My research interests stem from the belief that a better environment leads to a better life. Scientific studies continue to reveal associations between exposure to contaminants in the air we breathe and serious medical conditions, such as heart attacks and lung diseases. In light of these finding, my research focuses on assessing and reducing exposure to airborne contaminants in occupational, indoor, outdoor, and healthcare environments. We utilize innovative laboratory, computational, and field methods, separately and in combinations, to gain insight into the fundamental factors that govern human exposure. Our research has extensively evaluated methods for measuring air pollutants, such as volatile organic compounds and asbestos fibers. More recently we have explored the impact of room characteristics on worker exposure through physical and computational fluid dynamic simulations, and validated these methods in field studies. Exposure to airborne biological contaminants in schools is another topic of our continuing study using chemical/proteomic markers in conjunction with aerosol characterization. Technologies for improving indoor air quality are also being investigated, including filtration, ultraviolet light, and antimicrobial materials.
 

C. Marjorie Aelion

The Biodegradation Laboratory conducts a variety of research including:
1. Microcosm studies designed to detect and quantify many aerobic and anaerobic microbial processes (biodegradation, denitrification, etc.)
2. The development and implementation of encapsulation technology for controlling pH. Microcapsules have been used to control alkaline conditions created during denitrification in laboratory experiments using flow through columns and sediment microcosms.
3. Effects of environmental exposure of pregnant women to metals that can induce neurological damage to children. Measuring soil toxicity and specific metal concentrations in areas with high incidence rates of developmental delay/mental retardation (DD/MR) may link the environmental contamination to higher incidences of DD/MR diagnoses.
 

Geoff I. Scott

Alan W. Decho

Research interests in the Environmental Microbiology Laboratory center on the role of the ‘extracellular polymeric matrix (EPS)’ of microbial biofilms in marine, environmental and health-related processes. We are exploring fundamental biological and chemical processes that occur within biofilms in order to understand how they function, and ultimately how they may be manipulated or controlled. Our laboratory is probing the microspatial organization, physical microarchitecture of EPS, and chemical communication networks of biofilms. We are using recently-developed molecular investigations, chemical approaches, and non-destructive spectroscopic and imaging techniques to investigate biofilms under in-situ and manipulated conditions.
 

Dwayne E. Porter

The Geographic Information Processing Lab, located on the Columbia campus in Room 206 of the new Public Health Research Center (PHRC), supports research that explores the increasingly important roles that technology plays in monitoring, assessing, modeling and managing our environmental resources and associated health issues. Using the tools of Geographic Information Processing (GIP), GIP Lab staff and students develop and apply spatial models to study the impacts of anthropogenic and physiographic influences to environmental resources.
 

G. Thomas Chandler

Research focus in the Meiobenthic Ecology and Estuarine Ecotoxicology Laboratory is on estuarine ecotoxicology, reproductive/endocrine disruption in invertebrates (principally crustaceans), effects of emerging contaminants such as nanomaterials and pharmaceuticals on benthos, sediment biogeochemistry and toxicant bioavailability, deep-sea foraminiferal culture linked to questions in paleoceanography and climate change, and genetic/molecular-scale responses of crustaceans to toxic chemicals.
 

R. Sean Norman

The research emphasis in the Molecular Microbial Ecology Lab focuses on using molecular approaches to explore how bacteria function in the environment. We are currently using state-of-the-art genomic, metagenomic, and bioinformatic approaches to explore three areas of microbial ecology. First, we are examining how bacteria communicate and coordinate gene expression by exploring the diversity of genes involved in bacterial cell density dependent gene regulation and how these processes affect microbial community functional diversity in numerous ecosystems. Secondly, we are interested in understanding how a rapidly expanding urban landscape is affecting the structure and function of microbial communities found throughout South Carolina watersheds. Because urbanization ultimately results in increased runoff of pollutants into the environment, we are examining the genetic capability of bacteria to degrade numerous priority pollutants as well as understanding how these emerging pollutants may be affecting the distribution of bacterial pathogens in the environment. The third area of focus for the laboratory involves exploring the potential of using novel nanotechnology-based therapeutics as an alternative to traditional antibiotic treatment of infectious bacterial infections.
 

Tara L. Sabo-Attwood

Research in the Environmental Molecular Toxicology Laboratory focuses on understanding the molecular mechanisms whereby environmental pollutants cause adverse biological effects on living systems. We are currently using state-of-the-art genomic and proteomic strategies to explore the toxic mechanisms of numerous agents in both human lung systems as well as fish species including zebrafish, medaka and largemouth bass. For the pulmonary studies, we are exploring the effects of asbestos, nanomaterials and xenoestrogens on lung epithelial cells using cell culture and rodent model systems. These experiments involve examining cell signaling pathways that are impacted by the various agents that will offer information regarding key gene targets involved in lung diseases such as fibrosis and cancer. A second focus of our pulmonary studies uses metallic nanorods as biotherapeutic agents to selectively destroy resistant bacterial biofilms that colonize the lung environment. For the fish studies we are assessing the impacts of nanomaterials and xenoestrogens on reproduction and developmental outcomes, using genomics and proteomics techniques to identify biomarkers of exposure.