Grad Students :: Gardner :: ERG :: Civil Engineering

Irina Calante was born in Moscow, Russia and grew up in Cuba. She obtained a Bachelors of Science in Civil Engineering at Florida International University, Miami, Florida. Irina is currently an Environmental Engineering graduate student at UNH working in the Environmental Research Group (ERG) with Dr. Kevin Gardner on in-situ remediation of contaminated marine sediments. The topic of research is to investigate the kinetics of polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) dechlorination with different reducers by determining rate limiting factors through sediment characterization, rate of reaction, as well as conducting a small pilot scale study. Desorption experiments for two sediments have been conducted to determine whether PCB desorption from the sediment is a limiting factor for dechlorination. If desorption is a limiting factor its significance would have to be evaluated as well as whether any factors can be manipulated to facilitate the desorption from the sediment. Sediment characterization by organic content, soil type, percent water content are few components that can help identify the limiting factors for dechlorination of PCBs in the complex sediment matrix versus in a pure system. A pilot scale study will be conducted to replicate the in-situ addition of the reducer to the sediment, effectiveness distributing the reducer in the sediment, and foresee any problems that may emerge in a real remediation operation.

Cyndy Carlson Cyndy Carlson is a doctoral student in the Natural Resouces and Earth Systems Science program. At UNH she will be evaluating the efficacy of sustainability metrics for transportation and the built environment, investigating existing transportation and built environment schemes in several case study communities, and verifying recommended metrics through analysis of detailed data for alternative case study communities. These infrastructures will provide a good model for investigating sustainability metrics of other infrastructures (drinking water, waste water, energy production) in future work. The selected transportation and built environment metrics will be packaged such that local planners can use them to analyze qualitative and quantitative metrics for their own community, and to educate residents and public officials on potential impacts of various scenarios.

Cyndy received her undergraduate in Civil Engineering from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, and a Masters in Engineering from Dartmouth College. She then worked for 10 years as a water resources engineer, managing and implementing environmental and water resources projects locally in New England, as well as abroad in the Middle East and the Far East, before returning to school at UNH.

Alberta Carpenter (Birdie) is a doctoral candidate in Environmental Engineering. She received a B.S. in Ocean Engineering from the U.S. Naval Academy. Following her naval service, she worked for 3 ½ years in solid waste management in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. She received her M.S. in Environmental Engineering from Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, PA. She is currently reviewing a Life Cycle Analysis for virgin and recycled materials in highway construction for the Recycled Materials Resource Center. In her spare time, Birdie enjoys most outdoor activities, reading and cooking.

Bob received a B.S. in Soil Science from UNH in 1997. For his Masters, he studied the chemical weathering of recycled materials and its impact on leaching. After completing his course work and research, which included collaboration with Dr. Takayuki Shimaoka of Kyushu University in Japan, Bob spent some time working for the private sector, got married, and started family. Now a proud father of three, Bob returned to UNH in May 2008 and successfully defend his thesis.

Scott Cloutier is a proud native of New Hampshire and grew up in Rochester. Once he graduated high school, he entered the United States Navy for six years where he was a weapons systems electronics technician. He specialized in radars and missile protection of the USS Kauffman (FFG-59). After his service, he spent a year working at a power plant. Through his experiences in the Navy and the power plant, he quickly realized that the environment was in need of help. He moved to Ukiah, California and attended Mendocino College where he gained knowledge and insight relative to the environment and also played college basketball. He then returned to New Hampshire to attend the University of New Hampshire and received his BS in Environmental Engineering in May of 2008.

He is now a graduate student and research assistant studying the most effective, environmentally sustainable, and economically feasible method of providing in-situ degradation, sequestration, treatment and removals of DDT (DichloroDiphenylTrichloroethane) in wetlands sediments. DDT is a highly hydrophobic organochlorine insecticide that was used heavily after World War II and is still used today in third world countries. DDT is an endocrine disruptor and has also been proven to cause cancer.

Once this research is complete, Scott will obtain his Masters of Science in Civil Engineering and will pursue a PhD in the area of Green Engineering and Sustainability. He hopes to someday be a college professor, consultant, author, and is forever motivated to change the direction in which current human practices are sending the Earth. Scott will change the world.

Carolina Gonzalez was born in San Salvador, El Salvador. She got her B.S. in Environmental Technology Management from the University of Mobile, Latin-American campus in Nicaragua. After graduating she worked at the Ministry of Environment of El Salvador in the area of industrial licensing for three years. She is currently working on RMRC Project 31, " Permeable Reactive Barriers for Contaminant Control in Beneficial Use Applications in Highways," with Dr. Taylor Eighmy and Dr. Kevin Gardner. The project aims at developing a new technology that can use permeable reactive barriers below large recycled materials applications (road base, embankments) to intercept contaminants that may leach at low levels. The research focuses on removal kinetics, characterization of reaction mechanisms, and hydrodynamic fate/transport modeling with various synthetic apatites including, hydroxyapatite, Ca₅(PO₄)₃OH, fluorapatite, Ca₅(PO₄)₃F, and carbonate apatite, Ca₅(PO₄,CO₃)₃(OH).

