The Virginia Department of Environmental Quality has app ointed Barbara Walsh of Lexing ton to the commonwealth’s PFAS Expert Advisory Committee.
PFAS, or “forever chemicals,” are widely used synthetic chemicals that are linked to cancer and other health issues. Walsh, a hydrogeologist, joins Rockbridge area toxicologist Joe DiNardo and other scientific and industry specialists appointed to advise the state.
Walsh served for 24 years as executive director of the Rockbridge Area Conservation Council. Previously, she was supervising hydrogeologist for the Bechtel engineering and construction company in San Francisco, and a state coordinator and scientific team leader in the San Francisco, Boston and Washington, D.C., offices of the United States Environmental Protection Agency.
She has also volunteered as co-chair of the Garden Club of Virginia’s Forum on PFAS “forever chemicals,” and as a city planning commissioner and vice president of the Children’s Science Museum in Bloomsburg, Pa. Currently she volunteers as a regulatory and scientific advisor for the national Environmental Protection Network assisting communities and non-profit organizations with environmental issues.
A registered professional geologist and certified engineering geologist, Walsh holds a master’s degree in earth sciences from the University of California, Santa Cruz, and a bachelor’s degree from Bryn Mawr College in urban planning and geology.
