Principal Staff

CECG Advisory Board

CECG Faculty Affiliate Members

Selected Research Activities

Laboratory Facilities Affiliated Through CECG

Calendar of Events

Funding Opportunities
  2008 Summer Fellowship
  Research Initiation Grant

Courses in Environmental Chemistry at Penn State

CECG Student Group

Harry Allcock, Evan Pugh Professor of Chemistry, Department of Chemistry
Research: Application of chemical synthesis to polymer chemistry, materials science, and biomedicine; macromolecules containing inorganic elements such as polyphosphazenes; surface reactions, nanofibers, solid and gel ionic conductors for energy storage, fuel cells, photonic materials, and biomedically useful polymers and membranes.

Andre Boehman Assistant Professor of Fuel Science, Director of the Combustion Laboratory, Department of Energy and Geo-Environmental Engineering
Research: Alternative and reformulated fuels for diesel engines is the primary focus of the Combustion Laboratory at present. We are also working on several problems in applied catalysis, including environmental pollution control via NOx reduction, Characertization of diesel soot and hydrogen assisted combustion.

Susan L. Brantley Professor of Geosciences and Director of Center for Environmental Kinetics Analysis, Director of the Earth and Environmental Systems Institute
Research: Water-Rock Interaction Laboratory: Techniques include solution and mineral surface analysis using ICP, AAS, SIMS, XPS, AES, SEM, EM, ICP-MS. Research investigates the kinetics of water-rock-gas reactions in natural systems, with a special interest focussed on mineral-microbe reactions.

Jean E. Brenchley Professor of Microbiology and Biotechnology, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
Research: Isolation and characterization of psychrophilic (cold-loving) microorganisms and the examination of their phylogenetic diversity; The examination prokaryotic populations in deep-sea sediments and a Greenland glacier ice core; The metagenomic analysis of DNA extracted from cold environments; The purification and biochemical investigations of cold-active enzymes produced by psychrophilic isolates. 

William Burgos, Assistant Professor of Environmental Engineering, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Research: Professional and research experience in bioremediation of PAH, metal and radionuclide contaminated soil, sediment and groundwater. Research focuses on "model" soil systems composed of specimen soil minerals coated with purified humic substances. Model systems are used to study subsurface organic contaminants (DOE Joint Program on Bioremediation), organic contaminants in urban estuarine sediments (NSF Environmental Engineering Program), and heavy metals and radionuclides in Fe(III)-reducing sediments environments (DOE NABIR Program). Also conducted research on the ecological risk assessment of contaminated sediments.

Hunter Carrick, Assistant Professor, School of Forest Resources
Research: My research assesses how human activities influence aquatic assemblages, and ultimately how these changes alter the structure and function aquatic ecosystems. Major environmental concerns include- the addition of foreign chemicals (or increases above natural concentrations), introduction of exotic species and maintenance of biodiversity, and changes to the global gas balance. My research assesses the quantitative role of microbes in aquatic food webs, and identifies species complexes that are indicative of specific environmental conditions. I use state of the art methodologies to estimate microbial abundance (fluorescence microscopy, remote-sensing), production (radioisotopic tracers, ultra-sensitive analytical methods), and assemblage shifts in time and space (inferential and multivariate statistical tools).

A. Welford Castleman, Jr., Evan Pugh Professor of Chemistry, Department of Chemistry
Research: Laser chemistry, spectroscopy; bonding, molecular properties, and reactivity of clusters and condensed matter of large finite dimensions; study of the influence of solvation on reaction dynamics using time resolved femtosecond laser techniques; applications of cluster research to unraveling important problems in catalysis and surface science, the science of nanoscale materials, atmospheric and interstellar chemistry, and reactions of biochemical interest.

Subhash Chander, Professor, Energy and Geo-Environmental Engineering
Research: Interest include applied surface chemistry and interfacial phenomena, colloid characterization and processing, wetting, flotation, multi-phase emulsions, interfacial electrochemistry, treatment and control of acid mine drainage.

David Clifford, Research Associate, Department of Energy and Geo-Environmental Engineering
Research: Current research interests include structural elucidation of geomacromolecules; investigating pore size assessment methods via PFG NMR spectroscopy; catogenitic transformation of petroleum bio-markers.

