Research Areas:
Environmental engineering at it's core is working with nature to develop an efficient method to improve a process or to remediate a hazard. Life cycle analysis is key to the sustainability of all engineering disciplines to ensure that projects and processes are both efficient and environmentally sound, now and in the future.
Biofuel LCA
-Soybean meta-analysis
-Full field to pump camelina and carinata biofuel life cycle analysis
-Transportation synergies with oilfield developments
Integrated Crop-Livestock
-Development of an agronomic-perspective LCA of integrated cattle and commodity crop production
Beef Feedlot LCA
​-Feed source and transport analysis
-Nutrient balance and rationing
-Economic assessment
-Nested principal component analysis
-LCA of feedlot system
Life Cycle Analysis
Swine LCA
-Antibiotic use and carry-over into soil
-Feed sourcing and nutrient use efficiency
-LCA of feedlot system
Biopolymer LCA
-High-value bioproduct and biochemical production from lignin
Waste-to-Fuel
Self-Contained Waste Systems
​-Biological assisted decomposition and recycling of household waste and accelerated conversion to methane
-Containerized units with complete closed-loop systems
Mercury
-Atmospheric, sediment, and flood associated contamination
-Flux and transport studies
-Lake sediment core sudies and bioaccumulation
-Contamination due to historic mining
Uranium
-Surface and subsurface water radionuclide and associated heavy metal fate and transport
-Oxidation/redution transport influence
-Historical and recent mining activities
Arsenic
-Contamination due to historic mining
-Arsenic speciation and interaction in sediment and pore water
-Hydrologic transport and mobility
-Reclamation considerations
Heavy Metal Contamination of Water Resources
Uranium ISR Mining
-In-Situ Recovery (ISR) mining of uranium relies on subsurface oxidation-reduction reactions of roll-front deposits which may or may not restablize once mining ceases
-Critical evaluation of restoration goals based on improved geochemical and toxicological characterization of baseline and post-mining site conditions
-in collaboration with Thomas Borch and Thomas Johnson at Colorado State University
General areas
of interest:
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Life Cycle Analyis (LCA)
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Embodied Energy of Water
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Biofuel
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Heavy Metal Remediation
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Water and Waste Systems
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Stormwater
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Eco-Efficiency
Natural Biochemical Contamination of Water Resources
Pine Bark Beetle
-Dissoved organic carbon in streams as a result of beetle tree kill in Black Hills
-Biogeochemical processes in beetle-killed ponderosa pine forests
-Disinfection by-products (DBPs)
-Embodied energy of water treatment
