People

Avner Vengosh is a Professor of Geochemistry and Water Quality and chair of the Water and Air Resources program at the Nicholas School of Environment in Duke University. Dr. Vengosh also has a secondary appointment in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Duke University. He is an Associate Editor for the international journal Applied Geochemistry.

Dr. Vengosh research aims to integrate environmental geochemistry, advanced isotope geochemistry (boron, strontium, carbon, and radium isotopes), and environmental health (e.g., arsenic in toenails) in order to delineate the sources and pathways of contaminants in the environment and their possible impacts on human health. Currently Dr. Vengosh research is focused on three major themes:

(1)  Salinization of water resources and impacts on development and health. Current studies focused on shallow groundwater in the sub-Saharan basins of Morocco and coastal aquifer of the southeastern United States. Studies also include the geochemistry of “new water” generated by reverse osmosis desalination of seawater and saline groundwater.

(2)  The energy-water quality-health nexus that includes (i) studies on the impact of coal combustion products on the environment (e.g., the TVA coal ash spill in Tennessee); (ii) the origin of contaminants associated with mountaintop mining in valley fill head waters in West Virginia; and (iii) the impact of deep shale gas drilling and hydraulic fracturing on the quality of shallow groundwater and surface water (methane and brine contamination from the Marcellus Shale, Pennsylvania).

(3)   The relationships between groundwater geochemistry, water quality, and human health in different aquifer systems, worldwide. Current studies including high arsenic drinking water in private wells from Union County, North Carolina; high fluoride and arsenic in groundwater from the Rift Valley in Ethiopia; high salinity, fluoride, and radium in groundwater in Morocco; and high radium in fossil groundwater in the Middle East. Studies include developing new diagnostic tools to evaluate their bioaccumulation in the local populations by measuring the contaminants in nails and conducting health surveys in exposed populations.

Nathaniel Warner

Laura Ruhl

Brittany Rose Merola

Tewodros Rango Godebo