Wayne Curtis, Professor of Chemical Engineering, Department of Chemical Engineering/Biotechnology Institute
Research: Phytoremediation of hydrocarbons from soil (w/Exxon). Fluid flow/transport/ analysis of complex biological reacting systems

Kenneth J. Davis, Associate Professor of Meteorology, Director, Center for Advanced Carbon Cycle Research and Education - n Director, of Northeastern Regional Center of the DOE National Institute for Climate Change Research (NERC/NICCR)
Research: Atmospheric boundary layer and its role in weather and climate, atmospheric chemistry, biogeochemical cycles and the hydrologic cycle. Micrometeorological flux measurements. Forest-atmosphere carbon exchange. Global carbon cycle. Lidar meteorology.

Jerzy Dec, Senior Research Associate, Laboratory of Soil Biochemistry, Penn State Institutes of the Environment (PSIE)
Research: Fate of agrochemicals and industrial pollutants in the environment; immobilization of xenobiotics in soil; bioremediation of polluted water and soils; carbon sequestration in soil to mitigate global warming; odor control in animal manure using microorganisms and plant enzymes. Brian Dempsey, Professor of Environmental Engineering, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering Research: Low-pressure membrane filtration; coagulation; synthesis and use of inorganic coagulants; characterization and treatment of mine drainage; chemistry of iron and aluminum; reactions of natural organic materials; mobility and removal of trace inorganic contaminants.

Brian Dempsey, Associate Professor Environmental Engineering, Department of Civil Engineering
Research: Research has dealt with chemistry of trace metals, natural organic materials, production and use of chemical coagulants, removal of volatile chemicals from contaminated groundwater, coagulation and filtration processes, and mobility and removal of trace inorganic contaminants. Recent work focuses on design of solid phases for optimal performance and economics, especially relating to mine drainage wastes, water & wastewater treatment, removal of nutrients from industrial wastewaters, and immobilization of trace metals in soils.

Herschel Elliott, Professor, Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering, Agriculture Sciences
Research: Fate of interaction of pollutants in soils and aquatic systems, land-based waste disposal systems, adsorption of pollutants at the solid-solution interface.

James G. Ferry, Stanley Person Professor and Director of the Center for Microbial Structural Biology, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
Research: (Center for Microbial Structural Biology: Techniques include all methods for isolation and biochemical analysis of enzymes from microorganisms)

Charles Fisher, Professor Biology, Department of Biology
Research: Our group uses a wide variety of different approaches to study the biology of animals which harbor chemoautotrophic symbionts and the ecology of the communities of associated fauna. Our main research sites are the cold hydrocarbon seeps of the Gulf of Mexico and hydrothermal vent sites on the East Pacific Rise and the Juan de Fuca Ridge. Although these types of symbioses and communities were discovered almost two decades ago, there are still many major gaps on our understanding of them. Our research continues to center on the physiological ecology of the major symbiont-containing fauna, however we are constantly realizing the need to address additional questions in order to understanding the animals we study. As a result, we have become a very interdisciplinary group, using methods ranging from molecular analyses, to community manipulations, and theoretical simulations.

Katherine H. Freeman, Professor of Geosciences and Associate Head, Department of Geosciences Research: Organic and isotopic biogeochemistry Laboratory: Techniques include organic extraction and separation methods, gas chromatography (GC), structural mass spectrometry (GC/MS), isotope ratio mass spectrometry (IRMS) and organic compound-specific isotope analyses (CSIA). Research interests encompass the use of indicator lipids (both their distributions and isotopic contents) for tracing giogeochemical processes in modern and ancient environments. Ongoing projects include establishing molecular records of acient climatic and hydrological change and redox-specific microbial signatures in modern and ancient settings.

Tanya Furman, Associate Professor, Department of Geosciences
Research: Using geochemistry of mafic lavas and phenocrysts to unravel melt generation, segregation and transport processes in the lithosphere and asthenosphere, with particular interest in continental rift zone magmatism and the development and maintenance of mantle reservoirs. My graduate students typically conduct field work and extensive laboratory analysis as they develop their own ideas into a research thesis. Current research efforts involve work in areas of continental extension (various localities in the East African Rift) and arc volcanism (Indonesia and Turkey).

