Group
Prof. Brandy Toner
Group leader
at the Soudan Underground Mine, MN
Lindsey Briscoe
Lab manager
In addition to setting up equipment and safety protocols for the new lab, Ms. Briscoe is an active researcher. She participates in synchrotron-radiation instrument time (X-ray absorption spectroscopy) and has recently built a batch-reactor system for laboratory experiments. The primary research project that Lindsey is working on involves building a systematic understanding of how natural organic molecules modulate the mineral structure and surface reactivity of iron (Fe) and manganese (Mn) oxide minerals.
Sarah Nicholas
Ph.D. student - Land and Atmospheric Science
at the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources rotary sonic core archive in Hibbing, MN
Ryan Lesniewski
Research technician
Mr. Lesniewski's research involves comparing bacterial communities from different spatial, thermal, and geochemical environments. Currently, he is comparing bacterial communities from weathered sulfide rocks taken from the East Pacific Rise, to other communities from deep-sea environments. The goal of this research is to understand how each community relates to one other, and better understand the chemical cycling and alteration of the seafloor environment caused by the metabolic processes of the microbes.
Shahida-Parvin Quazi
Postdoctoral researcher
Dr. Quazi's research background is in environmental quality and remediation, and her interest lie in studying the fate, bioavailability and remediation of organic/ inorganic contaminants. Her research at the University of Minnesota will involve the determination of phosphorus (P) speciation in soils with a long history of P-rich biosolid addition under controlled agricultural management. The synchrotron-radiation X-ray spectromicroscopy approach involved in this study will provide a better understand the chemical forms of P in biosolid treated soils such that high agricultural productivity can be maximized and P loss to surface and ground waters minimized.
Sofia Oufqir
Visiting Ph.D. student
Ms. Oufqir is a visiting student from Mohammed El Azzouzi's group in the Chemistry Department at the University of Mohamed V-Agdal, Morocco.
Sofia's research aims to reveal the impacts of humic substances on bioavailability of metals in contaminated environments. She plans to study the behavior of humic complexes with metal ions and their reactivity with clay mineral surfaces. In this context, she plans to measure and model the adsorptive properties of humic substances and define the longevity of humics-clay-metal complexes.