Urs Jans, Assistant Professor of Chemistry at The Graduate Center and City College, has won the prestigious Career Award from the National Science Foundation for his research. Dr. Jans' award in the amount of $575,000 over five years will support the development of a program and research in environmental chemistry. A main focus of the research will be the understanding of the fate of organic contaminants in the environment. The research will emphasize the elucidation of the fate of organophosphorus and carbamate insecticides in sensitive aquatic environments (e.g., estuaries, salt marshes). Organophosphorus pesticides have been extensively used in U.S. agriculture for decades. Recently, it has been discovered that some of these pesticides are neurodevelopmentally toxic at low doses, indicating that the development of the brain of children can be harmed by a continuous exposure to very low concentrations of these compounds. This has caused the Environmental Protection Agency to review the use of these compounds. In addition to the research, modification and development of courses are intended that will introduce students to analytical measurements of contaminants and expose them to quantitative computer models to predict the behavior of contaminants in the environment.
Dr. Jans also received a grant from the Herman Frasch Foundation for research in the agricultural chemistry field, specifically with regard to abiotic transformation of agrochemicals in wetland soils and sediments.