2011 Summer Fellow Featured in BUToday for Mercury Research

2011 Pardee Graduate Summer Fellow Kristin Sippl was the subject of a June 23rd BU Today article titled “Quicksilver for Quick Gold“, which  highlights her research into the use of mercury in artisinal and small-scale gold extraction. Through her work, Sippl aims to provide miners with the information necessary to remain safe when dealing with dangerous compounds like mercury, which is known to affect neurological and reproductive health of those who come into contact with it.  She plans on conducting fieldwork in Tanzania later this summer to understand how certification and labeling organizations communicate information to miners to ensure safe practices.

Sippl, who is working towards her PhD in Political Science, spent a summer researching the role of mercury in gold mining during 2011 as part of the Pardee Center Graduate Summer Fellows Program. She also presented findings from her research during a 2013 Pardee House Seminar on the Global Agreement on Mercury, a video of which can be viewed in the Multimedia section of our website.