Research interests are broadly defined in the field of environmental organic geochemistry. Current research interests include the occurrence of man made and naturally derived organic compounds in the coastal zone and how these compounds impact biogeochemical cycles.

• Targeted and non-Targeted Analysis of Emerging Contaminants: Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS) represent a class of man-made compounds often referred to as "forever chemicals" due to the environmental persistence. Due to this persistence these compounds are ubiquitous in the environment and are globally distributed. Current research is focused on the occurrence, transport and fate of PFAS in a variety of environmental compartments such as the atmosphere and marine sediments.

• Microbial Fate of Emerging Contaminants: The biodegradation of long-lived (“forever”) emerging environmental contaminants such as per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) is a potential mechanism to reduce environmental lifetimes and human toxicity impacts, in addition to more broadly understanding the behavior of these chemicals in long-term environmental sinks. Indeed, recent work has demonstrated that specific bacteria can degrade legacy PFAS compounds (e.g. perfluorooctanoic acid, perfluorooctane sulfonate), causing shifts in sediment bacterial community composition and removal of forever chemicals. Yet these legacy PFAS are no longer in production and share no chemical traits to the replacement PFAS (e.g. GenX) currently on the market, resulting in a paucity of knowledge on the biodegradability and biological impacts of compounds that dominate PFAS production. Our lab is focused on answering the question of how replacement PFAS and bacteria interact in the environment. Along with a microbial ecologist, Dr. Patrick Erwin of UNCW, we are conducting controlled PFAS sediment degradation experiments to characterize how the bacterial assemblages respond. Gaining insight into how bacteria respond to PFAS will help mitigate this class of compounds to make them forever no more.

• Coastal Carbon Cycling: The coastal zone is a dynamic environment with material exchanges between the terrestrial and coastal biomass. We use molecular markers to trace the flow of carbon between these two environments focusing on fate and transport processes. Specifically, I am interested in organic carbon exchanges in coastal salt marshes and river margins as it relates to climate change. This is especially true in coastal North Carolina with sea level rise expected to impact many areas.