Donald L. Sparks, S. Hallock du Pont Chair Plant and Soil Sciences and Center Director
Research Focus: Reaction (kinetics) rates of metals (e.g., chromium, lead, nickel) and organics (industrial chemicals and pesticides) with soils, clay minerals, iron, aluminum, and manganese oxides, and humic substances; use of surface microscopic and spectroscopic techniques to elucidate mechanisms of metal and organic retention and release on oxide and clay surfaces; employment of atomic force microscopy (AFM), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopy (EPR), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and extended X-ray absorption fine structure spectroscopy (XAFS).
Thomas P. Beebe, Professor Chemistry and Biochemistry
Research Focus: Structure and properties of biomolecules at interfaces; molecule corrals and their uses in understanding molecular interactions in self-assembly; combining scanning probe microscopy with conventional UHV surface spectroscopies; development of new scanning probe methods; particulate air pollution analysis methods development; surface structure and surface reactivity relationships.
Website: http://www.udel.edu/chem/beebe/index.html
Stephen Borleske, Director, Delaware EPSCoR
Research Interests: Dr. Borleske serves as the State EPSCoR Director and a consultant to DBI. Prior to the EPSCoR role, he served as an Associate Director for DBI and was involved in both the development and implementation of the strategic plan for the Institute. Dr. Borleske retired from the DuPont company in 2004 after 32 years of service; while with DuPont he had a wide range of roles in basic and applied research and strategic business planning focused on the development of new products, new markets and new businesses in advanced materials.
In 1991, he served as a congressional fellow to U.S. House of Representatives Science Committee working on Technology Policy. He served as the chairman of the Council of Science and Technology for the state of Delaware and was instrumental in creating the state’s Advanced Technology Center program. He served on the Executive Board for the Delaware Manufacturing Extension Partnership and was the chairman of the Advisory Board for Fraunhofer Center-Delaware. Dr. Borleske has a Ph.D. in organic chemistry from Duke University.
John M. Byrne, Director and Distinguished Professor of Public Policy Center for Energy and Environmental Policy
Research Focus: Political economy; sustainable development; environmental justice; technology, environment and society.
Website: http://ceep.udel.edu/people/faculty/Bios/Byrne_bio.pdf
S. Craig Cary, Professor Marine and Earth Studies
Research Focus: Research is centered primarily on hydrothermal vents and cold seep habitats; bacterial symbiont transmission mechanisms during early development. In situ hybridization and fluorenscense microscopy for quantitative analysis of gene expression of symbionts in response to early developmental processes of host; use of molecular technology in the development of biological indices to better assess condition and levels of adaptation of marine bacteria in extreme environments; development of molecular diagnosic tools to detect and enumerate harmful algal species in Delaware waters.
Website: http://www.ocean.udel.edu/people/profile.aspx?caryc
Dominic M. DiToro, Edward Davis Professor, Civil and Environmental Engineering
Research Focus: Water quality modeling; water quality and sediment quality criteria models for organic chemicals, metals, mixtures; organic chemical and metal sorption models; statistical models.
Website: http://www.ce.udel.edu/directories/profiles/ditoro.html
Yan Jin, Professor, Plant and Soil Sciences
Research Focus: Experimental and theoretical investigation of colloid and colloid-facilitated contaminant transport in porous media: retention and release mechanisms in saturated and unsaturated porous media; fate and transport of viruses in soil; agglomeration, retention, and transport of manufactured nanoparticle in porous media; plant-uptake of nanoparticles from aqueous and porous media. Development of zero-valent iron technology for removal and inactivation of waterborne viruses (and other microorganisms).
Murray V. Johnston III, , Professor Chemistry and Biochemistry
Research Focus: Aerosol mass spectrometry: single particle detection and analysis; heterogeneous chemistry of the atmosphere; particle formation mechanisms; aerosol sampling methodology; field measurements of ambient aerosols; macromolecules in airborne particles. Macromolecule mass spectrometry: mechanisms and applications of photoionization, laser desorption ionization, matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization and electrospray ionization; proteomics; fast two dimensional separations.
Kristi Kiick, Assistant Professor Materials Science and Engineering
Research Focus: Synthesis, characterization, and application of biologically inspired and biologically produced materials; exploring the uses of protein- and peptide-based materials, bio-inorganic composites, and self-assembled networks in a variety of diverse applications such as toxin neutralization, viral inhibition, control of cellular responses, drug delivery, light-emitting films, and biomineralization.
Website: http://www.mseg.udel.edu/faculty_research/faculty_form.php?fnid=3
David L. Kirchman, Maxwell P. and Mildred H. Harrington Professor, Marine and Earth Studies
Research Focus: Microbial ecology of heterotrophic and photoheterotrophic bacteria in aquatic environments (mainly estuaries and oceans); bacterial and degradation of macromolecules and other organic compounds; phylogenetic structure of bacterial assemblages as revealed by molecular techniques.
Website: http://www.ocean.udel.edu/people/profile.aspx?kirchman
Daniel J. Leathers Professor and Delaware State Climatologist, Department of Geography, Environmental Sciences Program, Center for Climatic Research
Research Focus: Major research interests include understanding the role of snow cover in the global climate system, the influence of land-surface changes (natural and human induced) on regional climates, environmental monitoring, environmental policy and resource management, and sustainability of global systems, especially in the context of climate variation, climate change and land-surface surface changes.
Co-director of the Delaware Environmental Observing System (DEOS). DEOS is a support tool for decision makers involved in environmental policy and planning, natural resource management, emergency management, transportation and other activities throughout the Delmarva Peninsula.
George W. Luther, III, Maxwell P. and Mildred H. Harrington Professor, Marine and Earth Studies
Research Focus: Redox reactions in the environment, trace element speciation in marine waters and sediments including metal-ligand complexes, biogeochemical processes in marine environments, application of molecular orbital theory to geochemical processes, in situ electrochemistry and microelectrode technology. Our group also emphasizes research that interfaces chemistry with biology with the view that chemistry drives biology.
Website: http://www.ocean.udel.edu/people/profile.aspx?luther
John F. Rabolt, Karl W. and Renate Boer Professor, Materials Science and Engineering
Research Focus: ElectrospunPolymer Nanofibers; tissue engineering scaffolds; polymer surfaces and interfaces; planar - array IR spectroscopy; nanostructures; FTIR, Raman, and FT-Raman of Organic Materials and Polymers.
Website: http://www.mseg.udel.edu/faculty_research/faculty_form.php?fnid=2
Stanley I. Sandler, Henry Belin du Pont Chair, Chemical Engineering
Research Focus: The major expense in the chemical pharmaceutical industries is the separations and purifications processes that are largely designed on the basis of phase equilibrium. Thermophysical properties and phase equilibria also play important roles in biochemical processing, environmental engineering and risk and safety analysis. Our research program encompasses each of these areas and includes basic theory, experimental measurements, and supercomputer simulation.
Website: http://www.che.udel.edu/directory/facultyprofile.html?id=375
J. Thomas Sims, T.A. Baker Professor, Plant and Soil Sciences
Research Focus: Soil and Environmental Chemistry: Research on the relationship between soil and environmental chemistry and nutrient and trace element cycling in soils and sediments. Development and implementation of environmentally sound soil management programs for agriculture and for industries and municipalities with significant waste management problems.