Research Group Highlights
August 30th - Our recent work on "Fate, Transformation, and Toxicological Impacts of Pharmaceutical and Personal Care Products in Surface Waters" was published in Environmental Health Insights. Congratulations Sabino for your second publication.
August 21st - Eshani presented her latest work on "Mineralogy Dependent Dissolution of Inhaled Uranium in Simulated Lung Fluids in Uranium Mine Lands" at the American Chemical Society (ACS) National Fall Meeting, Boston, MA.
August 20th - Gayan Rubasinghege presented our latest work on "Stability and Biological Activities of Pharmaceuticals and Personal Care Products in Open Water Bodies: Roles of Environmental Factors" at the American Chemical Society (ACS) National Fall Meeting, Boston, MA.
July 31st - Eshani Hettiarachchi discuss a poster on "Effect of Mineralogy in Leaching of Inhaled Uranium in Simulated Lung Fluids" at the New Mexico INBRE conference in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
July 31st - Nishanthi Ellepola presented her work on "Ecotoxicological and Biotoxicological effects of Ibuprofen Secondary Products" at the New Mexico INBRE conference in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
July 31st - Dr. Rubasinghege discuss our latest work on "Fate, Transformation and Toxicological Impacts of Pharmaceutical and Personal Care Products in Surface Waters" at the New Mexico INBRE conference in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
June 4th - Our recent work on "Iron dissolution and speciation in atmospheric mineral dust: Metal-metal synergistic and antagonistic effects" was published in Atmospheric Environment. Congratulations Eshani for your third publication.
June 1st - Sabino Maldonado-Toress was awarded a summer research internship at the Harvard-Amgen Scholars Program. Congratulations Sabino...!!!
May 16th - Eshani Hettiarachchi presented her research work on "Mineralogy Dependent Dissolution of Inhaled Uranium in Simulated Lung Fluids in Uranium Mine Lands” in the Geological Society of America (GSA) Meeting at Flagstaff, AZ.
May 12th - Andrew Chan (Petroleum Engineering) and Matthew Davenport (Chemical Engineering) graduated with their Bachelor's Degree. Matt already accepted for a PhD program in in the Chemical Engineering at the University of Texas. Congratulations to both of you...and wish you all the best with future endeavors...!!!
May 8th - Eshani Hettiarachchi addressed the "Metals Super Fund Research" at University of New Mexico group to shared her recent work on "Uranium Mineralogy and Dissolution of Uranium in Simulated Lung Fluids: Experimental Investigations and Geochemical Modeling."
April 18th - Eshani Hettiarachchi presented her research on “Dissolution of Inhaled Uranium in Simulated Lung Fluids” at the Student Research Symposium, New Mexico Tech.
Nishanthi Ellepola delivered a talk on "Environmental Impact of Pharmaceuticals" at the Student Research Symposium, New Mexico Tech.
March 31st - NIH-INBRE grant was successfully renewed for the year year of funding.
March 27th - Eshani Hettiarachchi presented her research work on "Mineralogy Dependent Dissolution of Inhaled Uranium in Simulated Lung Fluids in Uranium Mine Lands, New Mexico” in the Annual workshop on Making Abandoned Mine Lands (AML) Profitable at New Mexico Tech.
January 20th - Center for Integrated Nanotechnology (CINT) approved our user proposal. A new collaboration was established with Dr. Sergei A. Ivanov to investigate the link between biological activity of ocean diatoms and atmospheric processing of Fe-containing nanoparticles.
January 12th - Our latest work on “Bioavailable iron production in atmospheric aerosol dust” was published in Journal of Physical Chemistry A. Congratulations Eshani for your first publication!!!
January 10th - A new collaboration was established with Dr. Pabitra Chaudhry (Chemical Engineering, NMT) to investigate the feasibility of energy conversion from methane to methanol.
January 1st - Milton Das, a first year graduate student, joined the research group. Welcome to the group Milton!!!
December 15th - Gayan Rubasinghege presented our latest work on "Abiotic Degradation and Toxicological Impacts of Pharmaceuticals and Personal Care Products (PPCPs) in Surface Waters: Roles of Mineral Sediments and Solar Radiation" at the American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting 2017, New Orleans, LA.
December 13th - Our work on "Abiotic degradation and environmental toxicity of ibuprofen: Roles of mineral particles and solar radiation" was published in Water Research. Congratulations to all the authors!!! The link to this article is https://doi.org/10.1016/j.watres.2017.12.016.
December 12th - Eshani Hettiarachchi successfully presented her research work on "Effect of Mineralogy on the Dissolution and Speciation of Iron Containing Mineral Oxides in Atmospheric Aerosol Dust” at the American Geophysical Union (AGU) Fall Meeting 2017, New Orleans, LA.
October 6th - Eshani Hettiarachchi passed her candidacy examination. Congratulations and good luck with future research work!!!
