Current Group Members
Ph.D. Candidates & Students
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Yuchao Wan
Ph.D. Candidate. Department of Physical & Environmental Sciences. University of Toronto, Toronto, ON. M.Sc. Environmental Sciences & Technology. Lancaster University, Lancaster, UK. 2014. B.Sc. Environmental Sciences. Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou, China. 2012. I have a compelling interest in measuring toxic persistent chemicals in our environment as well as developing predictive models to determine a process level understanding of their fate and behaviour. Currently my research focuses on assessing levels of selected semi-volatile organic compounds (SVOCs) from indoor environments. |
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Linh Viet Nguyen
Ph.D. Candidate. Environmental Sciences. University of Toronto, Toronto, ON. M.Sc. Water and Environmental Management. University of Brighton, Brighton, UK. 2013. B.Sc. Analytical Chemistry with Business. University of Brighton, Brighton, UK. 2012. My research interests are the development of environmental remediation techniques, air sampling techniques, and analytical and environmental chemistry. Currently, I am investigating the exposure of flame retardants among electronic waste recycling workers. The board interest is towards the exposure of flame retardants in the occupational health field. Publications: Nguyen, L.V, Busquets, R., Ray, S. & Cundy, A.B. 2017. Graphene oxide-based degradation of metaldehyde: Effective oxidation through a modified Fenton’s process. Chemical Engineering Journal 307: 159-167. |
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Tim Rodgers
Ph.D. Candidate. Department of Chemical Engineering and Applied Chemistry. University of Toronto, Toronto, ON. B.A.Sc. (Hons.) Environmental Engineering, Co-op Program; Water Resources Option. University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON. 2016. My research is in investigating the emissions and fate of persistent mobile organic compounds using multimedia fugacity modelling. This project is part of an NSERC strategic grant led by Dr. Elodie Passeport, with Dr. Jennifer Drake and Dr. Miriam Diamond. The project aims to demystify the inner working of storm water BCs, looking at the hydrological, chemical, and physical processes that determine the performance of BCs in order to better predict their behaviour and to optimize their design. |
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Samantha (Sam) Athey
Ph.D. Student. Department of Earth Sciences. University of Toronto, Toronto, ON. M.Sc. Marine Science. University of North Carolina Wilmington, Wilmington, NC, USA. 2018. B.Sc. (Hons.) Marine Biology. University of North Carolina Wilmington, Wilmington, NC, USA. 2016. My principal research interests revolve around microplastic debris as a vector for toxic compounds in marine and freshwater environments. I'm currently studying microfiber and chemical loss from clothing in the context of Great Lake ecosystems. Learn more about microfiber pollution and my research through my blog: the Microfiber Pollution Project. |
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Jacob Kvasnicka
Ph.D. Candidate. Department of Earth Sciences. University of Toronto, Toronto, ON. M.S. Environmental Health Sciences. University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA. B.S. Environmental Science. Wheaton College, IL, USA. I am developing mechanistic-based models to assess human exposure to semivolatile organic compounds (SVOCs). I focus on indoor environments, where we spend over 90% of our time on average. I am particularly interested in understanding how we influence SVOC dynamics indoors through our activities, and how this in turn influences our exposure. |
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Sara Vaezafshar
Ph.D. Student. Department of Earth Sciences. University of Toronto, Toronto, ON. M.Sc. Textile Science. University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. B.Sc. Applied Chemistry. University of Mazandaran, Babolsar, Mazandaran, Iran. My research center is concerned with human exposure to semi-volatile organic compounds (SVOCs) and microplastics (MP). Currently, I seek to track the concentration gradient of SVOCs in the Canadian residential environment before and after being occupied. Moreover, I am interested in investigating the primary source, level, and fate of the microfibers in both indoor and outdoor environments. |
Visiting Professors & Students
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Dr. Yan Wang
Associate Professor. School of Environmental Science. Dalian University of Technology, China. Lecturer. School of Environmental Science and Technology. Dalian University of Technology. China. Postdoctoral researcher. Guangzhou Institute of Geochemistry. Chinese Academy of Sciences. China Ph.D. Guangzhou Institute of Geochemistry. Chinese Academy of Sciences. Guangzhou, China My research is mainly focus on the distributions, sources, and air-surface exchanges of POPs and other emerging organic pollutants (NBFRs and OPEs) under the regional scale. More details can be found on my ResearchGate. Now I am a visiting scholar in Professor Diamond’s group. The project I participated is to estimate the human exposure of organic flame retardants for the e-waste recycling workers in Bangladesh using PDMS wristband. |
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Monika Śmiełowska Ph.D. Student. Department of Analytical Chemistry. Faculty of Chemistry. Gdańsk University of Technology (GUT), Poland. M.Sc. Chemical Technology. Gdańsk University of Technology (GUT), Poland. Eng. Chemical Technology. Gdańsk University of Technology (GUT), Poland. My scientific interests concern the development of new analytical procedures for the determination of polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) in samples with complex matrix compositions (e.g. dust, polymeric materials). I use the obtained results to estimate human exposure by different routes. As a visiting student, I am involved in a project that aims to estimate emissions of semi-volatile organic compounds (SVOCs) from children's mattresses. I am also involved in a project on determining the variability of SVOCs concentrations in the indoor environment before and after people move in. |
