Our studies on measurement of CDOM and chlorophyll by satellite imagery began in 2013 with extensive field sampling and measurements of reflectance spectra on a wide variety of lakes. The studies expanded in 2016 with projects funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) and Minnesota’s Legislative and Citizen’s Commission on Natural Resources (LCCMR). The NSF-funded work included studies on the distribution of CDOM in two large ecoregions across the Upper Great Lakes states, effects of CDOM on aquatic ecosystems, and its role as a precursor of disinfection byproducts in drinking water and as a source of reactive intermediates involved in photochemical degradation of organic contaminants. The LCCMR project involved methods development and comprehensive mapping of CDOM and chlorophyll levels in Minnesota’s lakes. As a result, our research group expanded considerably to accommodate the diverse, multidisciplinary nature of the studies.
Jacques Finlay, professor of ecosystem ecology (Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior), investigates the ecology of freshwater ecosystems and their interactions with surrounding natural and human-altered landscapes. His laboratory and research group were responsible for field data collection and laboratory analyses throughout these studies, and he was the principal investigator on the LCCMR project that developed methods to map chlorophyll and CDOM concentrations across Minnesota’s lakes.
Raymond Hozalski, Professor of Environmental Engineering (Department of Civil, Environmental, and Geo- Engineering), conducts research on biological processes for the treatment of drinking water, wastewater, and hazardous waste. His research group is active in studying the effects of dissolved organic matter, including CDOM, on water treatment processes. He was the PI of the NSF grant focused on CDOM, and his lab led the project component on the effects of CDOM on drinking water treatment.
William Arnold is a Distinguished McKnight University Professor and the Joseph T. and Rose S. Ling Professor in the Department of Civil, Environmental, and Geo- Engineering). His research focuses on the fate of organic chemicals in natural and engineered aquatic systems. His lab conducted the research on the role of NOM and CDOM in producing reactive photochemical intermediates, such as singlet oxygen, hydroxyl radicals, and triplet excited states of DOM (3DOM*), that affect the photolysis of anthropogenic chemicals in aquatic systems.
Claire Griffin completed her Ph.D. in Marine Science at the University of Texas and joined the group in 2016 as a postdoctoral researcher in Ecology and worked on the NSF and LCCMR grants, organizing field components of the studies, mapping CDOM levels in two northern ecoregions that were a focus of the NSF project, and linking watershed characteristics to dissolved organic matter in lakes. She has a long interest in using remote sensing to monitor water quality; her previous research addressed this in Arctic and coastal Texas waters. She began a postdoc at the University of Virginia in February 2019, working on interactions between built and natural environments in the Arctic.
Yiling Chen was a postdoctoral associate in the Department of Civil, Environmental and Geo- Engineering, 2016-2019. Her research interests focus on the fate and transformation of environmental contaminants in natural and engineered aquatic environments and their removal from surface water used for drinking water. During her position in our group, she worked with Profs. Hozalski and Arnold on the effects CDOM on production of disinfection byproducts in drinking water and the role of CDOM in the production of photochemical intermediates in the aquatic photolysis of organic contaminants. Dr. Chen is currently a professor at Guandong Technical University in Guandong, China.