Pat Shea
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I’m Pat Shea, professor of xenobiotic chemistry and toxicology at the UNL School of Natural Resources (SNR) and the Department of Environmental, Agricultural and Occupational Health (EAOH) at the University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha, where I’m serving as EAOH Vice Chair. I hold a courtesy appointment in the Department of Agronomy and Horticulture. My interests include natural resource preservation, agriculture and managed ecosystems, remediation and restoration of contaminated environments, and protection of public health.
What are xenobiotics? Xenobiotics are biologically foreign substances that did not exist in nature before being synthesized by humans. These substances often become environmental contaminants. My research encompasses adsorption-desorption, transformation, transport, bioavailability and toxicity of herbicides and other pesticides, munitions, pharmaceuticals and solvents in water and soil. We’ve also conducted research in the remediation of contaminated water and soil, including abiotic and biotic treatment processes. I’m currently involved in the development of process-based index models to assess landscape vulnerability to agrichemical leaching and runoff. Much of my research is interdisciplinary and involves collaborations with other faculty members.
I’ve taught or team-taught courses concerning the fate and impacts of xenobiotics in soil, water and biota, as well as a graduate writing seminar. I’ve advised or co-advised Ph.D. and M.S. students with majors in natural resource sciences, agronomy and toxicology, supervised postdoctoral associates, and hosted visiting scientists. I hold a partial extension appointment and contribute to outreach education programs.
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Dr. Pat Shea visits a soil remediation project in Minnesota. |
I’ve been at UNL since completing a Ph.D. in 1981 at North Carolina State University, with a focus on agricultural and environmental chemistry in soil-water-plant systems. I also have an M.S. in Plant Science (agricultural management systems) from the University of Connecticut and a B.S. in Biology (general and premedical) from Fordham University in New York City. In addition to my academic appointments, I’m a member of the intercampus Center for Environmental Health and Toxicology and an affiliate of the University of Nebraska Water Center and Center for Biotechnology. I previously served as Associate Director and Research Coordinator for SNR and served two terms as Secretary of the UNL Faculty Senate.
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This diagram shows ways that pesticides move through soil and water. |
The map, developed as part of a U.S. Department of Agriculture-funded project, shows landscape vulnerability to atrazine loss in runoff water for Saunders County, NE. The most vulnerable areas are steep hill slopes on the south side of the current Platte river channel and on the western edge of the county. Least vulnerable are the relatively flat playas and depressions of the Todd Valley. |
Key Research Publications
- Kolok, A.S., C.L. Beseler, X-H. Chen, and P.J. Shea. 2009. The watershed as a conceptual framework for the study of Environmental and human health. Environmental Health Insights. 3:1-10.
- Boparai, H.K., P.J. Shea, S.D. Comfort, and T.A. Machacek. 2008. Sequencing zerovalent iron treatment with carbon amendments to remediate agrichemical-contaminated soil. Water, Air and Soil Poll. 193:189-196.
- Boparai, H.K., S.D. Comfort, P.J. Shea, and J.E. Szecsody. 2008. Evaluating in situ redox manipulation of a perched aquifer to remediate explosive-contaminated groundwater. Chemosphere 71:933-941.
- Onanong, S. S.D. Comfort, P.D. Burrow, and P.J. Shea. 2007. Using gas-phase molecular descriptors to predict dechlorination rates of chloroalkanes by zerovalent iron. Environ. Sci. Technol. 41:1200-1205.
- Kim, J.S., P.J. Shea, J.E. Yang, and J-E. Kim. 2007. Halide salts accelerate degradation of high explosives by zerovalent iron. Environmental Pollution 147:634-641.
- Kim, J., M. Cho, J. Yoon, P.J. Shea, and B-T. Oh. 2007. Surficial disinfection of Escheriachia coli contaminated playground soil by UV irradiation. Environ. Geochem. Health 12:64-71.
- Vasilyeva, G.K., E.R. Strijakova, and P.J. Shea. 2006. Use of activated carbon for soil bioremediation, p. 309-322. In: I. Twardowska, H.E. Allen, M.M. Häggblom and S. Stefaniak (eds.), Soil and Water Pollution Monitoring: Protection and Remediation, NATO Sci. Ser. IV-Earth and Environ. Sci., Vol. 69. Springer Netherlands, Dordrecht.
- Onanong, S., P.D. Burrow, S.D. Comfort, and P.J. Shea. 2006. Electron capture detector response and dissociative electron attachment cross sections in chloroalkanes and chloroalkenes. J. Phys. Chem. A 110:4363-4368.
- Boparai, H.K., P.J. Shea, S.D. Comfort, and D.D. Snow. 2006. Dechlorinating chloroacetanilide herbicides by dithionite-treated aquifer sediment and surface soil. Environ. Sci. Technol. 40:3043-3049.
- Tyess, D.L., P.J. Shea, and A.M. Parkhurst. 2006. Mineralization potential of atrazine and degradation intermediates from clustered characteristics in inoculated soils. J. Soil Sediment Contamination 15:87-102.
- Park, J., S.D. Comfort, P.J. Shea, and J.S. Kim. 2005. Increasing Fe0-mediated HMX destruction in highly contaminated soil with didecyldimethylammonium bromide surfactant. Environ. Sci. Technol. 39:9683-9688.
- Papastavros, E., P.J. Shea, and M.A. Langell. 2004. Oxygen, carbon, and sulfur segregation in annealed and unannealed zerovalent iron substrates. Langmuir 20:11509-11516.
- Shea, P.J., T.A. Machacek, and S.D. Comfort. 2004. Accelerated remediation of pesticide-contaminated soil with zerovalent iron. Environmental Pollution 132:183-188.
- Park, J., S.D. Comfort, P.J. Shea, and T.A. Machacek. 2004. Remediating munitions-contaminated soil with zerovalent iron and cationic surfactants. J. Environ. Qual. 33:1305-1313.
- Gibb, C., T. Satapanajaru, S.D. Comfort, and P.J. Shea. 2004. Remediating dicamba-contaminated water with zerovalent iron. Chemosphere 54:841-848.
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| Potential Advising for Graduate Program |
Master of Science with a Specialization in
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| Course Number | Course Title | Day | Time | Cross Listings |
| NRES 898 | Special Topics - Pesticides in the Environment | TR | 0900-0950 A | None |
| NRES 899 | Masters Thesis | ARR | ARR | None |
| SNR Faculties | Water, Geology & Soils, Applied Ecology |
| Areas of Interest | Environmental chemistry, Xenobiotics, Environmental management, Environmental remediation and restoration, Environmanetal soil analysis |
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