Biogeochemistry of Global COntaminants
Our research goal is to better understand how chemicals released by human activity interact with natural ecosystems and affect living systems. A main innovation of our group’s work is to quantitatively analyze the entire exposure pathway for aquatic pollutants to identify key processes that have a large influence on their accumulation in biota. Our research approach combines environmental measurements with statistical and mechanistic simulation models to project chemical levels over space and time. This integrated approach allows us to better understand how global change (both chemical releases and climate change) will affect human and ecological health risks associated with environmental toxicants.
We are also affiliated with the Harvard University Center for the Environment and the Harvard Center for Risk Analysis.
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RECENT RESEARCH
- Below are a selection of figures from our recent papers -
Journal of Exposure Science & Environmental Epidemiolgy (JESEE)
Global Biogeochemical Cycles
Environmental Science & Technology Letters
Tokranov et al. 2019
Environmental Science & Technology Letters
Environmental Health Perspectives
Nature
Environmental Research
Environmental Science & Technology
SEE PUBLICATIONS FOR MORE
Featured Paper
A.T. Schartup, C.P. Thackray, A. Qureshi, C. Dassuncao, K. Gillespie, A. Hanke, E.M. Sunderland. 2019. Climate change and overfishing increase neurotoxicant in marine predators. Nature. 572 (7771): 648-650.
Summary
Climate change is increasing seawater temperatures in many regions. We developed a new mechanistic bioaccumulation model for methylmercury in aquatic ecosystems to characterize the impacts of changing temperature and trophic structure. Our results for the Gulf of Maine as a model ecosystem show large impacts of recent warming on mercury levels in Atlantic bluefin tuna. These results suggest both carbon and mercury emissions controls are needed to protect the integrity of our global seafood supply. See press release on this paper here for more information.
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Sunderland Lab
Group Administrator: Brenda Mathieu
Address: 29 Oxford Street, Cambridge MA 02138
E-mail: bmathieu [at] seas.harvard.edu
Phone: +1 (617) 496-5745
Fax: +1 (617) 495-4551