Environmental

Environmental chemistry is about understanding the movement and reactions of chemicals in the world and how these relate to society.  Our faculty apply this knowledge to technological problems like the provision of clean drinking water; the fate of toxic chemicals in water, soil and food and global problems like climate change and the effects of ice shelf collapse on the chemistry of the oceans.  For more information on these projects see the faculty links below.

Michael Angel

"My group develops new types of remote and in-situ laser spectroscopic techniques for use in extreme environments with applications to deep-ocean and planetary exploration."

John Ferry

"My group studies how natural and technological processes can work to remove trace organic chemicals from the environment.  The role of sunlight and surfaces are particularly important in our research."

Parastoo Hashemi

"Trace metals play important roles in environmental processes.  To understand trace metal transport and mobilization, it is important to measure metal speciation during rapid environmental events (such as storms).  We have developed FSCV at CFMs to measure trace metal (such as copper, lead and arsenic) speciation in real time and are working with environmental engineers to understand the kinetic properties of trace metal speciation in local water and soil samples."

Susan Richardson

"My group is investigating the formation of disinfection by-products (DBPs) in drinking water and swimming pools to solve important human health issues.  We use GC/MS and LC/ MS in our research, and work closely with toxicologists and epidemiologists to determine which DBPs may be responsible, with the ultimate goal of eliminating them in drinking water and swimming pools."

Timothy Shaw

"The analytical/environmental chemistry laboratory combines analytical method development with environmental applications such as transport and cycling of trace elements associated with icebergs, seawater and submarine ground waters."