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Dr. Mitra may be reached via email : mitras@ecu.edu
Current Professional and Scholarly Interests
My expertise lies in the field
of Environmental Geochemistry. Our research group addresses questions about the
composition of organic matter in coastal systems. Throughout geologic time, the
transfer of carbon from the atmosphere to the geosphere by organic matter
fixation has played a significant role in atmospheric CO2 and O2
levels, and hence, has affected the Earth’s climate. A main route of transfer
of carbon from the atmosphere to the geosphere is by river discharge of
terrestrial organic matter to coastal systems. So, we try to better understand
the composition, flux, and fate of the types of organic molecules transported
by rivers and buried in coastal environments.
We are also interested in investigating the fate and transport of organic contaminants in the ecosystem. Many of the organic contaminants we investigate are endocrine disruptors or toxic and hence their presence in the environment constitutes an ecological risk. Our research group tries to figure out where such chemicals come from and how long they persist in the environment. With that information, environmental resource managers can properly evaluate how to deal with these deleterious chemicals.
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Course Information |
Publications (*indicates
students) (Mitra’s
complete vita)
2007 –
2009
Hunsinger,
G.B.*, Mitra, S., Warrick, J.A., Alexander, C.R. Oceanic Loading of Wildfire-Derived Organic Compounds
from a Small Mountainous River.
2008. Journal of Geophysical
Research – Biogeosciences. VOL. 113, G02007, doi:10.1029/2007JG000476,
2008.
2005 -
2007
Hammes,
K., Schmidt, M.W.I., Currie, L.A. (Ret.),
Ball, W.P., Fukudome, M., Nguyen, T.H.,
Louchouarn, P., Houel, S., Gustafsson, O., Elmquist, M., Cornelissen,
G., Smernik, R.J., Skjemstad, J.O., Masiello, C.A., Song, J., Peng, P., Mitra,
S., Dunn, J.C.*, et al (28 other coauthors). 2007.
Comparison of quantification methods to measure fire-derived
(black/elemental) carbon in soils and sediments using reference materials from
soil, water, sediment and the atmosphere. Global Biogeochemical Cycles. VOL. 21, GB3016, doi:10.1029/2006GB002914,
2007.
Landrum,
P.F.,
Rice,
S.L*, Mitra, S. 2007. Microwave-Assisted
Solvent Extraction of Solid Matrices and Subsequent Detection of
Pharmaceuticals and Personal Care Products (PPCPs) Using Gas
Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry.
Analytica Chimica Acta. 589: 125-132.
Kukkonen,
J.V.K., Mitra, S., Landrum, P.F.,
2003 -
2005
Kukkonen,
J.V.K., Landrum, P.F., Mitra, S.,
Kukkonen,
J.V.K., Landrum, P.F., Mitra, S.,
Mitra,
S.
and Bianchi, T.S. 2003. A Preliminary Assessment of Polycyclic
Aromatic Hydrocarbon (PAH) Distributions in the Lower Mississippi River and
Boyd, G.R., Reemtsma, H., Grimm, D.A., Mitra, S. 2003.
Pharmaceuticals and Personal Care Products (PPCPs) in Surface and
Treated Waters of
2001 –
2003
Mitra, S., Bianchi, T.S.,
McKee, B.A., Sutula, M.A. 2002. Sources
and Seasonal Discharge of Fossil Fuel-derived Fluvial Black Carbon from the
Bianchi,
T.S., Mitra, S., McKee, B.A. 2002.
Sources of Terrestrially-derived Organic Carbon in Lower Mississippi
River Sediments: Implications for Differential Sedimentation and Transport at
the Coastal Margin. Marine Chemistry. 77:
211-223.
1999 –
2001
Mitra,
S., Klerks, P., Bianchi, T.S., Means,
J., and Carman, K. 2000a. Effects of
Estuarine Organic Matter Biogeochemistry on the Bioaccumulation of PAHs by Two
Epibenthic Species. Estuaries.
23: 864-876.
Mitra, S., Bianchi, T. S.,
Guo, L., and Santschi, P. H. 2000b.
Terrestrially-derived Dissolved Organic Matter in the
Mitra, S. and Dickhut, R. M.
1999.
Three Phase Modeling of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbon Association with Pore
Water Dissolved Organic Carbon. Environmental Toxicology & Chemistry. 18: 1144-1148.
Mitra, S., Dellapenna, T. M., Dickhut., R. M. 1999a.
Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbon Distribution within
Mitra, S., Dickhut, R. M., Kuehl,
S. A., Kimbrough, K. L.
1999b. Polycyclic Aromatic
Hydrocarbon (PAH) Source, Sediment Deposition Patterns, and Particle
Geochemistry as Factors Influencing PAH Distribution Coefficients in Sediments
of the
1997 –
1999
Schaffner,
L. C. Dickhut, R. M., Mitra, S., Lay, P., Brower-Riel, C. 1997.
Effects of Physical Chemistry and Bioturbation by Estuarine Macrofauna
on the Transport and Fate of Hydrophobic Organic Contaminants in the Benthos. Environmental
Science & Technology. 31: 3120-3125.