October 6th - Eshani Hettiarachchi successfully presented her proposal on “Cellulose and Its Derivatives: A Source of Energy & Probable Disease Carrier” at the Chemistry Department Seminar Series, New Mexico Tech. Congratulations!!!
July 20th - Hom Nath Rijal successfully defended his Master thesis on “Abiotic Degradation of Ibuprofen and Clofibric Acid and Their Toxicological Impacts: Role of Solar Flux and Clay Particles". Congratulations Hom!!!
July 2nd - Shaylene Paul, an EPSCoR STEMAP student, joined the group to work on a summer project. This is a new collaborative effort with Dr. Daniel Cadol (Hydrology, NMT) and Bonnie Frey (Bureau of geology, NMT).
July 1st - Sabino Maldonado-Torres successfully was selected to a summer internship in the Biomedical Research Program at Yale University. Congratulations Sabino!!!
June 23rd - Gayan Rubasinghege presented research on "Abiotic Degradation and Toxicological Impacts of Pharmaceuticals and Personal Care Products (PPCPs): Roles of Mineral Particles and Solar Flux" at the RAIN Conference, Big Sky, Montana.
June 15th - A new collaboration was established with Dr. Rodolfo Tello-Aburto (Chemistry, NMT) to investigate toxicological impacts of degradation products of selected PPCPs.
June 1st - Nishanthi Ellepolla, 1st year Chemistry graduate student, joined the research group. Welcome Nishanthi!!!
May 5th - Sarah Bockisch successfully defended her Senior thesis project on “Heavy Metal Release from Mineral Dust in Simulated Lung Fluids and Health Implications”. Congratulations Sarah!!!
April 19th - Eshani Hettiarachchi presented (both poster and oral) her research on “Atmospheric Processing of Mineral Dust Aerosol; A Bioavailable Source of Iron” at the Student Research Symposium, New Mexico Tech.
March 31st - NIH-INBRE grant was successfully renewed for the year year of funding.
March 31st - Eshani Hettiarachchi successfully delivered a talk on “Atmospheric Processing of Mineral Dust Aerosol; A Bioavailable Source of Iron” at the Chemistry Department Seminar Series, New Mexico Tech.
March 18th - Dr. Rubasinghege presented the latest findings on "Abiotic Degradation and Environmental Toxicity of Selected Pharmaceutical and Personal Care Products: Roles of Mineral Particles and Solar Flux” at the NM-INBRE Conference, Santa Fe, NM.
March 18th - Sabino Maldonado won the first place for his oral presentation on “The Environmental Fate of Ibuprofen and Its Toxicity on the Environment’s Microbiome” at the NM-INBRE Conference, Santa Fe, NM. Congratulations Sabino!!!
March 18th - Andrew Chan successfully presented his work on “Controlled Degradation of BPA in the Presence of Kaolinite and the Toxicological Implications of Secondary Products” at the NM-INBRE Conference, Santa Fe, NM.
March 18th - Sarah Bockisch successfully presented her work on “Heavy Metal Release from Mineral Dust in Simulated Lung Fluids and Health Implications” at the NM-INBRE Conference, Santa Fe, NM.
December 8th - Dr. Rubasinghege talked about “Toxicological Impacts of Pharmaceuticals and Personal Care Products on Water Quality: Environmental Fate, Transformation and Health Effects” in the session “Anthropogenic Impacts on Water Pollution and Water Quality in Rivers” at the American Geophysical Union (AGU), San Francisco, CA.
December 5th - Sarah Bockisch successfully presented her literature seminar on "Heavy Metal Release from Mineral Dust in Simulated Lung Fluids and Health Implications"
November 10th - Dr. Rubasinghege presented at the Society for Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (SETAC) conference in Orlando, FL. He talked about “Toxicological Implications of Pharmaceuticals and Personal Care Products on Aquatic Life and Human Health: Roles of Soil Particles and Solar Flux in PPCP Degradation in Open Water Bodies.”
October 19th - A new collaboration was established with Dr. Yang Qin (Department of Chemistry & Chemical Biology, UNM) to investigate selective adsorption of natural grades on novel Cu based metal organic framework (Cu-MOFs).
September 1st - Sarah Bockisch joined the research group as a senior thesis student. Sarah, welcome to the group!!!
August 5th -Sabino Maldonado presented his summer research at the at a joint poster symposium hosted by the Undergraduate Pipeline Network (UPN) at the University of New Mexico. He won the FIRST place. Congratulations!!!
June 8th - Dr. Rubasinghege delivered an invited seminar on “Atmospheric Feed of Bioavailable Iron to Ocean Life: Processing of Ion Containing Mineral Dust under low pH Atmospheric Conditions” at the Department of Chemistry, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka.
June 1st - Sabino Maldonado-Torres was selected for the NM-INBRE Summer Experience (NISE) in summer 2016. Congratulations Sabino!!!
