Welcome to the Research Lab of Dr. Staci Simonich!
The Simonich Lab is comprised of Chemistry, Toxicology, and Environmental Engineering students and staff. Together we study a class of priority pollutants known as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in the environment.
Many PAHs are known to be toxic, and some are mutagenic and/or carcinogenic. PAHs can be generated from naturally occuring combustion as well as anthropogenic creation or use such as the burning or refinement of fossil fuels. They can be created and released to the environment during the same combustion processes and petrochemical spills.
We are concerned with how these compounds move throughout the environment and transform in a variety of remediation processes and technologies. We also investigate what implications newly formed transformation products may present to the environment and its inhabitants—the toxicological impact. The Simonich Lab has also studied other pollutants including pesticides, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), and per- and poly-fluorinated alkyl substances (PFASs).
We are able to complete our studies thanks to multiple funding sources: