CURRENT RESEARCH ACTIVITIES

Currently, I am actively involved in the project of "New York/New Jersey Harbor Contaminated Sediment Processing and Decontamination Technologies” under the federal Water Resources Development Act (WRDA) directed by US EPA Region 2.  The goal of the project is to establish treatment facilities for production of beneficial use products from contaminated dredged material taken from the NY/NJ Harbor.  In addition, my students and I are currently using geographical information system (GIS) as a visualization tool to study the contaminant distributions in the lower Passaic River, New Jersey.  Our goal is using  GIS to integrate and interpret environmental data (e.g., dioxins, PCBs, PAHs, Ag, Pb, Zn, etc.) and information pertinent to coastal management issues in Passaic River.  The emphasis includes developing easily understandable products for predictive models that permits answers to key management questions in the areas of source trackdown. The present project aims to demonstrate a methodology that provides federal and state agencies in their ultimate remedial investigation and feasibility study to: a) determine the nature and extent of pollution in the system, b) characterize various pollutants and identify their probable input sources, c) identify highly concentrated “hot spots” of specific contaminants (e. g., dioxins, PCBs, PAHs, Ag, Pb, Zn, etc), and d) assess the potential ecological impact.

In addition, I am also involved in studying the speciation of chemical compounds and structural characterization of geological materials including sediments using synchrotron x-ray microbeam in collaboration with scientists in the Brookhaven National Laboratory, where I have a guest scientist appointment.

In collaboration with colleagues at the East China Normal University, China, I am  actively involved in biogeochemical cycle and contamination studies in the intertidal zone of the Yangtze River Estuary.