Peter Heaney, Professor, Department of Geosciences
Research: Crystal structure analysis and mineral growth and transformation processes. Techniques include TEM, powder X-ray and neutron diffraction, and chromatographic methods for inorganic colloids.

Peter C. Jurs, Professor of Chemistry, Department of Chemistry
Research: Prediction of Chemical, Physical, or Biological Properties of Organic Compounds from Molecular Structure by Computation. We are developing and using interactive, computer-assisted methods for investigating relationships linking molecular structures of organic compounds with their physicochemical properties or biological activities. Physicochemical properties studied include boiling points, aqueous solubility, chromatographic retention, etc. Biological activities include pharmacological activity (drug potency) or chemical or genetic toxicity. Studies are also being done with time-dependent fluorescence spectra from fiber-optic sensor arrays for identification of airborne organic analytes--an artificial nose.

Jason Kaye, Asst. Professor of Soil Biogeochemistry, Department of Crop and Soil Sciences
Research: Research in my lab focuses on feedbacks between terrestrial ecosystems and environmental change. Many of these feedbacks are driven by changes in biogeochemical cycles, i.e. changes in the storage and movement of energy and nutrients. We are particularly interested in the nitrogen cycle, which is influenced locally and globally by land use and land management practices. We use principles of ecology and biogeochemistry to understand the flow and fate of nitrogen at scales ranging from individual microbial processes, to whole ecosystems and landscapes, to regions. Ultimately this knowledge should 1) increase our basic understanding of ecosystem element cycles, 2) help minimize nitrogen losses from managed ecoystems, 3) help us understand how nitrogen losses from managed ecosystems affect and are attenuated by unmanaged ecosystems. The research often measures interactions between nitrogen cycling and ecosystem carbon balance to understand how global changes in carbon and nitrogen cycling are linked.

Klaus Keller, Assistant Professor of Geosciences, Department of Geosciences
Research: Oceanography, global carbon cycle, abrupt climate change, economic analysis of climate policy, climate change detection, decision-making under uncertainty.

Sridhar Komarneni, Professor of Clay Mineralogy, Department of Agronomy
Research: The use of clay minerals, metal oxides, oxyhydroxides and hydroxides, zeolites and gels in environmental remediation, pollution control, ion exchange separations for nuclear and hazardous waste disposal and in the development of slow-release ion exchange fertilizers and soil conditioners. Environmental chemistry of pollutants in relation to soil minerals.

Jim Kubicki, Assistant Professor, Department of Geosciences
Research: My work focuses on modeling vibrational and NMR spectra. This research is used to help interpret experimental and field data on the behavior of aqueous-phase and absorbed surface complexes. Modeling of organic contaminants and predicting biological parameters such as phototoxicity is a future research direction.

Lee R. Kump, Professor of Geosciences, Department of Geosciences
Research: Research focuses on the long-term evolution of the biosphere, especially the interplay between biogeochemical processes and oceanic and atmospheric composition. Current research includes a study of the role of oceanic anoxia in mass extinction, an investigation of the cause of extreme warmth during the transition from the Paleocene to the Eocene, and the relative roles of tectonic and biotic evolution in the rise of atmospheric oxygen. 

Dennis Lamb, Professor, Department of Meteorology
Research: Focus of environmental research is atmospheric chemistry. I supervise the Penn State research site at Scotia, where long-term monitoring of precipitation and air chemistry has been conducted since 1976. We also develop and use numerical models to diagnose and predict oxidant and sulfate episodes in Central Pennsylvania.

Bruce E. Logan, Kappe Professor of Environmental Engineering, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Research: Bioenergy production: sustainability of the water infrastructure; environmental transport processes; bioremediation; bio-colloid adhesion and transport; molecular-scale studies of adhesion using atomic force microscopy.