May 10th - Eshani Hettiarachchi, a first year graduate student, joined the research group. Welcome Eshani to the Environmental Chemistry Research!!!
May 5th - Zane Arias successfully defended his senior thesis project on "Heterogeneous Chemistry and Photochemistry of Nitrates and Halogens on Arctic Sea Ice" at the Chemistry Seminar Series, New Mexico Tech.
April 19th - Andrew Chan successfully presented on "Toxicological implications of pharmaceutical and personal care products (PPCPs) on aquatic life and human health" at the Student Research Symposium in New Mexico Tech.
April 1st - NIH-NM-INBRE approved three year funding for Dr. Rubasinghege to investigate "Abiotic degradation and long-term health effects of pharmaceutical and personal care products in open water bodies" .
March 17th - Dr. Rubasinghege presented our latest work on “Environmental Fate, Transformation and Long-term Health Effects of Pharmaceutical and Personal Care Products (PPCPs)” at the NM-INBRE Conference, Santa Fe, New Mexico.
March 17th - Hom Nath Rijal successfully presented his research on "Toxicological implications of ppcps on aquatic life and human health: Roles of soil particles and solar flux in PPCPss degradation in open water bodies" at the NM-INBRE Conference, Santa Fe, New Mexico.
February 2nd - A new research collaboration was established with with Dr. Richard Reynolds and Harland Goldstein (USGS, CO), and Dr. Bruce Moskowitz (University of Minnesota) to investigate new aspects of bioavailable Fe production in atmospheric mineral dust.
December 16th - Dr. Rubasinghege gave a talk on “Atmospheric Processing of Iron-Containing Mineral Dust Aerosol: A Major Source of Bioavailable Iron to Ocean Life” in the session “Long-Range Transport of Dust and Pollution in the Past, Present, and Future” at the American Geophysical Union (AGU), San Francisco, CA.
December 5th - Zane Arias successfully presented his senior thesis literature seminar at the Chemistry Department seminar series, New Mexico Tech.
November 19th - Dr. Rubasinghege delivered an invited seminar on “Atmospheric Feed of Bioavailable Iron to Ocean Life: Processing of Ion Containing Mineral Dust under low pH Atmospheric Conditions” at the Department of Earth and Environmental Science, New Mexico Tech.
October 5th - Mathew Davenport joined the group as volunteer research student. Welcome Mathew to the group!!!
September 1st - Dr. Rubasinghege received funding from NIH-NM-INBRE for a focus project to investigate "Abiotic degradation and long-term health effects of pharmaceutical and personal care products in open water bodies" .
August 17th - Zane Arias joins the research group to complete his senior thesis requirement. He will be investigating halogen reactions on Arctic ice crystals.
August 2nd - Dr. Rubasinghege presented most recent findings at the Gorden Research Conference (GRC)-Atmospheric in Waterville Valley, New Hampshire.
June 1st - Omar Hurub rejoined the Chemistry graduate program as a Master's student and continued his research as a key member in our group.
May 20th - Hom Nath Rijal, a first year graduate student, joined the group. Welcome Hom!!!
May 5th - Omar Hurub successfully defended his senior thesis project and graduated with bachelor's degree in chemistry.
April 20th - Omar Hurub presented his work on “Atmospheric Processing of Ion Containing Minerals: Influence of pH, Mineralogy, Particle Size, and Solar Flux on Dissolution at Low pH Environments” at the 4th Annual Student Research Symposium in New Mexico Tech and received highly positive comments for this work. Congratulations Omar!!!
April 7th - Group attended the NM EPSCoR All Hands Meeting at New Mexico Tech. It was science with fun!!!
March 30th - Dr. Rubasinghege attended a workshop at the Atmospheric Chemistry Center for Observational Research and Data (ACCORD) at National Center for Atmospheric Research, Boulder, CO.
March 15th - Sabino Maldonadop-Torres joined the group as an undergraduate researcher. Welcome Sabino!!!
March 5th - New research collaboration was established with Dr. Menake Piyasena (NMT) and Dr. Snezna Rogelj to investigate "Abiotic degradation and long -term health effects of pharmaceutical and personal care products in open water bodies"
February 1st - Andrew Chen joined the group as volunteer research students. Welcome Andrew!!!
November 21st - Omar Hurub successfully presented his research proposal at the departmental seminar. Congratulations Omar!!!
September 10th - Establishment of new dark room in the Environmental Chemistry laboratory!!!. Thank you all for all your hard work.
September 5th - Sean Standford and Chase Kicker joined the group as volunteer research students. Welcome Sean and Chase.
September 1st - Omar Hurub joins the research group as the first undergraduate student. Welcome Omar to the environmental research.
August 25th - Establishment of the New Environmental Chemistry Research Group at New Mexico Tech!!!