Mission: To apply expertise in environmental microbiological processes and organic chemistry to address legacy and emerging hazardous waste issues to address water security issues in disadvantaged urban and rural areas.
Project Interests:
- Microbial mechanisms affecting pollutant fate in wildfire-impacted water.
- Microbial biomarkers for soil health in remediated sites.
- Biodegradation of new classes of fire-fighting foams
Current projects:
- Designing combined chemical and biological in-situ remediation of sites polluted with ‘forever chemicals’ per- and polyfluorinated alkyl substances (PFAS)
- PFAS inhibition of microbial remediation of co-contaminants.
- Determining common organohalogens formed during disinfection of pyrogenic organic matter
Olivares Lab 