education and training
- Ph.D., University of Maryland, College Park , Marine, Estuarine and Environmental Sciences 1985
- B.A., Cornell University , Biochemistry 1980
Gilmour, Cynthia Fellowship Advisor Staff of Smithsonian Environmental Research Center
Positions
- Senior Scientist, Smithsonian Environmental Research Center 2004 -
- Associate Director, The Academy of Natural Sciences, Estuarine Research Center 2003 - 2004
Trace metal biogeochemistry, particularly mercury: mechanisms and control of microbial mercury methylation from the cellular to ecosystem level; microbial ecology of estuarine, lacustrine and wetland systems; sulfate-reducing bacteria and sulfur biogeochemistry
Research Areas
Background And Education
Research And Grants
investigator on
- Actively Shaken In Situ Passive Sampler Platform for Methylmercury and Organics awarded by US DOD Strategic Environmental Research and Development Program 2019 -
- Methylation Potential of Mercury Sulfides for Different Groups of the Methylating Microbial Community awarded by Duke University 2019 -
- Passive Samplers and Carbon Amendments for Monitoring and Remediation of Mercury Contaminated Wetland Sediments awarded by University of Maryland, Baltimore County 2019 -
- Response of Maryland Coastal Plain Watersheds to Mercury Emissions Regulations: Long-term Mercury Monitoring in Small Watersheds at the Smithsonian En awarded by Maryland Department of Natural Resources 2019 -
- 2016 - 2018 Chloride Project Monitoring awarded by State of Maryland
- A Long-term Ecosystem-Level Mercury Deposition, Fate and Transport Study of a Coupled Estuarine/Terrestrial Ecosystem at SERC awarded by University of Maryland, College Park
- A Long-term Ecosystem-Level Mercury Deposition, Fate and Transport Study of a Coupled Estuarine/Terrestrial Ecosystem at SERC awarded by University of Maryland, College Park
- A Study to Determine the Effect of Carbon-Based Amendments on Bioaccumulation of THg and MeHg in Leptocheirus plumulosus awarded by Exponent, Inc
- Actively Shaken In Situ Passive Sampler Platform for Methylmercury and Organics awarded by US DOD Strategic Environmental Research and Development Program
- Actively Shaken In Situ Passive Sampler Platform for Methylmercury and Organics awarded by US DOD Strategic Environmental Research and Development Program
- Approaches to Estimate the Efficacy of AC Amendments in Reducing Organismal Exposure to Hg and MeHg in Berry's Creek Marshes awarded by Exponent, Inc
- Assessing the Biouptake of THg and MeHg from BCSA North Ditch Sediment awarded by Exponent, Inc
- Assessment of Hg Complexation in FGD Water Treatment Systems, and its Relationship to Treatability awarded by Electric Power Research Institute
- Assessment of Hg and Se Removal Mechanisms in Anaerobic FGD Water Treatment Systems awarded by Electric Power Research Institute
- Berry's Creek Post-treatment Monitoring 2013 awarded by Exponent, Inc
- Biogeochemical Transformations at Critical Interfaces awarded by UT-Battelle
- Development of In-Situ Mercury Remediation Approaches Based on Methylmercury BIOA awarded by University of Maryland, Baltimore County
- EPA Support for METAALICUS 2010 awarded by U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
- EPRI Gavin FGD Leachate Pond Study awarded by Electric Power Research Institute
- Effects of Climate Change on Mercury Cycling and Bioaccumulation in the Great Lakes Region awarded by Reed Harris Environmental Ltd
- Evaluating the Efficacy of a Low-impact Delivery System for the In-situ Treatment of Sediments Contaminated with Methylmercury and Other Hydrophobic Chemicals awarded by Exponent, Inc
- Field Pilot Study of in-situ sorbent Remediation (Activated Carbon) of Mehylmercury in Berry's Creek Marsh awarded by Exponent, Inc
- Field Pilot Study of in-situ sorbent Remediation (Activated Carbon) of Mehylmercury in Berry's Creek Marsh awarded by Exponent, Inc
- Field pilot study of activated carbon to reduce in situ bioavailability of Methylmercury and PCBs in marsh sediments of the Berry's Creek Study area ( awarded by Exponent, Inc