Emese Hadnagy is a doctoral student in Civil Engineering within the Environmental Research Group. She received a B.S. and an M.S. in Civil Engineering from the Technical University of Budapest, Hungary, and an M.S. in Civil Engineering from the University of New Hampshire, Durham, NH. For her Master's degree in Hungary, she worked on the water budget and nutrient (nitrogen and phosphorus) cycling in the Danube watershed using a global hydrology model. Her Master’s research at UNH involved studying the removal of arsenic from drinking water by various adsorbent materials. Presently, she is working on the dechlorination of polychlorinated biphenyls in pure systems and sediments by Mg/Pd bimetallic particles.

Jennifer Leipold graduated from the University of New Hampshire's Whittemore School of Business in May 2001. She worked for 2.5 years before deciding to come back to UNH to get her master's degree in the Civil Engineering Department with the Environmental Research Group. She is currently a research assistant for Kevin Gardner studying the capacity of alkaline waste materials such as recycled concrete fines to uptake carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.

Jenn's research relates to the construction and demolition of concrete roadbeds and curbing, buildings, bridge supports, and airport runways creates multiple waste streams including recycled concrete fines (RCF), metal, wood, and carbon dioxide gas (CO₂). Unlike the larger recycled concrete aggregate (RCA), which is used as aggregate filler and sub-road base, disposal of RCF, in some way, is necessary. In addition to the waste materials generated at the end of concrete life, the cement itself yields about 1 ton of CO₂ emissions per ton of clinker produced. The calcination of limestone and the combustion of fuels each contribute about half of the total emissions. Therefore, the production of CO₂ attributable to the concrete industry is a significant contributor to overall greenhouse gas emissions.

The purpose of this research is, first, to prove that carbon sequestration is possible using RCF, second, to demonstrate that the reaction doesn't readily occur on its own, and, third, to identify potential applications for the process to take place. The fundamental reaction (equation 1) is governed by properties such as water content, particle size, and concentration and humidity of CO2 present. Although the reaction is thermodynamically spontaneous, Equation 1, ambient RCF piles don't readily absorb CO2 from the atmosphere because of a number of rate limiting mechanisms. One of these is the contact of CO2 with fresh surface area of the material. Increasing the amount of air in contact with RCF may enhance carbonation reaction rates.

Ca(OH)₂ + CO₂ CaCO₃ + H₂O (1)
Gf = -868 kJ/mol + -394 kJ/mol -1129 kJ/mol + -237 kJ/mol ==> Gf = -105 kJ/mol

RCF has several properties which make it a viable material for the proposed reaction to take place. First, it is hydrophilic and will maintain a suitable water content from natural precipitation, and the particle size of RCF vs. RCA are more favorable for the reaction as they have a higher surface area.

Linda Rauch is working on her Master's degree in Environmental Engineering. She graduated from McGill university in 1995 with a B.Eng. in Chemical Engineering. She spent 8 years working in the biotechnology industry before deciding to return to school to pursue her interest in environmental work.

Her research work will involve the evaluation of a treatment method for polychloronaphthalene and dioxins in contaminated sediments

Shannon Rogers is a doctoral student in the Natural Resources and Earth Systems Science program and she is studying sustainable science and engineering issues. Her specific dissertation research is focusing on measuring sustainability in communities, including social, built, and transportation infrastructures. The final outcome of the work will provide methods and measures for more sustainable planning and development. This work is collaborative and interdisciplinary as it is at the intersection of social science, engineering, and policy.

Shannon has an undergraduate degree in environmental studies from Dartmouth College and a master's of science degree in Resource Administration and Management from UNH. She loves the outdoors and enjoys most sports especially golf, soccer, and running.

Bhawana Sharma is a Ph.D. Candidate in Environmental Engineering. Prior to joining the doctoral program at UNH, she completed a Master of Technology in Environmental Engineering and Management from the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur, India in July 2004. She also holds a Master of Science degree in Environmental Science and a Bachelor of Science degree in Life Sciences from University of Rajasthan, Jaipur, India. Her Master's research involved investigations on arsenic mobility in subsurface environment. The objective of her Master's thesis was to test a hypothesis concerning arsenic sequestration by metallic iron in the absence of oxygen. She also worked as a Junior Research Fellow in Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, India, in a project titled, "Assessment of Ozone treatment as a polishing step for a full-scale anaerobic reactor effluent." Her other research interests included the study of the principles and design of waste water treatment and disposal systems. Currently, her research is focused on the preliminary investigation of PAH adsorption on organoclays and activated carbon.

Christopher is a Master's student working on contaminant availability from estuarine sediment under different environmental conditions. He graduated from the University of Vermont in 1998 with a B.A. in Chemistry. After graduating from UVM, he worked for nine months at Resource Laboratories, Inc. in Portsmouth, NH as a lab tech. In January 1999, he joined the Peace Corps as a secondary school teacher in Papua New Guinea. He taught Chemistry, Math, Biology, and Computer Science. In his spare time he enjoys surfing, playing guitar and outdoor activities.

Don is working on his Master’s degree in Environmental Engineering. He received a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Massachusetts Lowell. Don worked 25 years in the telecommunication industry filling billets in metallization, pattern generation, team building facilitation and transportation packaging. After finding early retirement unfulfilling, he decided to return to school to pursue his love of the environment. Don is an avid boater with a goal of helping to improve the coastal environment.

His research focuses on sediment sampling with an emphasis on heavy metal contamination in pore water. A secondary objective is to establish a method to evaluate the effectiveness of geotextile reactive mats in sequestering metals. Don has been examining a diffusion sampling device or peeper. The peeper will produce an equilibrated sample of the sediment pore water. He has also been looking at the push point sampling device that yields a pore water sample of the current conditions.