Satish Myneni

Professor, Department of Geosciences; Executive Committee of Princeton Materials Institute. He is also an associated faculty member of the Department of Chemistry, Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering, Andlinger Center for the Energy & Environment, and High Meadows Environmental Institute,  Princeton University.

Myneni is a molecular biogeochemist. His research focuses on environmental systems from the atomicscale to the continental scales, and is at the interface of chemistry, environment, and materials science. He examines the molecular structure and behavior of metal ions and organic molecules in water and on particle surfaces, and the chemistry of disordered/amorphous phases of environmental importance and their transformation to crystals under conditions relevant to the Earth surface conditions.

His group’s recent studies are: a) solvation and ion-complexation of Ca and Mg and their impacts on carbonate precipitation and CO2 sequestration in seawater, b) terrafarming of agricultural lands for CO2 sequestration and soil nutrition (how to enhance rock weathering and capture CO2 in soils, and selectively nucleate minerals to capture more carbon in soils), c) rises in sea level and its impact on the coastal biogeochemical processes (how salt water intrusion in coastal regions influences specific greenhouse gas emissions), d) colloidal particles in streams and oceans and their role in nutrient and contaminant cycling, and e) links between contaminant exposure of children and their health (linking the chemistry of the deciduous teeth of children to long-term exposure of children to pollutants).

His group members combine global soil, sediment and water sampling with the laboratory molecular level simulations and investigations to understand the mechanisms driving different key environmental processes. He employs synchrotron-based X-ray spectroscopy, scattering and imaging methods and vibrational spectroscopy in his studies. His group’s field studies are either in isolation for terrestrial systems, or in collaboration with teams of interdisciplinary researchers for both terrestrial and marine systems.

Host: Olof Karis