A Framework for Assessing Impacts of Road Salt on Groundwater Supplies in Massachusetts

Nearly 500,000 tons of road salt are used each year on Massachusetts roadways. Runoff from these roads deposits salt in public groundwater sources, which poses human, environmental, and structural health risks. The goal of this project was to establish a framework that prioritizes opportunities to address risk-causing factors of salt contamination in groundwater drinking sources. We observed statewide trends in salt contamination, determined factors that contribute to salt contamination of groundwater, created a risk-assessment tool for use by municipalities, and drafted an informative fact sheet for public release. We also proposed recommendations to the MA Department of Environmental Protection for future work to identify and protect groundwater sources at risk of salt contamination

Enhancing Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction Through a Mobile Application

The goal of this Major Qualifying Project (MQP) was to improve upon the initial design of a mobile application that would assist college students in the practice of Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR). The team assisted in building a foundation for UMass Medical so they can apply for a grant to have this project be fully funded and become a fully functioning mobile application. This MQP was a continuation of a previous MQP’s work that explored some of the initial ideas on how to design the application. The team created functional mockups of the original idea and surveyed college students to get their feedback on the initial design