Ben Bostick

Dr. Bostick studies environmental processes at the molecular scale. My research group studies the chemical, biological and physical processes that occur in environmental systems, often at the scale of atoms and molecules. This research is grounded in learning the fundamental chemical reactions that influence water quality, soil fertility, and pollutant levels across environmental systems. Such processes often involve the redox processes and adsorption. We have active projects examining arsenic, uranium, tungsten and other trace elements in soils and groundwater, and also examine how iron is utilized in the ocean. Our hope is to do more than understand environmental chemistry, but to develop scientifically sound solutions that address and solve environmental issues.

Detailed measurements are inherently difficult to replicate across varied environments. A second and emerging focus of our research group is how to scale local geochemical observations to the landscape and larger scales. These approaches involve a foundation of as many environmental measurements as possible, conceptual and computational models and machine learning, and statistics. This scaling is directly relevant to public health in that they allow us better to understand environmental exposures, to mitigation and engineering solutions to environmental problems, and to developing sound predictions of future water, soil and air quality.

Environmental issues involve research both at home and abroad. We study them, often through community and student-lead research projects in our local NYC or other nearby communities. My group is also involved in many international projects, and have current research projects and collaborations on several continents and countries, most significantly Vietnam, Cambodia, Bangladesh, India, Australia, Antarctica, Patagonia, and China. Our research also seeks to address inequity in environmental exposures and impacts across both urban and rural communities. This could involve improving water quality in Indigenous communities in the US, urban exposure to air pollution, or drinking water quality in rural communities around the world.