Dr. Rebecca Lyons

My research projects include the design, construction, and development of a real-time, in situ sensing buoy for aquatic non-polar contamination, the use of novel polymer technology to trap, concentrate, and detect non-polar contaminants, and reacting a working environmental model of surface waters to facilitate the prediction and management of trace non-polar contaminants. This involves several sub-projects being carried out with the assistance of the GIS department which includes creating a spatial representation of wind velocities, atmospheric contaminant concentrations and deposition rates, using spatial representation of watersheds and groundwater wells to determine subsurface influx of contamination, and real-time correlation of surface water concentrations of gasoline and gasoline by-products with marine traffic.