A scientific approach is used to study and minimize the impact of anthropogenic processes on the environment. The focus of research is in two areas: water and air quality. Faculty focus on cross-disciplinary research on innovative physical, chemical and biological processes in engineered systems that result in clean water and air.
Research in the aquatics areas focus on fate and transport of heavy metals and radionuclides in natural and engineered systems, aquatic chemistry, environmental implications of advanced materials such as nanomaterials, and biogeological cycling in complex environmental systems from nanoscale to macroscale.
Topical areas of research in Aerosols and Air Quality include the study of fine particle formation and growth dynamics, engineered systems for their measurement, capture and control, fate and transport in indoor environments and the atmosphere. Faculty study these processes over multiple spatio-temporal scales. Systems of study include combustion processes, innovative designs for particle control systems, novel instrumentation for measurements of aerosols and air pollutants.