Rona J. Donahoe


Professor


B.S. 1978, University of Missouri - Rolla;
Ph.D. 1984, Stanford University
E-mail: rdonahoe@geo.ua.edu

Research Interests

Current research topics span many different areas of low-T aqueous geochemistry:
  1. In-Situ Fixation of Toxic Metal Contaminants in Soil and Groundwater. An experimental study evaluating various fixation methods for long-term immobilization of metals in contaminated soil and groundwater. This study is funded by Southern Company Services and EPRI.
  2. Evaluation of Zeolite-Based Treatment Technologies for Contaminated Groundwater and Industrial Waste Solutions. This study is determining contaminant adsorption isotherms for zeolite/quartz mixtures. The data will be used to design reactive, permeable barriers for groundwater remediation and ion exchange columns to remove contaminants from industrial waste solutions prior to discharge.
  3. Bacterial Controls on the Mobility of Trace Metals in Fe-rich Sediments. An experimental study of the mechanisms by which Fe and associated trace metals are mobilized/immobilized through bacterial reduction of iron oxide phases. This study is funded by the U.S. Department of EnergyÕs NABIR Program.
  4. Land-Water Interfaces: A Study of Nutrient and Elemental Cycling in a Wetland System. An interdisciplinary project funded by the National Science Foundation to conduct a long-term study of the sources and sinks of dissolved organic matter, dissolved inorganic nutrients, and metal elements in a stream wetland system.
Student research topics include: the fate of metals released from ferrihydrite by dissimilatory bacterial reduction; controls on the distribution of iron and bacteria in wetland sediments; the origin of solutes in groundwater below a wetland system; mercury contamination and migration in streams; physical and chemical controls on metal attenuation in soils; the effect of storm events on the solute chemistry of stream water; organic and inorganic controls on soil formation in two watersheds.

Representative Publications


1998, Howell, J.R., Donahoe, R.J., Roden, E.E., and Ferris, F.G., Effects of microbial iron oxide reduction on pH and alkalinity in anaerobic bicarbonate-buffered media: implications for metal mobility. Mineralogical Magazine, 62A, 657-658.

1998, Donahoe, R.J. and Liu, C., Porewater geochemistry near the sediment-water interface of a zoned, mature, riparian wet-land in the southeastern U.S.: Environmental Geology, v. 33, 143-153.

1997, Gong, C. and Donahoe, R.J., An experimental study of heavy metal attenuation and mobility in sandy loam soils: Applied Geochemistry, v. 2, 243-254.

1996, Jones, S.C., Donahoe, R.J., and Roden, E., Iron and iron-reducing bacteria: their distribution within a freshwater riparian wetland system. Program and Abstracts: 4th Symposium on Biogeochemistry of Wetlands, Wetland Biogeochemistry Institute, Louisiana State University and University of Florida, p. 86.

1994, Donahoe, R.J., Liu, C., Dobson, K. and Graham, E., Cycling of iron and manganese in a riparian wetland. Mineralogical Magazine, v. 58A, 237-238.

1992, Gong, C-R. and Donahoe,R.J., Interactions between heavy metals and silty loam soil in flow-through experiments, in Y.K. Kharaka and A.S. Maest (eds.), Water Rock Interaction, v. 1, p. 723-726, Balkema, Rotterdam.

1992, Ward, A.K., Ward, G.M., Harlin, J., and Donahoe, R.J., Geological mediation of stream and sediment flow, and solute loadings to stream ecosystems due to climate change, in P. Firth and S.G. Fisher (eds.) Global Change and Freshwater Ecosystems, p. 116-142, Springer-Verlag, New York.

1990, Donahoe, R.J., Groundwater hydrology and geochemistry in the Eutaw Aquifer, Sumter County, Alabama: implications for monitoring hazardous waste disposal facilities, in R.J. Donahoe and R.H. Groshong (eds.), Hazardous Waste Disposal in the Upper Cretaceous Selma Group: Guidebook 1990 SEGSA Field Trip, p. 9-20.

1990, Donahoe, R.J., Liou, J.G., and Hemingway, B.S., Thermochemical data for merlinoite: free energies of formation at 298.15K for six synthetic samples having various Si/Al and Na/(Na+K) ratios and application to saline, alkaline lakes: American Mineralogist, v. 75, p. 201-208.

1989, Donahoe, R.J. and Leard, L.E., An experimental study of the effect of injection waters on Citronelle Field cores, Mobile County, Alabama: American Association of Petroleum Geologists Bulletin, v. 73, p. 1326-1340.

1989, Nordstrom, D.K., Ball, J.W., and Donahoe, R.J., Groundwater chemistry and water-rock interaction at Stripa: Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, v. 53, n. 8, p. 1727-1740.

1985, Donahoe, R.J. and Liou, J.G., An experimental study on the process of zeolite formation: Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, v. 49, no. 11, p. 2349-2360.