Carol
A. Johnson
 |
Ph.D. Student Mailing Address: |
Research
interests: Fate and transport of contaminants in the environment,
contaminant remediation, mineral-metal-microbe interactions, naturally-occurring
nanoparticles |
|
| Brief Resesearch Description: Nanoparticles (a few tens of nm in size in at least one dimension) are unique due to their differences in physical, chemical, electronic, and/or optical properties as compared to larger particles. When these nanoparticles are minerals in the environment, the enhanced chemical reactivity can have an important impact on the fate, transport, and transformation of organic and inorganic (i.e. heavy metal) contaminants in the environment. Processes of particular interest include heavy metal sorption onto and coprecipitation with mineral nanoparticles, and metal release due to mineral nanoparticle dissolution. Microbes can also influence these processes, and so it's important to consider both biotic and abiotic mechanisms when studying contaminant fate and transport in the environment. During my visit to the Küsel group at the University of Jena, Germany for 8 months in 2011, I am collaborating with the microbiologists to try make a connection between the mineral nanoparticles formed by bacteria isolates in the presence of heavy metals and what metal-nanoparticle associations we see in the environment. The field site is a former uranium mining site near Ronneburg, Germany in the state of Thuringen. Instruments such as Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) will be used to analyze the nano-sized materials for the presence of heavy metals. | |
| Home |
| Research |
| Publications |
| People |
| Photos |
| News |
| Nano2Earth |
| Contacts |