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  • Jan
    31

    EES Seminar- Microbial insights into environmental mercury methylation- Benjamin Peterson

    McCormick - Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE)

    2:00 PM A230, Technological Institute

    EVENT DETAILS

    Abstract: Mercury is a globally important contaminant of concern that is elevated by anthropogenic activities and can bioaccumulate and biomagnify to toxic levels. Food web accumulation occurs as methylmercury, which is produced by microorganisms in the environment from inorganic mercury. Thus, this process is a key gateway controlling mercury accumulation in aquatic food webs. The identification of the mercury methylation gene cluster hgcAB has greatly accelerated our understanding of these microbes; however, significant questions remain regarding their functional diversity and relative activity, environmental distribution and relevance, as well as the physiological role of the hgcAB genes. In this presentation, I will outline several projects that deploy omic’s sequencing methods, enriched stable isotope incubation assays, and biogeochemical measurements to use microbes as a window into understanding biogeochemical controls on methylmercury formation. While the work represents a significant advancement in our conceptual model of environmental mercury methylation, it also highlights the knowledge gaps that preclude a mechanistic understanding and quantitative modeling of this globally important process.

    Bio: Dr. Benjamin Peterson is an Assistant Professor in the School of Freshwater Sciences at the University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee. He received his Bachelor of Science in Biochemistry from the State University of New York at Geneseo. He received his PhD in the Environmental Chemistry and Technology program at the University of Wisconsin – Madison on The ecophysiology of mercury-methylating microorganisms in freshwater ecosystems. He continued his work on microbial mercury transformations as a postdoctoral scholar at the University of California – Davis. At UW – Milwaukee, his overall research objective is to develop a mechanistic understanding of how microbial communities link biogeochemical cycles to contaminant fate and transport in environmental ecosystems, with a continued emphasis on mercury. To do this, he uses an interdisciplinary approach including environmental omic’s and bioinformatics, stable isotope biogeochemistry, mesocosm experiments, modeling, and anaerobic laboratory cultivation. He has worked across the United States, from coastal wetland in the Florida Everglades to thawing permafrost in northwest Alaska but now has a specific focus on the Laurentian Great Lakes.

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    TIME Friday, January 31, 2025 at 2:00 PM - 3:00 PM

    LOCATION A230, Technological Institute    map it

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    CONTACT Andrew Liguori    andrew.liguori@northwestern.edu EMAIL

    CALENDAR McCormick - Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE)

  • Feb
    19

    SPREE Seminar- Cyber-Physical Systems for Network-level Transportation Resilience- Huiying Fan

    McCormick - Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE)

    11:00 AM A230, Technological Institute

    EVENT DETAILS

    TIME Wednesday, February 19, 2025 at 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM

    LOCATION A230, Technological Institute    map it

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    CONTACT Andrew Liguori    andrew.liguori@northwestern.edu EMAIL

    CALENDAR McCormick - Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE)

  • Feb
    20

    SPREE Seminar- Granular Mechanics in the Face of Energy Transition: Flow Characterization of Biomass Particles - Yimin Lu

    McCormick - Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE)

    11:00 AM A230, Technological Institute

    EVENT DETAILS

    TIME Thursday, February 20, 2025 at 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM

    LOCATION A230, Technological Institute    map it

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    CONTACT Andrew Liguori    andrew.liguori@northwestern.edu EMAIL

    CALENDAR McCormick - Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE)

  • Feb
    26

    SPREE Seminar- Cooperation and the Design of Public Infrastructure- Juan Carlos Martinex Mori

    McCormick - Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE)

    11:00 AM A230, Technological Institute

    EVENT DETAILS

    TIME Wednesday, February 26, 2025 at 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM

    LOCATION A230, Technological Institute    map it

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    CONTACT Andrew Liguori    andrew.liguori@northwestern.edu EMAIL

    CALENDAR McCormick - Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE)

  • Feb
    28

    SPREE Seminar- Jackson Jewett

    McCormick - Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE)

    11:00 AM A230, Technological Institute

    EVENT DETAILS

    TIME Friday, February 28, 2025 at 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM

    LOCATION A230, Technological Institute    map it

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    CONTACT Andrew Liguori    andrew.liguori@northwestern.edu EMAIL

    CALENDAR McCormick - Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE)

  • Feb
    28

    EES Seminar- Jenny Fisher

    McCormick - Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE)

    2:00 PM A230, Technological Institute

    EVENT DETAILS

    TIME Friday, February 28, 2025 at 2:00 PM - 3:00 PM

    LOCATION A230, Technological Institute    map it

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    CONTACT Andrew Liguori    andrew.liguori@northwestern.edu EMAIL

    CALENDAR McCormick - Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE)

  • Mar
    15

    Winter Classes End

    University Academic Calendar

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    EVENT DETAILS

    TIME Saturday, March 15, 2025

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    CONTACT Office of the Registrar    nu-registrar@northwestern.edu EMAIL

    CALENDAR University Academic Calendar

  • Mar
    17

    Winter exams begin

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    EVENT DETAILS

    TIME Monday, March 17, 2025

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    CONTACT Office of the Registrar    nu-registrar@northwestern.edu EMAIL

    CALENDAR University Academic Calendar

  • Mar
    22

    Spring Break Begins

    University Academic Calendar

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    EVENT DETAILS

    TIME Saturday, March 22, 2025

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    CONTACT Office of the Registrar    nu-registrar@northwestern.edu EMAIL

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  • Mar
    31

    Spring Break Ends

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    TIME Monday, March 31, 2025

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    CONTACT Office of the Registrar    nu-registrar@northwestern.edu EMAIL

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  • Apr
    1

    Spring Classes Begin - Northwestern Monday: Classes scheduled to meet on Mondays meet on this day.

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    EVENT DETAILS

    TIME Tuesday, April 1, 2025

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    CONTACT Office of the Registrar    nu-registrar@northwestern.edu EMAIL

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