Tratnyek Research Group · Environmental Chemistry

Biography

Paul Tratnek Paul Tratnyek, Ph.D., Professor and Associate Head of the Division of Environmental and Biomolecular Systems (EBS).

Short Biography

Dr. Paul G. Tratnyek is currently Professor, and Associate Head, in the Division of Environmental and Biomolecular Systems (EBS), Division of Science and Technology (DSE, formerly Oregon Graduate Institute, OGI), at the Oregon Health & Science University OHSU.

He received his Ph.D. in Applied Chemistry from the Colorado School of Mines (CSM) in 1987; served as a National Research Council Postdoctoral Fellow at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Laboratory in Athens, GA (ERD-Athens), during 1988; and as a Research Associate at the Swiss Federal Institute for Water Resources and Water Pollution Control (EAWAG) from 1989 to 1991.

His research concerns the physico-chemical processes that control the fate and effects of environmental substances, including minerals, metals (for remediation), organics (as contaminants), and nanoparticles (for remediation, as contaminants, and in biomedical applications). Since 1992, when he joined the Waterloo University Solvents-In-Groundwater Research Programme, Dr. Tratnyek has lead research on the chemistry of permeable reactive barriers containing zero-valent iron.

His recent work on the structure and reactivity Fe(0)-containing nanoparticles has helped to clarify the potential benefits and drawbacks of using reactive nanoparticles for environmental remediation. Other areas of interest include the physico-chemical properties of iron oxide nanoparticles used in biomedical imaging, oxidation-reduction reactions mediated by naturally-occurring nanoparticles (or nano-structured surfaces), the electrochemical response of nanoparticle based sensors, the effect of micro-scale heterogeneities on photocatalyzed environmental processes, and kinetics of contaminant degradation by chemical oxidants (especially in situ chemical oxidation for groundwater remediation, but also including drinking water disinfection processes).


Curricula Vitae

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Synergistic Activities

  • » Numerous invited presentations on contaminant degradation by iron metal, including plenary talks at the 2nd PRB/RZ Symposium, (14-15 November 2005, Antwerp, Belgium); Theis Conference on Iron in Groundwater, Jackson Hole, WY, 15-18 September 2000; Gordon Research Conference on Environmental Sciences: Water (25-30 June 2000, Plymouth, NH); and Gordon Research Conference on Inorganic Reaction Mechanisms (16-21 February 2003, Ventura, CA).
  • » Invited speaker and/or co-organizer at numerous symposia and conferences on environmental remediation application of nanotechnology, including the 1st International Environmental Nanotech Conference (7-8 October 2008, Chicago, IL); Greener Nano 2008 (10-11 March 2008, Corvallis, OR); 1st Pinhead Institute Workshop on Iron Redox Chemistry (25-28 July 2006, Telluride, CO).
  • » Host and Curator: Online searchable database of literature on remediation with iron and other zero-valent metals. URL: http://cgr.ebs.ogi.edu/ironrefs. For background on this resource, see: Tratnyek, P. G. Keeping up with all that literature: the IronRefs database turns 500. Ground Water Monit. Rem. 2002, 22, 92-94. Further bibliometric analysis of the database was published in 2008.
  • » Host and Curator: Online searchable database of kinetic data for contaminant reaction with chemical oxidants. URL: http://cgr.ebs.ogi.edu/iscokin.
  • » Director: Development team for “MERL” (Metals for Environmental Remediation and Learning), a multimedia CD-ROM for teaching the chemistry of iron walls. Funded by the Dreyfus Foundation. URL: http://cgr.ebs.ogi.edu/merl. Over 2000 copies have been distributed.
  • » Principal Organizer, with T. Grundl (Univ. Wisconsin-Milwaukee) and S. Haderlein (Eberhard-Karls University Tuebingen): “Symposium on Aquatic Redox Chemistry: In Honor of Donald Macalady” American Chemical Society, National Meeting, San Francisco, CA, 21-25 March 2010.
  • » Co-organizer with Brenda Little (NRL, Stennis Space Center): Symposium on Geochemistry and Biogeochemistry of Zero-Valent Metals. 5th Goldschmidt Conf. 20-25 May 2005, Moscow, Idaho.
  • » Co-organizer, with B. Gu (Oak Ridge NL) and U. Mayer (Univ. British Columbia): “Symposium on Biogeochemical Interactions in Permeable Iron (Fe0) Reactive Barriers and Implications for Environmental Remediation” American Geophysical Union, National Meeting, San Francisco, CA, 10-14 December 2001.
  • » Principal Organizer, with E. Roden (Argonne NL) and P. Adriaens (Univ. Michigan): “Symposium on Chemical-Biological Interactions in Contaminant Fate” American Chemical Society, National Meeting, Washington, DC, 20-25 August 2000.
  • » Principal Organizer, with M. Reinhard (Stanford Univ.): “Symposium on Contaminant Remediation with Zero-Valent Iron” American Chemical Society, National Meeting, Anaheim, CA, 2-7 April 1995. This land-mark symposium was the first symposium on this topic.