- Independent Scientific Review of Mercury Control Studies awarded by Delta Stewardship Council
- Linking Data from Laboratory and Field Investigations of Mercury Transformation, Bioaccumulation, and Remediation awarded by University of Maryland, Baltimore County
- Long-term Ecosystem-Level Mercury Monitoring Site in a Coupled Estuarine/Terrestrial Ecosystem at the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center awarded by University of Maryland, College Park
- Long-term Ecosystem-Level Mercury Monitoring Site in a Coupled Estuarine/Terrestrial Ecosystem at the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center awarded by University of Maryland, College Park
- Long-term Ecosystem-level Mercury Monitoring Site in a Coupled Estuarine/Terrestrial Ecosystem at the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center 2011 awarded by State of Maryland
- Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera (LROC) awarded by Arizona State University
- MDE Back River Chloride Project 2016-2017 awarded by State of Maryland
- MDE Jones Falls 2014 Sampling
- METAALICUS Part II: The Fate of Mercury in Watersheds and the Reponse of Lake 658 to Decreased Mercury Load awarded by University of Maryland, College Park
- Mercury/Methylmercury Isotherm Studies awarded by Exponent, Inc
- Microbial Mercury Methylation Processes awarded by UT-Battelle
- Penobscot River Mercury Study - Studies on Mercury Methylation awarded by ENVIRON International Corporation
- Penobscot River Remediation Study Review and Advising Services 2017 awarded by AMEC Foster Wheeler
- Phase 2 South River Sediment Amendment Studies: Impacts of Activated Carbon Amendment on Methylmercury Production awarded by Exponent, Inc
- Preliminary sampling 2012 in Berry's Creek awarded by Exponent, Inc
- Smithsonians Global Change Research Facilities for Large-scale Ecological Forecasting awarded by National Science Foundation
- Studies of Microbial HG Methylation under the Mercury Science Focus Area at the ORNL. awarded by UT-Battelle
- Studies of Microbial Hg Methylation under the Mercury Focus Area at UT-Battelle awarded by UT-Battelle
- Work Plan Development for Berry's Creek New Jersey Sediment Remediation Pilot Study awarded by Exponent, Inc
Publications
selected publications
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article
- Determining the Reliability of Measuring Mercury Cycling Gene Abundance with Correlations with Mercury and Methylmercury Concentrations. Environmental Science & Technology. 53:8649-8663. 2020
- Development of a Novel Equilibrium Passive Sampling Device for Methylmercury in Sediment and Soil Porewaters. Environmental toxicology and chemistry / SETAC. 39:323-334. 2020
- Impact of dissolved organic matter on mercury and methylmercury sorption to activated carbon in soils: implications for remediation. Environmental Science: Processes & Impacts. 21:485-496. 2020
- The assessment and remediation of mercury contaminated sites: A review of current approaches. Science of the Total Environment. 707:Article 136031. 2020
- Carbon Amendments Alter Microbial Community Structure and Net Mercury Methylation Potential in Sediments. Applied and Environmental Microbiology. 84:UNSP e01049-17-UNSP e01049-17. 2018
- Challenges and opportunities for managing aquatic mercury pollution in altered landscapes. Ambio. 47:141-169. 2018
- Distribution and biogeochemical controls on net methylmercury production in Penobscot River marshes and sediment. Science of the Total Environment. 640-641:555-569. 2018
- Persistent Reductions in the Bioavailability of PCBs at a Tidally Inundated Phragmites australis Marsh Amended with Activated Carbon. Environmental toxicology and chemistry / SETAC. 2018
- Robust Mercury Methylation across Diverse Methanogenic Archaea. Mbio. 9. 2018
- Activated carbon thin-layer placement as an in situ mercury remediation tool in a Penobscot River salt marsh. Science of the Total Environment. 621:839-848. 2017