Serguei N. Lvov, Professor, Department of Energy and Geo-Environmental Engineering
Research: Electrochemical Engineering - electrochemical sensors and pH measurements in high temperature aqueous environments; batteries and fuel cells; electrochemical kinetics in high temperature aqueous solutions. Surface Chemistry - electrolyte absorption on oxide surfaces, determination of zeta potential and pH of zero charge in hydrothermal systems, hydrothermal- electrochemical deposition of oxide films. Materials Chemistry - corrosion and passibity of metals and alloys in hydrothermal environments, hydrothermal synthesis of new oxide materials. Thermodynamics and Kinetics - mosecular-statistical, irreversible and chemical thermodynamics of aqueous systems; electrochemical kinetics and transport properties; kinetics of hydrothermal dissolution of oxide materials.

James A. Lynch, Professor of Forest Hydrology, School of Forest Resources.
Research: Research interests center around the short- and long-term effects of forest management activities on water quantity and quality and the effects of atmospheric deposition on the chemistry of streams draining forested watersheds. I am currently involved in an evaluation of the effectiveness of the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990, Title IV in reducing acidic deposition in the USA and subsequent impact on stream chemistry. Since measurements of wet deposition in the USA is limited to approximately 200 sites, I have undertaken a modeling effort that incorporates topographic variables (e.g., elevation, slope, aspect) that affect the amount and distribution of precipitation across a region to improve the spatial resolution of wet deposition estimates. This model currently covers the Eastern half of the country and has been used to model wet deposition inputs to the Chesapeake Bay and in assessing the importance of acidic deposition and forest health issues.

Tom Mallouk, Dupont Professor of Materials Chemistry
Research: Professor Mallouk and his students are interested in several problems in materials chemistry, including artificial photosynthesis, separations, chemical sensing, molecular electronics, environmental remediation, and fuel cell electrochemistry. Their approach involves the synthesis of materials that contain both molecular and solid state components. They have recently developed supported forms of zero-valent iron that are good reducing agents for certain environmental contaminants, such as chlorinated hydrocarbons, heavy metal ions and TcO4^-. The surface chemistry of both the support and the nanoparticles is rationally modified in order to impart selectivity to the redox reaction while maintaining high activity.

Robert Minard, Senior Lecturer, Emeritus, Department of Chemistry
Research: Prebiotic Chemistry and the Origin of Life. Application of mass spectrometry and other instrumental methods to structural investigations of complex macromolecular materials such as hydrogen cyanide plymer, a heterogeneous solid containing both amino acid and nucleobase structural units. This material is likely present in the interstellar medium, on comets and meteorites, in the atmosphere of the Saturnian moon Titan and elsewhere throughout the universe. This polymer may have been the primordial biopolymer that played a major role in the emergence of protein/nucleic acid life on the earth 4 billion years ago.

Karl Mueller, Associate Professor, Department of Chemistry, Director of CECG
Research: Development of experimental and theoretical techniques for solid-state NMR spectroscopy; magic-angle spinning and higher-order averaging of quadrupolar spectra; coherence transfer in solid-state NMR; dipolar-dephasing dynamics and pure dipolar transforms.

Ray Najjar, Associate Professor, Department of Meteorology, Marine biogechemistry
Research: Current work is focused on modeling marine carbon, nutrient and oxygen cycles; air-sea gas exchange; biogeochemistry of carbon monoxide and carbonyl sulfide in seawater; biogeochemistry of Chesapeake Bay.

Hiroshi Ohmoto, Professor of Geochemistry and Director of the NASA/Penn State Astrobiology Research Center, Department of Geosciences
Research: Stable isotope geochemistry of sulfur, carbon, oxygen, nitrogen, and hydrogen in rocks, minerals, organics, and solutions; investigations of the evolution of atmosphere, hydrosphere and biosphere on early Earth.

Carlo G. Pantano, Professor of Materials Science and Engineering and Director of the Materials Research Institute
Research: Center for Glass Surfaces, Interfaces and Coatings Research: computer modeling of glass surface structure and adsorption; inverse gas chromotography to measure the energy distribution of surface adsorption sites; weathering and dissolution of glass; organic coatings and glass/polymer interfaces; sputter deposited and sol/gel coatings; biomolecules on glass for DNA and protein arrrays; surface characterization by AFM, XPS, FTIR, SIMS and AES.

