Rainer Lohmann
Ph.D., Environmental Chemistry, Lancaster University, Lancaster, England, 1999
M.S., Chemical Engineering, EHICS, Strasbourg, France, 1996
B.S., Biochemistry, Ruhr-Universitaet, Bochum, Germany, 1993
Dr. Lohmann and his group conduct research into the sources, transport, and bioaccumulation of anthropogenic organic pollutants. In particular, he explores the use of passive sampling approaches to detect concentrations, bioavailability, bioaccumulation and gradients of organic pollutants in the environment, with a focus on Great Lakes and oceans. His group has deployed passive samplers from the Arctic to the Antarctic, covering atmosphere, ocean profiles, and contaminated sites.
He is also Director of the new Superfund Research Center at URI: Sources, Transport, Exposure and Effects of PFASs (STEEP).
At URI, he teaches Introduction to Marine Pollution (OCG 480/580), and offers graduate courses Environmental Organic Chemistry (OCG 519), and Organic Geochemistry of Natural Waters (OCG 523).
Rainer Lohmann serves as Editor for Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry, and is on the Editorial Boards of:
- ACS Environment & Health
- CAS Eco-Environment & Health
- Environmental Pollution (Elsevier)
- Atmospheric Pollution Research (Elsevier)
- Environmental Science and Technology and Environmental Science and Technology Letters.
Current Members
Alumni
Masters Students
- Tatyana Yanishevsky, M.S. 2023 – Carbon Filter Efficiency in Removing PFAS From Drinking Water in Barnstable, MA
- Nicholas Izak Hill, M.S. 2022 – Bioconcentration of PFAS from AFFF Environmental Exposure: Evidence of Precursor Bioaccumulation in Fathea Minnows
- Ita Wulandari, M.S. 2022 – Sedimentary Accumulation of Black Carbon on the East Coast of the United States
- Maya Morales-McDevitt, M.S. 2021 – The Air We Breathe: Nutrial PFAS in Indoor and Outdoor Air
- Christine L. Gardiner, M.S. 2020 – Evaluation of a novel passive sampler for Poly- and Perfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS) in aquatic environments
- Jennifer A. Cragan, M.S. 2016 – A multicomponent evaporation model to determine the onset of crude oil emulsification.
- Caoxin Sun, M.S. 2015 – Persistent Organic Pollutants in the Arctic, Atlantic and Pacific Oceans
- Zoe Ruge, M.S. 2013 – Air-Water Exchange and Trends of Persistent Bioaccumulative Toxics (PBTs) Across Lake Superior
- Victoria P. Sacks, M.S. 2010 – Validation of Polyethylene Passive Samplers for the Detection of Emerging Contaminants
- Matt Lambert, M.S. 2010 – The Role of Black Carbon in the Sorption of Polychlorinated Dibenzo-p-dioxins and Dibenzofurans at the Diamond Alkali Superfund Site, Newark Bay, NJ.
- Pam Luey, M.S. 2010 – Verification of Equilibrium Partitioning Coefficients of PAHs for Polyethylene Sheets and Solid Phase Microextraction (SPME) Fibers in Hyper-saline, Arctic Conditions
- Eric Morgan, M.S. 2007 – Passive Sampling of PCB Activities in Narragansett Bay: Bioaccumulation and Exchange Between Reservoirs”
Ph.D. Students
- Sam Katz, Ph.D. 2024 – Sedimentary Black Carbon Across the Equatorial Atlantic Ocean is Biomass-Derived
- Matt Dunn, Ph.D. 2023 – Calibration and application of a tube passive sampler for evaluating fate and transport of per- and polyfluorinated alkyl substances (PFAS)
- Anna Robuck, Ph.D. 2021 – Distribution of Novel and Legacy Organic Pollutants in Seabirds from Contrasting Marine Environment
- Carrie McDonough, Ph.D. 2017 – Spatial Distribution, Air-Water Exchange and Toxicity of Organic Pollutants Using Passive Samplers
- Kari St. Laurent (nee Pohl), Ph.D. 2014 – Black Carbon Concentrations, Sources, and fluxes in the Tropical Atlantic Ocean
- Lin Zhang, Ph.D. 2012 – Transport and partitioning of organochlorine pollutants in open oceans
- Carey Friedman, Ph.D. 2010 – Using Passive Samplers to Measure the Bioavailability and Transport of Sedimentary Organic Contaminants
Past Undergraduate Students
- Lindsay Agvent – now a GSO masters student in the McMahon lab
- Michael Vansco
Past Postdoctoral Researchers
- Dr. Mohammed Abd EL-Hamid Khairy
Visiting Scholars
- Riffat Naseem Malik – Professor, Department of Environmental Sciences at the Quaid-i-Azam University in Islamabad, Pakistan
- Matthew Savoca – Ph.D, Research Associate, Hopkins Marine Station, Stanford University
- Xindong Ma – Associate Professor National Marine Environmental Monitoring Center, State Ocean Administration, China
- Dr. Carolos Rodriguez Sierra – Professor, Department of Environmental Health, Graduate School of Public Health, University of Puerto Rico
- Dr. Yuxin Ma – Assistant Professor, College of Marine Sciences, Shanhai Ocean University, China
- Renato Miani – Instituo Oceanografico da Universidade de Sao Paulo
- Dr. Xiaoping Wang – Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences
- Wenlu Zhao- Ph.D. student, integrated Coastal Management, Xiamen University, China
- Dr. Ying Liu – Associate Professor, College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Tongji University, Shanghai, China
- Dr. Minggang Cai – Professor, College of Ocean and Earth Sciences & Coastal and Ocean Management Xiamen University