Manuel D. Montaño

Assistant Professor of Environmental Chemistry and Global Change, Huxley College of the Environment

    Personal profile

    About

    Upon completion of my PhD, I still felt there was more to learn and desired to expand my toolbox of analytical techniques. Working with Prof. Lee Ferguson at Duke University, I focused on how nanomaterials may potentially influence and interact with contaminants such as polymer additives and plasticizers that are present in nano-enabled plastics. I also used this time to further evaluate and understand methods for detecting and characterizing carbonaceous nanomaterials in sediments. I was then offered an opportunity to work on a unique and exciting piece of instrumentation in Vienna, Austria with Dr. Frank von der Kammer. Using an inductively coupled plasma-time-of-flight-mass spectrometer I expanded on the work I started in my PhD, expanding the scope of nanomaterial analysis in environmental systems to also examine natural nanogeochemical processes. 

    At Western I aim to utilize my experience in analytical chemistry, geochemistry, and colloid science to better understand nanogeochemical processes and how they impact and are impacted by the changing environment. The work I do includes method development, but also the application of these methods to resolve chemistry occurring at nano- and microscale and how these processes affect the fate and transport of contaminants and nutrients.

    Contact Information

    Huxley College of the Environment, Environmental Sciences
    Campus phone: (360) 650-2147
    Campus address: AH458, MS9181

    Related documents

    Education/Academic qualification

    Department of Applied Chemistry, Ph.D., Colorado School of Mines

    … → 2014

    Department of Chemistry, B.S., Colorado School of Mines

    Research Interests

    • Utilizing state-of-the-art nanoanalysis techniques (field flow fractionation, single particle ICP-MS) to investigate the impact of global and climate change on biogeochemical cycling at the nanoscale
    • Developing single cell ICP-MS for characterization of the intrinsic metal content within cell as a means to assess microbial ecosystems and their response to environmental stressors

    Disciplines

    • Environmental Sciences