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USGS Mendenhall Postdoctoral Research Fellowship Program

3. Linking Mercury Sources and Fate: Incorporating Mercury Deposition Data into Atmospheric Transport Models

Concern over mercury in the environment has resulted in widespread fish consumption advisories in the U.S. and has prompted the EPA to seek legislative limits on mercury emissions from coal fired power plants, possibly beginning before the end of the decade. Balancing health concerns with the expected multi-billion dollar cost of control technology virtually insures that mercury will be on the national agenda for years to come. Research prompted by this issue has concentrated on various portions of the mercury cycle, but many unresolved questions remain, such as the relative impact of local or regional mercury sources vs. global atmospheric transport. To date, USGS mercury research (http://minerals.usgs.gov/mercury/) has focused on mercury sources, aquatic cycling, and fate, rather than addressing questions surrounding atmospheric mercury transport and deposition.

New research capabilities allow the USGS to investigate atmospheric mercury transport processes for the first time. A mobile, low-level, mercury speciation laboratory has recently been assembled, equipped with sampling and analytical instrumentation for real-time mercury data acquisition, and supporting ancillary measurements (NOx, SOx, ozone, aerosol composition and mass at PM2.5, and meteorological data). The mobile mercury laboratory will be deployed along local-to-regional mercury gradients to determine controls on mercury deposition patterns, such as emissions source strength and speciation, or post-emission reactions. Together with the growing nationwide network of fixed mercury wet deposition stations, this facility substantially augments previous capabilities of the USGS, providing a broad multidisciplinary research platform.

Applicants are sought for a postdoctoral research position that links mercury sources, atmospheric mercury transport, wet deposition, and uptake in ecosystems. The incumbent Mendenhall postdoc will collaborate with existing USGS programs, the National Atmospheric Deposition Program-Mercury Deposition Network (NADP-MDN; http://nadp.sws.uiuc.edu/mdn/), and other data sources, to model mercury deposition patterns under various emissions scenarios. The postdoc will work with USGS scientists and collaborators in the atmospheric sciences, such as universities, NOAA, NCAR, EPA, etc., to reconcile differences between mercury deposition predicted by current atmospheric models, and available field data on wet and dry mercury deposition. Work will be focused where there are the most existing data, such as areas having the greatest density of MDN stations, or where the mobile mercury lab has performed intensive data collection. The goal is to incorporate existing atmospheric mercury data into atmospheric models that can be used to link mercury sources and deposition. The successful candidate will also have an opportunity to take part in the operation of one or more USGS field studies. Research that links portions of the mercury cycle and/or adds atmospheric modeling constraints to USGS strengths in geology, biology, and water, is especially encouraged. Research would be conducted in conjunction with the following ongoing or planned USGS mercury studies:

  1. Fish and wildlife studies concentrating on biogenic uptake, methylation, and distribution of mercury in plants and/or organisms (e.g., http://co.water.usgs.gov/trace/, http://wfrc.usgs.gov/research/contaminants/STSaiki3.htm, http://www.umesc.usgs.gov/terrestrial/contaminants/tcuster_5003994.html).
  2. Mercury cycling in watersheds and aquatic ecosystems (http://toxics.usgs.gov/about.html).
  3. Use of chemical and isotopic analyses to determine possible linkages between source coals, coal combustion products, and mercury wet deposition.
  4. Human health studies on the effects of mercury exposure from natural and anthropogenic sources.
The USGS maintains extensive databases on mercury in fish, mercury in sediments, and domestic and international databases of coal analyses that include mercury. Facilities for mercury analysis include: low-level mercury speciation laboratory and its mobile atmospheric mercury facility in Middleton, Wisconsin; laser ablation ICP-MS laboratory in Denver; Cold vapor atomic absorption analyzer in Denver.

Proposed Duty Station: Reston, VA

Areas of Ph.D.: Atmospheric dynamics and/or atmospheric chemistry

Qualifications: Research Geologist, Research Chemist, Meteorologist, Physical Scientist, Environmental Scientist

(This type of research is performed by those who have backgrounds for the occupations stated above. However, other titles may be applicable depending on the applicant's background, education, and research proposal. The final classification of the position will be made by the Personnel specialist.)

Research Advisor(s): Allan Kolker, (703) 648-6418, akolker@usgs.gov; David Krabbenhoft, (608) 821-3843, dpkrabbe@usgs.gov; Sarah Gerould, (703) 648-6895, sgerould@usgs.gov

Personnel Office contact: Rosetta Alexander, 703-648-7468, e-mail: ralexand@usgs.gov.

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Last updated 27-October-2003 (krw)