Principal Investigator, Senior Scientist
Research Labs
Phone
443-482-2498
Staff Profile
Biography
Research Interests
I am a biogeochemist and microbial ecologist with special interest in mercury. My group focuses on the microbial mercury methylation process in cultures, sediments and soils. Our research includes mercury fate and transport at multiple scales and in many types of environments, isolation and characterization of Hg-methylating microbes, the bioavailability of Hg for microbial methylation, and novel approaches to remediation of contaminated sites.
Publications
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(2021). Complete Genome Sequence of Desulfobulbus oligotrophicus Prop6, an Anaerobic Deltabacterota Strain That Lacks Mercury Methylation Capability . Microbiology Resource Announcements, 10 (5) https://doi.org/10.1128/MRA.00002-21
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(2020). The assessment and remediation of mercury contaminated sites: A review of current approaches. The Science of the total environment, 707 , Article 136031. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.136031
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(2020). An Improved hgcAB Primer Set and Direct High-Throughput Sequencing Expand Hg-Methylator Diversity in Nature . Frontiers in Microbiology, 11 https://doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2020.541554
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(2020). Development of a Novel Equilibrium Passive Sampling Device for Methylmercury in Sediment and Soil Porewaters . Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry, 39 (2) , 323-334. https://doi.org/10.1002/etc.4631
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(2019). Determining the Reliability of Measuring Mercury Cycling Gene Abundance with Correlations with Mercury and Methylmercury Concentrations. Environmental science & technology, 53 (15) , 8649-8663. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.8b06389
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(2019). Impact of dissolved organic matter on mercury and methylmercury sorption to activated carbon in soils: implications for remediation . Environmental Science: Processes & Impacts, 21 , 485-496. https://doi.org/10.1039/C8EM00469B
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(2018). Carbon Amendments Alter Microbial Community Structure and Net Mercury Methylation Potential in Sediments. Applied and Environmental Microbiology, 84 (3) , UNSP e01049-17-UNSP e01049-17. https://doi.org/10.1128/AEM.01049-17
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(2018). Distribution and biogeochemical controls on net methylmercury production in Penobscot River marshes and sediment. Science of The Total Environment, 640-641 , 555-569. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2018.05.276
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(2018). Challenges and opportunities for managing aquatic mercury pollution in altered landscapes. Ambio, 47 (2) , 141-169. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13280-017-1006-7
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(2018). Persistent Reductions in the Bioavailability of PCBs at a Tidally Inundated Phragmites australis Marsh Amended with Activated Carbon. Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry, 37 (9) , 2496-2505. https://doi.org/10.1002/etc.4186
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(2017). Activated carbon thin-layer placement as an in situ mercury remediation tool in a Penobscot River salt marsh. The Science of the total environment, 621 , 839-848. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2017.11.050
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(2017). Sulfurization of Dissolved Organic Matter Increases Hg-Sulfide-Dissolved Organic Matter Bioavailability to a Hg-Methylating Bacterium. Environmental science & technology, 51 (16) , 9080-9088. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.7b02781
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(2016). Development and Validation of Broad-Range Qualitative and Clade-Specific Quantitative Molecular Probes for Assessing Mercury Methylation in the Environment. Applied and Environmental Microbiology, 82 (19) , 6068-6078. https://doi.org/10.1128/AEM.01271-16
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(2015). Global prevalence and distribution of genes and microorganisms involved in mercury methylation . Science Advances, 1 (9) https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.1500675
