JANET G. HERING
Professor of Environmental Science and Engineering Executive Officer for Keck Laboratories
jhering@caltech.edu
Research
Societies in both developed and developing nations face long-term issues regarding the management of inorganic contaminants in the environment. In developed countries, significant population growth has occurred in historically-contaminated areas (such as mining regions in the Sierra foothills) and heavily contaminated sites (such as the Hanford Nuclear Reservation, WA) must be remediated in a cost-effective manner. In developing countries, rapid industrialization with insufficient environmental control threatens sensitive ecosystems and human health. These challenges cannot be met without a fundamental science base for the understanding of the biogeochemical controls on metal mobility and ecotoxicity.The Hering research program contributes directly to this science base and provides educational opportunities to future environmental professionals.
The goal of the research conducted in the Hering group is the elucidation of the fundamental biogeochemical processes that govern the behavior of trace metals and other trace inorganic constituents in natural and engineered aquatic systems. This fundamental understanding is essential in problems ranging from the accurate prediction of the mobility and ecotoxicological effects of trace metals in natural waters to the rational design of treatment systems for contaminant removal.
This research effort extends from molecular level spectroscopic investigations through bench-scale testing of treatment technologies to field studies of the fate and transport of trace metals. A unifying theme of this broad scope of work is the investigation of metal complexation reactions, both in solution and at the mineral-water interface.
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