RESEARCH INTERESTS

Joseph H. Rule

My broad interest is in factors that affect environmental quality and more specifically trace element behavior in the geochemical cycle. Primary research is conducted on the geochemistry of trace metals in rocks, soils, sediments, waters and organisms in the environment. Soil chemistry and mineralogy, soil-plant relationships and trace metal cycling, forms, and behavior of metals in the environment are topics of key attention. Other areas of expertise include techniques and methods to detect and evaluate environmental contamination, including health-based risk assessment and hazardous waste migration and attenuation in soils and ground water. Studies have included metal sorption studies using various soil and soil clay media. Recent research has focused on the use of herbaceous plants, especially the common dandelion, as phytomonitors of atmospheric and soil contamination. Techniques for assessment of soil contamination include simultaneous use of metal levels in soil geochemical phases, metal/Fe plots and total metal concentrations.