Miami University

Professor

Ph.D. (1997) University of Michigan
127 Shideler Hall
513-529-2517
dongh@muohio.edu

The overall objective of my research program is to understand how and why microorganisms and geological media (rocks, minerals, water) interact and how we can study their mutual interactions to understand a range of biogeochemical processes on Earth (past and present). My current research is focused on three broad areas: 1) mineral-microbe interactions; 2) life in extreme environments (saline lakes on Tibetan Plateau, deserts, South China Sea and the Gulf of Mexico gas hydrate deposits, and deep continental subsurface) and implications for life on Mars; 3) environmental bioremediation of heavy metals and radionuclides (U, Tc, and Cr). We employe a number of geological, mineralogical, geochemical, and microgiological techniques to study these processes. Most of our research projects are funded by NSF, DOE, DOD, ACS-PRF, and other sources.

Possible thesis/dissertation topics:

Aresenic biogeochemistry in soils and sediments.

Reactivity of iron-bearing phyllosilicates with uranium and chromium through redox transition.

Coupled diffusion and reaction processes of technetium in rock matrices.

Current/recent graduate research:

Gengxin Zhang (Ph.D. 2006) Geomicrobial processes and diversity in ultra-high pressure metamorphic rocks and deep fluids from Chinese Continental Scientific Deep Drilling.

Hongchen Jiang (Ph.D. 2007) Geomicrobiological studies of saline lakes on the Tibetan Plateau, NW China: Linking geological and microbial processes.

Deb Jaisi (Ph.D. 2007) Fe(III) reduction in clay minerals and its application to technetium immobilization.

Mike Bishop (M.S., in progress) Clay mineral-microbe interactions and reactivity of reduced clay minerals towards immobilization of Tc in contaminated DOE lands.

Jing Zhang (Ph.D., in progress) Fossil DNA preservation in ancient rocks and its role in reconstructing paleoenvironmental conditions.

Junjie Yang (Ph.D. in progress) Coupled diffusion and reaction processes of organic contaminants (TCE in particular) in rock matrices.

Selected publications:

Jiang, H., Dong, H. , Yu, B., Lv. G., Deng, S., Berzins, N., and Dai, M. (2009) Diversity and abundanc of ammonia-oxidizing archaea and bacteria in Qinghai Lake, Northwestern China. Geomicrobiology Journal, 26, 199-211.

Jiang H., Dong, H., Yu, B.S., Lv, G., Deng, S., Wu, Y., Dai, M., and Jiao, N. (2009) Abundance and diversity of aerobic anoxygenic phototrophic bacteria in saline lakes on the Tibetan Plateau. FEMS Microbiology Ecology, 67, 268-278.

Jaisi, D.P., Liu, C.X., Dong, H., Blake, R.E. and Fein, J.B. (2008) Fe(II) sorption onto nontronite (NAu-2), Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, 72, 5361-5371.

Jaisi, D.P., Ji, S., Dong, H., Blake, R.E., Eberle, D.D., and Kim, J.W. (2008) Role of Microbial Fe(III) Reduction and Solution Chemistry in Aggregation and Settling of Suspended Particles in the Mississippi River Delta Plain, Louisiana, USA Clays & Clay Minerals, 56(4) 416-428.

Jiang, H., Dong, H., Yu, B., Ye, Q., Shen J., Rowe, H., and Zhang, C.I. (2008) Dominance of putative marine benthoic archaea in Qinghai lake, Northwestern China, Environmental Microbiology, 10, 2355-2367.

Jaisi, D.P., Dong, H, and Morton, J.P. (2008) Speciation of Fe(II) during Fe(III) reduction in nontronite and their reactivity towards Tc(VIII) reduction, Clays and Clay Minerals, 56, 175-189.

Selected grants:

Department of Defense (SERDP), 2008 - 2011 (with Charles Shaefer of Shaw Environmental)
Coupled diffusion and reaction processes in rock matrices: impact on dilute groundwater plumes.

Dept. of Energy Office of Biological & Environmental Research, 2007 - 2010
Technetium and iron biogeochemistry in subtoxic subsurface environments with emphasis on the Hanford site.

National Science Foundation, 2004 - 2008
Nanoscale investigation of microbial effects on the smectite to illite transformation.

Teaching interests:

GLG 121 - Environmental Geology
GLG 211 - Chemistry of Earth Systems
GLG 402/502 - Geomicrobiology
GLG 496/596 - Isotopes in Environmental Processes
GLG 602 - Microbes and Geology

For complete descriptions of courses please click here.

Please click here to view Dr. Dong's curriculum vita.