Western Mineral Resources
Interests: |
Aqueous and environmental geochemistry |
|
Chemical oceanography and limnology |
||
Adsorption processes |
||
My research examines the physical and biogeochemical processes that influence the concentration, speciation, distribution, mobility, and availability of metals in aquatic systems |
||
Contact: |
Phone: (206) 543-8966 |
|
Fax: (206) 685-3351 | ||
email: balistri@usgs.gov | ||
Education |
||
1974 B.S., Chemistry, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI | ||
1977 M.S., Chemical oceanography, University of Washington, Seattle, WA | ||
Experience |
||
I worked as a chemical oceanographer in the School of Oceanography at the University of Washington early in my career, and did various coastal and open-ocean cruises. I helped with porewater work during this time and did research that examined adsorption of metals onto synthetic metal oxide phases and natural particles. When I joined the USGS in 1986, I continued my adsorption research and got involved in field studies that examined the behavior of metals in terrestrial ecosystems. I studied metal cycling in Terrace Reservoir and wetlands downstream of the Summitville mine in Colorado, carbon cycling in wetlands in Louisiana, metal cycling in numerous natural and pit lakes in the northern United States, the composition of hydrothermal vents in Yellowstone Lake and their effect on lake chemistry, and the behavior of contaminants resulting from historical mining within the Coeur d' Alene River basin. I also am an affiliate professor in the School of Oceanography at the University of Washington, where I help teach classes and advise students. | ||
Current Activities |
||
Understanding metal cycling in ecosystems containing mineralized depositsThis research evaluates physical and biogeochemical processes controlling the distribution, speciation, mobility, and bioavailability of metals in large-scale ecosystems affected by mining activities using a combination of traditional and emerging analytical techniques, integrated laboratory and field studies, and thermodynamic and coupled physical-biogeochemical models. See Pathways of Metal Transfer from Mineralized Sources to Bioreceptors Project and Development of Mineral Environmental Assessment Methodologies Project for additional information. Also see Assessing Element Speciation, Bioavailability, and Cycling using Diffusive Gradients in Thin Films (DGT) within the Aqueous Geochemistry Research and Development Project. Mobilization, transport, and fate of elements in pit lakesThis research involves collecting spatial and temporal data in pit lakes and developing, applying, and validating modeling approaches for describing the physical and geochemical evolution of the lakes. Tracing metal cycling in the environment using stable metal isotopesThis research combines field and laboratory studies to advance our limited understanding of isotopic values for stable metals (Fe, Cu, and Zn) in environmental samples and of isotopic fractionation factors for specific processes. |
Return to Spokane Office
Other Western Region Mineral Resources offices
Menlo Park / Reno / Tucson
Return to: Western Mineral Resources Team Homepage
Mineral Resources | Eastern / Central / Western / Alaska / Minerals Information |
Crustal Imaging & Characterization / Spatial Data |