Engineered Critical Zone Laboratory

Earth’s critical zone is the permeable layer (or the Earth’s skin) that extends from the tree top to the bottom of groundwater. Interactions among different components in the critical zone such as rocks, soil, water, air, microbial community, and plants help sustain life on the Earth and keep our environment clean. Our group is focused on the fundamental physical, geochemical, and biological processes that affect contaminant removal in the critical zone, particularly subsurface soil. We apply the knowledge of subsurface processes to develop engineering methods to increase natural removal rates of contaminants from soil and water. Our projects are helpful in developing strategies for the protection and management of land and water resources and to minimize community exposure to various types of chemical and biological contaminants. We use tools such as field observation, manipulative field experiments, bench and pilot scale laboratory experiments, and geochemical and spectroscopic techniques. For details about our current and past research studies, visit the Research page.

We are looking for motivated students/postdocs to join our team. If you are interested, send an email with your CV and a summary of your research interest.