Yong Cai - Environmental chemistry of organometallic compounds, which include the development of new analytical techniques for speciation of some important organometallics and their fate and transport in the environment. The present research is focusing on the development of new sample preparation and analytical methods for the determination of organomercury compounds in environmental samples (soil/sediments,water, biota), and the biogeochemical cycling of mercury in the aquatic ecosystems.

Kenneth G. Furton - Physicochemical studies and applied aspects of separation science employing gas, liquid, and supercritical fluids. Recent research has focused on the development of ion pair chromatography (HPLC) for haloacetic acids in drinking water, the design and optimization of microextractors for improved extraction efficiencies and the use of high temperature SFE for selective recovery of target analytes (including polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and polychlorinated biphenyls) from environmental matrices.

Konstantinos Kavallieratos-Novel materials for selective separation and sensing of environmentally important ions. Investigating the coordination chemistry of toxic metals (Pb, Cd, Hg) and designing efficient hosts via self-assembly, can lead to selective ionophores for separation applications, and fabrication of sensitive ion-sensing devices. Hydrogen bond donor ligands with pendant groups capable of optical or electrochemical response can be attached to polymeric backbones and thus function as selective sensors for target anions of environmental significance. Development of novel metal-ligand systems with tailored catalytic properties, for "green chemistry" applications.

Piero R. Gardinali - Analytical chemistry of persistent organic contaminants. Source and fate of xenobiotics in the environment, with special regard to Dibenzo-p-dioxins, Dibenzofurans,non-, mono- and di-ortho substituted PCBs. Distribution and equilibria of organic contaminants in marine and freshwater ecosystems. Mass spectrometry of organic pollutants and their metabolites (N and P containing pesticides and herbicides, PAHs, Toxaphene and other organochlorinated compounds). Design and implementation of microscale trace organic analytical methods in biotic and abiotic environmental samples. Assessment of environmental toxicants using biomarkers of exposure.

Rudolf Jaffe - Environmental pollution studies concerning the aquatic and atmospheric environment. Of particular interest is the fate and transport of organic pollutants and heavy metals, primarily mercury. Other interests include research on organic geochemistry of recent (water, sediments, soils) and ancient (sedimentary rocks, petroleum) environments, particularly molecular biogeochemistry of natural organic components in tropical lakes and rivers, studies concerning the speciation of organic compounds in recent and ancient sediments, and research on oil spills. Analytical methods development for environmental and geochemical applications directed towards the improvement of sample workup procedures for GC, GC/MS and GFAAS analyses. Development of novel methods for the analysis of organic mercury in environmental samples via GC/AFS and extraction procedures for organic compounds by SFE.

Jeffrey Joens - Electronic spectra of small molecules; both the experimental measurement and theoretical modeling of electronic absorption spectra of small molecules with application to atmospheric chemistry and gas and solution phase photochemistry. Thermochemical properties of molecular complexes; development of a new experimental technique for investigating weakly bound molecular complexes, which is now being used to investigate such complexes in solution and in the gas phase. Applications include development of acid/base scales for Lewis donor and acceptor molecules, and organic and inorganic reactions of complexes.

Kevin O'Shea - The characterization of reactive intermediates and reaction mechanisms in the area of organic chemistry. Current investigations involve both basic and practical aspects of semiconductor catalyzed photooxidations, mechanistic studies of photooxidations involving singlet oxygen, and the use supercritical fluids as a medium for investigating solvent effects. Of particular interest and significant importance is the study of reactions on photoexcited semiconductor surfaces. The goal of these investigations is to probe, understand, and establish the requirements for adsorption and reactivity, the nature of the intermediates, and the reaction pathways involved in semiconductor catalyzed photooxidation of organic substrates. These studies are essential for the development and exploitation of practical aspects such as semiconductor catalyzed photo-degradation of toxic chemicals.

J. Martin E. Quirke - Primary research interests are centered on porphyrin and metalloporphyrin chemistry. Research areas include: (a) Synthesis, isolation and characterization of geoporphyrins. The objective is to determine more precisely the potential of these molecules for oil exploration. (b) Investigation of the role of the chelated metal ion on metalloporphyrin physical and chemical properties by spectroscopic and calorimetric techniques. This is useful both in exploring the potential role of porphyrins as catalysts and in understanding biological and geological procedures. (c) Electrospray mass spectrometric analysis of simple organic molecules. The goal is to improve selectivity and sensitivity of detection of environmentally-sensitive materials. (d) Characterization of phototoxic natural products.