Richard R. Parizek, Professor of Geology and Geo-Environmental Engineering, Department of Geosciences
Research: Hydrogeologic studies of fracture-flow dominated karst, coal and glacial-related aquifers. Solid and liquid waste management and pollution control.

Sarma Pisupati, Assistant Professor of Fuel Sciences, Department of Energy and Geo- Environmental Engineering
Research: Air emissions from fossil fuel utilization systems; reduction of NOx by combustion modifications and down stream cleanup; SO2 reduction from stationary combustion sources, volatile organic compound (VOC) emissions from combustion systems trace metal emissions from combustion systems; combustion behavior of fossil fuels in fined; fluidized and pulverized modes.

John M. Regan, Assistant Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Research: Biological processes with an emphasis on nutrient removal, regrowth in drinking water distribution systems, fermentative biological hydrogen production, microbial fuel cells, methanogenic systems, and molecular microbial ecology.

Barry Scheetz, Professor of Materials, Civil and Nuclear Engineering, Materials Research Lab.
Research: Hazardous and nuclear waste management. Large-scale utilization of industrial by-products for environmental restoration. Remediation of acid mine drainage.

William Sharpe, Professor of Forest Hydrology, Department of Forest Resources
Research: Water quality in private drinking water supplies. The effects of acidic deposition to aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems. Restoration of damaged aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems.

Harold H. Schobert, Professor of Fuel Science, Department of Energy and Geo-Environmental Engineering
Research: Composition, structure, and chemical reactions of coal and its derivatives, graphite and novel structural forms of carbon, development of thermally stable aviation (jet) fuels, novel reactions for petroleum processing.

John M. Skelly, Professor, Plant Pathology
Research: Air pollution, troposphuric ozone; forest effects, native plants, crops. My research and graduate education program focuses on determining the effects of gaseous pollutants (e.g., tropospheric ozone) and the effects of total atmospheric depositions on the health and productivity of Pennsylvania's forest vegetation. Emphasis has been placed on long-term monitoring of ambient pollutant exposures and on the determination of seasonal and long-term exposure/response effects as studied under ambient conditions within natural forest settings.

Jorge O. Sofo, Associate Professorof Physics, Assoc. Professor of Materials Science and Engineering
Research: We develop and apply theoretical and computational methods to link properties and structures. Our work is devoted to understand properties like reactivity, molecular and electronic transport, stability, and optical response of solids, surfaces, clusters and molecules. Our most common tools are Density Functional Theory and other quantum mechanical methods to solve the many-body problem of electrons and atomic nuclei in mutual interaction. We use these tools to do molecular dynamics or Monte Carlo computer simulations at an atomic scale. We also use methods of quantum field theory in statistical mechanics (Green Functions) to study properties at a subatomic scale.

Dan Sykes, Lecturer and Director, Analytical Instructional Laboratories, Dept. of Chemistry and Forensic Sciences Program
Research: Development of inquiry-based research projects for analytical and physical chemistry laboratory courses that are thematically coupled to the core laboratory exercise. Theoretical and spectroscopic investigations of the structures and properties of chemical substances of environmental and forensic concern; fate and transport of in/organic species in soil systems; volatile solubility mechanisms in silicates and silicate glasses; exchange mechanisms between aqueous/organic-rich fluids and mineral surfaces. The fundamental goal of our investigations is to elucidate the correlation between the important macroscopic properties of these materials with interactions at the molecular and atomic levels.

Darrell Velegol, Assistant Professor, Department of Chemical Engineering
Research: Nanoparticle dispersion, bacterial adhesion, cell tractions forces. We measure and model interaction forces between particles (e.g., polymer particles, silica particles), cells (e.g., various bacteria, fibroblasts), and surfaces (e.g., glass, polymer). We have developed "differential electrophoresis" (including video microscopy) to measure sub-piconewton forces, and we use laser trapping to measure forces with particles and cells.

William B. White, Professor of Geochemistry, Department of Geoscience/Material Research Laboratory
Research: Aqueous chemistry, contaminant transport especially in karst aquifers, ground water chemistry

Yuefeng Xie, Associate Professor of Environmental Engineering
Research: Disinfection byproduct analysis and control, wastewater reuse, ship ballast water treatment, crumb rubber filtration, and environmental chemistry and analysis.