My training in metal fate and mixture effects in the environment led me to my current
broad area of research: Stormwater Management. The importance of correctly managing
this mixture of metals, PAHs, nutrients, and road salt as it moves from roofs and
roads into waterways has both management and policy implications for what materials
we use on our cars, roads, housing and how the urban landscape is shaped as development
of previously pervious land continues. As part of this focus, the Urban Environmental Biogeochemistry Laboratory (UEBL) has developed new models for understanding the bioavailability of metals to
earthworms (a first step into terrestrial ecosystems), collaborated with industry
partners to develop low maintenance options for decreasing the bioavailability of
copper in roof run-off, provided chemical characterization of yellow perch spawning
grounds, and evaluated toxicity of realistic concentrations of these contaminants
to local amphibian species.
Recent Poster:
Pollutant Removal Efficiencies of Self-Converted Dry Detention Ponds in Baltimore
County, MD (PDF)