Ashford Chamber Projects
Assistant Professor
Department of Civil Engineering
State University of New York at Buffalo
212 Ketter Hall, Buffalo, NY 14260
Phone: (716) 645-2114 ext. 2328
Fax: (716) 645-3667
E-mail: kchorn@eng.buffalo.edu
Dr. Hornbuckle's research concerns the exchange of semi-volatile organic compounds (SOCs) across atmospheric interfaces. She is interested in the behavior of SOCs at interfaces as it affects fate and transport of these compounds. The rate and overall tendency of a compound to cross atmospheric boundaries influences long-range chemical atmospheric transport, ecosystem and human exposure, and eventual fate of the compound. The compounds Dr. Hornbuckle studies degrade slowly under normal environmental conditions, are widely produced as a result of human activity, and tend to bioaccumulate. These compounds include DDT, its derivatives and other chlorinated pesticides, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). These compounds have been distributed globally and have been found in virtually all environmental compartments.
Recent work by Dr. Hornbuckle and her graduate students on the Great Lakes have used air, water, and sediment samples collected aboard research vessels such as the Environmental Protection Agency's R/V Lake Guardian. Air and water samples collected simultaneously are used to predict the direction and magnitude of chemical exchange in the Great Lakes. Some compounds are deposited to the lake surface while other compounds volatilize from the lake surface. PCBs, for example, are usually volatilizing (net exchange) from the Great Lakes to the air. This is a result of current and historical contamination of the water and sediments with PCBs. PAHs, on the other hand, are usually deposited (net exchange) from the air to the water surface. This is because PAHs are produced through combustion processes and released to the air directly. They enter lakes through particle deposition or gas absorption. Both types of compounds are of great interest because of their known or suspected toxicity to animals.
Other work, in terrestrial environments, involves examining the tendency of a chemical to continue to cycle in the environment rather than be removed via sedimentation or burial. Natural 'cleansing' of these compounds from the environment may occur over time as the chemicals sorb to plant and soil surfaces and are eventually buried as the leaves die and soil is tilled. Unfortunately, there is some indication that instead of burial, the chemicals re-volatilize back into the atmosphere. Mathematical models constructed as a function of temperature, plant composition and chemical properties are used to predict chemical behavior. Field sampling and large environmental chambers are used to confirm the models' hypotheses.
Ph.D. (Civil Engineering) January 1996. University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Department of Civil Engineering. Thesis title: "Air-Water and Air-Terrestrial Exchange of Semi-volatile Organic Compounds."
Bachelor of Arts (Chemistry) May 1987. Grinnell College, Grinnell, Iowa.
National Science Foundation Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) Program. "Dynamics of Gas-Phase Persistent Organic Chemicals: An Investigation of the Effect of Climate using a Controlled Chamber." Sept. 1, 1997 through Aug. 30, 2001: Keri Hornbuckle, Principal Investigator.
United States Environmental Protection Agency, Great Lakes National Program Office. "Atmospheric Loading of PCBs, Trans-nonaclor, Atrazine, Nitrogen and Phosphorous to Lake Michigan." Keri Hornbuckle, Principal Investigator; Joseph DePinto, Co-Investigator. Oct. 1, 1996 to Sept 30, 1998.
United States Environmental Protection Agency, Region II Office. "Implementing a Long Term Plan to Improve Modeling Capabilities for Toxic Chemicals in Lake Ontario: Year 1 - Atmospheric Interactions and Solids Dynamics." J.V. DePinto, Principle Investigator; W.G.Booty, T.C.Young, J.F.Atkinson, K Hornbuckle; J.Hassett, Co-Investigators. October 1, 1997-September 30, 1998.
United States Environmental Protection Agency, Great Lakes National Program Office. "A Study of Organic Contaminants in Air and Water in Conjunction with Episodic Events - Great Lakes Experiment" Keri Hornbuckle, Principal Investigator. Jan 1, 1998 to Dec. 31, 1998..
Member of the Science Advisory Board of the International Joint Commission. Term; 1998-2000.
Member of the American Chemical Society, International Association for Great Lakes Research, the American Association of Environmental Engineering Professors, New York State Great Lakes Research Consortium and the American Society of Engineering Education.
Environmental Organic Chemistry, Air Pollution, Principles of Water Quality Engineering.
Hornbuckle, K. C.; Eisenreich, S. J. Dynamics of gaseous semi-volatile organic compounds in a terrestrial ecosystem: Effects of diurnal and seasonal climate variation. Atmos. Environ. 1996, 30, 3935-3945.
Hornbuckle, K. C.; Eisenreich, S. J. Bioconcentration factors for semi-volatile organic compounds in Sphagnum moss and spruce needles. Environ. Toxicol. Chem. In review.
Pearson, R. F.; Hornbuckle, K. C.; Eisenreich, S. J.; Swackhamer, D. L. PCBs in Lake Michigan water revisited. Environ. Sci. Technol. 1996, 30, 1429-1436.
Vlahos, P.; Mackay, D.; Eisenreich, S. J.; Hornbuckle, K. C. Exchange of chemicals between the atmosphere and lakes. Physics and Chemistry of Lakes, Vol 2, Lerman, A., Imboden, D. M., Gat, J. R., Eds.; Springer-Verlag: Heidelberg. 1995.
Hornbuckle, K. C.; Sweet, C. W.; Pearson, R. F.; Swackhamer, D. L.; Eisenreich, S. J. Assessing annual water-air fluxes of polychlorinated biphenyls in Lake Michigan. Environ. Sci. Technol. 1995, 29, 869-877.
Hornbuckle, K.C. and Eisenreich, S.J. (Letter to the editor) Environ. Sci. Technol. 1995, 29, 848.
Hornbuckle, K. C.; Jeremiason, J. D.; Sweet, C. W.; Eisenreich, S. J. Seasonal variation in air-water exchange of polychlorinated biphenyls in Lake Superior. Environ. Sci. Technol. 1994, 28, 1491-1501.
Jeremiason, J. D.; Hornbuckle, K. C.; Eisenreich, S. J. PCBs in Lake Superior, 1978-1992: Decreases in water concentrations reflect loss by volatilization. Environ. Sci. Technol. 1994, 28, 903-914.
Hornbuckle, K.C.; Achman, D. R.; Eisenreich, S. J. Over-water and over-land polychlorinated biphenyls in Green Bay, Lake Michigan. Environ. Sci. Technol. 1993, 27, 87-98.
Achman, D. A.; Hornbuckle, K. C.; Eisenreich, S. J. Volatilization of polychlorinated biphenyls from Green Bay, Lake Michigan. Environ. Sci. Technol. 1993, 27, 75-87.
Eisenreich, S.J.; Achman, D.R.; Hornbuckle, K.C.; Baker, J.E. Volatilization of PCBs from the Great Lakes. Air-Water Mass Transfer, Wilhelm, S. C., Gulliver, J. S., Ed.; American Society of Civil Engineers: New York, NY, 1991, pp.400-412.
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