Dr. Tamar Barkay

Prof. Barkay has been studying various aspects of the interactions of microorganisms with mercury for 35 years. She initiated this research as a graduate student with Dr. Rita Colwell at the University of Maryland and continued it as a postdoctoral fellow at the University of California, Irvine, where she pioneered applications of molecular methods in environmental microbiology. Following 12 years as a research scientist with the Environmental Protection Agency in Gulf Breeze Florida, Prof. Barkay joined the faculty of Rutgers and the Dept. of Biochemistry and Microbiology in the fall of 1999.

Tamar Barkay's Curriculum Vitae

Dr. John Reinfelder

John Reinfelder is a Professor of Environmental Sciences at Rutgers. He is broadly interested in aquatic biogeochemistry including trace metal accumulation and trophic transfer in aquatic food webs, mercury cycling in marine and coastal ecosystems, inorganic carbon accumulation and fixation in marine phytoplankton, and subsurface biogeochemistry of arsenic. Through laboratory and field experimentation, Reinfelder's group has examined the speciation and transformations of mercury in estuaries, the volatilization of mercury from marine surface waters and wetland sediments, and the accumulation of contaminant metals, including mercury, in marine plankton. His work on mercury and other trace metals in atmospheric deposition and surface waters supported efforts to generate Total Maximum Daily Loads for trace metals in New Jersey's watersheds and provided key results that informed the regulation of industrial mercury discharges in the Delaware River basin. Reinfelder teaches Chemical Principles of Environmental Science to undergraduates and Applications of Aquatic Chemistry to graduate students.

John Reinfelder's Curriculum Vitae

Dr. Nathan Yee

Nathan Yee is an Associate Professor at Rutgers University. He is jointly appointmented between the Department of Environment Sciences and Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences. Prof. Yee's research is focused on understanding the impact of subsurface microorganisms on the geochemistry of inorganic elements. A significant component of his current work involves studying Hg redox transformations by anaerobic bacteria. In 2009, Prof. Yee was awarded the Houtermans Medal by the European Society for Geochemistry for his outstanding contributions to geochemistry.

Nathan Yee's Curriculum Vitae