- Sulfurization of Dissolved Organic Matter Increases Hg-Sulfide-Dissolved Organic Matter Bioavailability to a Hg-Methylating Bacterium. Environmental Science & Technology. 51:9080-9088. 2017
- Development and Validation of Broad-Range Qualitative and Clade-Specific Quantitative Molecular Probes for Assessing Mercury Methylation in the Environment. Applied and Environmental Microbiology. 82:6068-6078. 2016
- Global prevalence and distribution of genes and microorganisms involved in mercury methylation. Science Advances. 1. 2015
- MERCURY in the Anthropocene Ocean. Oceanography. 27:76-87. 2014
- Modeling Sulfate Transport and Distribution and Methylmercury Production Associated with Aquifer Storage and Recovery Implementation in the Everglades Protection Area. Sustainability of Water Quality and Ecology. 3/4:33-46. 2014
- Activated Carbon Mitigates Mercury and Methylmercury Bioavailability in Contaminated Sediments. Environmental Science & Technology. 47:13001-13010. 2013
- Draft Genome Sequences for Three Mercury-Methylating, Sulfate-Reducing Bacteria. Genome Announcements. 1:e00618-13. 2013
- Effect of Dissolved Organic Matter Source and Character on Microbial Hg Methylation in Hg–S–DOM Solutions. Environmental Science & Technology. 47:5746-5754. 2013
- Evaluation of biochars and activated carbons for in situ remediation of sediments impacted with organics, mercury, and methylmercury. Environmental Science & Technology. 47:13721-13729. 2013
- Mercury Methylation by Novel Microorganisms from New Environments. Environmental Science & Technology. 47:11810-11820. 2013
- A Detailed Assessment of the Kinetics of Hg-Cell Association, Hg Methylation, and MeHg Degradation in Several Desulfovibrio Species. Applied and Environmental Microbiology. 78:7337-7346. 2012
- Dissolved organic matter enhances microbial mercury methylation under sulfidic conditions. Environmental Science & Technology. 46:2715-2723. 2012
- Nutrient supply and mercury dynamics in marine ecosystems: A conceptual model. Environmental research. 119:118-131. 2012
- Tidal exchange of total mercury and methylmercury between a salt marsh and a Chesapeake Bay sub-estuary. Biogeochemistry. 111:583-600. 2012
- Dissolved Organic Matter in the Florida Everglades: Implications for Ecosystem Restoration. Critical Reviews in Environmental Science and Technology. 41:217-248. 2011
- Electron donors and acceptors influence anaerobic soil organic matter mineralization in tidal marshes. Soil Biology & Biochemistry. 43:1576-1583. 2011
- Genome Sequence of Mercury-Methylating Desulfovibrio desulfuricans ND132. Journal of Bacteriology. 193:2078-2079. 2011
- Genome Sequence of Mercury-Methylating and Pleomorphic Desulfovibrio africanus strain Walvis Bay. Journal of Bacteriology. 193:4037-4038. 2011
- Sulfate-Reducing Bacterium Desulfovibrio desulfuricans ND132 as a Model for Understanding Bacterial Mercury Methylation. Applied and Environmental Microbiology. 77:3938-3951. 2011
- Sulfur in the South Florida Ecosystem: Distribution, Sources, Biogeochemistry, Impacts, and Management for Restoration. Critical Reviews in Environmental Science and Technology. 41:249-288. 2011
- Mercury and methylmercury cycling in sediments of the mid-Atlantic continental shelf and slope. Limnology and Oceanography. 55:2703-2722. 2010
- Distinct Microbial Behavior of Re Compared to Tc: Evidence Against Microbial Re Fixation in Aquatic Sediments. Geomicrobiology Journal. 26:470-483. 2009
- Methylmercury production in sediments of Chesapeake Bay and the mid-Atlantic continental margin. Marine Chemistry. 114:86-101. 2009
- Methylmercury production in a Chesapeake Bay salt marsh. Journal of Geophysical Research. 113:G00C04. 2008
- Recovery of mercury-contaminated fisheries. Ambio. 36:33-44. 2007
- Whole-ecosystem study shows rapid fish-mercury response to change in mercury deposition. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 104:16586-16591. 2007
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chapter
Affiliation
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Location
- Smithsonian Environmental Research Center Research Organization
