday, August 21, 2026
Time: 2:00–2:30 PM Eastern / 11:00–11:30 AM Pacific
Speaker: Christopher Kotalik, Research Ecologist, Columbia Environmental Research Center 

Critical minerals are essential to economic growth and national security, and strengthening their supply chains supports long-term domestic resilience. Although our understanding of the environmental fate, bioavailability, and toxicity of many critical minerals is still developing, expanding this knowledge improves our ability to understand how these elements behave in aquatic systems. This presentation provides an overview of key considerations for evaluating how critical minerals interact with aquatic ecosystems and highlights research approaches used to characterize their bioavailability and potential effects on aquatic life. 

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