ChemBob @ChemBob@qoto.org
I am Robert M. Powell. My degrees are in Zoology and Environmental Science, with a lot of chemistry courses thrown in, which was fortunate because almost all my professional work has involved extremely detailed chemistry, including some chemical reactions in experiments that hadn't been described before. I’m also a consultant, so get in touch if my expertise matches your needs.
I currently teach environmental science courses at three colleges. I had a very long career prior to becoming a professor, with over 40 years of experience. Here are some highlights:
- Two years as a senior technician in a genetics research lab.
- Eleven years at the Oklahoma Geological Survey (OGS) as an Analytical Chemist.
- Eleven years as a Researcher at USEPA's National Risk Management Research Laboratory, Ada, OK.
- Twenty-four years as an environmental consultant via Powell & Associates Science Services.
- Seven years+ (so far) as a professor at three colleges.
My expertise includes aqueous chemistry, ground water geochemistry, contaminant remediation using permeable reactive barriers (PRBs) in the subsurface and other innovative in situ treatment technologies, ground water sampling, site characterization, contaminant transport and fate, including colloidal contaminant transport, analytical chemistry, exploratory data analysis, risk assessment, technical writing and editing, and providing expert witness support for clients on a variety of environmental topics under litigation. One of my fascinations is sorting out complex data using exploratory data analysis software.
At the OGS I analyzed large numbers of environmental samples, including rocks, coal, surface water, ground water, water from deep sea sediments, uranium levels in ore, and so on; I programmed computers to do the calculations.
At EPA, my emphasis was in surface water and subsurface systems including soil, the unsaturated zone above the aquifers, and ground water, including the transport of contaminants adsorbed onto colloidal particles and as chelates. I was involved in the research and development of low-flow rate and passive purging and sampling of groundwater monitoring wells. I also worked on the development and understanding of the geochemical mechanisms, reaction rates, costs and approaches to in situ contaminant remediation using permeable reactive barrier technology, authoring many reports and peer-reviewed papers in the process. Both these methods are now being used worldwide, for which I get nothing because my work was government-funded, LOL.
As a consultant I have had numerous clients from industry, legal teams, Native American tribes, other consultancies, and government, both local and federal. One of my favorite projects was serving as a member of the six-person External Advisory Group for the Hydrogeologic Workplan at the Los Alamos National Laboratory for seven years; I got to go to New Mexico at least twice per year and I love it there, both the scenery and the stupendously good Mexican food.
About three years ago, I was subcontracted to Michigan Technological University for the State of Michigan. Michigan Tech was contracted to develop a worst-case scenario risk assessment for the Mackinac Straits Line 5 pipelines owned by Enbridge, Inc., should they rupture and release large amounts of oil. I worked on the ecosystems part of the risk assessment.
I've authored 40+ publications, book chapters, and encyclopedia articles and lost count of my professional presentations at around 50 or so.
Joined Nov 2022
ChemBob
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ChemBob
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"One factory making CVS-branded pain and fever medications for children used contaminated water. Another made drugs for kids that were too potent. And a third made nasal sprays for babies on the same machines it used to produce pesticides." https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2024-06-10/cvs-brand-drug-recalls-expose-link-to-tainted-factories?accessToken=eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJzb3VyY2UiOiJTdWJzY3JpYmVyR2lmdGVkQXJ0aWNsZSIsImlhdCI6MTcxODE2MTE4MywiZXhwIjoxNzE4NzY1OTgzLCJhcnRpY2xlSWQiOiJTRVZVQ0tEV1gyUFMwMCIsImJjb25uZWN0SWQiOiJCTUVVSzBYUEZNVUdSSVpVTFBCV1VQVTNVV0hVMkUwUCJ9.iQsZrPTpi0aH_ixzHRKE-e0d2TMYs9HU5PETMr3onkU
ChemBob
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🏳️🌈🖖🏽
David Frum sums up the Elon Musk decision to disable Starlink so that Ukraine couldn’t attack Russian vessels with drones:
ChemBob
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As Jim Jordan tries to inserts his committee improperly into state prosecutions once again, a reminder of why he is even in Congress in the first place. This is his district in Ohio. One of the most gerrymandered in the nation.
ChemBob
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The extremist majority on the Supreme Court has been messing with another important guardrail for our system: standing. Toward the end of this term, they seemed to pull it out of a hat to advance a political agenda. I dive into how they did it and what it means, in today’s piece. https://statuskuo.substack.com/p/standing-out-of-nothing?sd=pf
ChemBob
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Trump lawyer Lin Wood, who spread false election conspiracies and tried to overturn the 2020 election, has agreed to permanent retirement from the practice rather than likely disbarment.
ChemBob
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Humans have pumped enough groundwater to alter the planet's very axis. Between 1993-2010, we removed more than 2,000 gigatons of #water from aquifers, shifting Earth's tilt by about a meter.
How does this work? Imagine spinning a coconut on a tabletop. It's not perfectly round, so it wobbles a little. Now stick in a straw and suck out some of the coconut milk. That changes how the shell is weighted, and imbalance makes the wobble more pronounced.
While Earth's increased angle isn't enough to impact the #climate (yet), it could exacerbate #SeaLevelRise. Read more from agcu.org at the link below.
ChemBob
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So let me get this straight. The Supreme Court is only supposed to take cases where there is a real injury and real controversy, but it took the case of a web designer who faked a request by a gay customer for a website design? The guy was actually straight, married and with kids?
Vacate this case.
ChemBob
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So, this is really horrific...
Carbonate based marine life survival against pH >>> https://mathstodon.xyz/@maxpool/110615700703383281
"Ocean acidification will lead to a regime shift away from the key carbonate-based species and diatoms below pH 7.95 which will be reached by 2045... ocean acidification and the collapse of the marine ecosystem could also lead to the loss of most seals, birds, whales, fish, and food supply for 3 billion people."
Today on @ClimateMigration
ChemBob
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Elon Musk Wealth
2012: $2,000,000,000.00
2023: $234,000,000,000.00
Mark Zuckerberg Wealth
2009: $2,000,000,000.00
2023: $105,000,000,000.00
👷🏽 US Federal Minimum Wage Workers:
2009: $7.25
2023: $7.25
➡️ "The cage match we should pay attention to is the one the billionaire class is waging against the working class." - Warren Gunnels
The blue dot is our house in Pontiac Michigan, the fires are in Canada, and the wind direction is dropping the smoke right on us. I’m running our standalone air cleaner at full blast and the fan on our AC for 50 minutes every hour, because it has a MERV 13 filter. #climatechange #globalwarming
ChemBob
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Global ecological collapse likely far sooner than previously anticipated, based on new findings modeling planetary-boundary tipping points.
Prof Simon Willcock, co-leader of the study, says “We could realistically be the last generation to see the Amazon.”
The more cautious IPCC, whom does not model for complex self-reinforcing feedbacks, previously put it at the end of the century.
ChemBob
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"Countries are far off track in meeting #climate promises and commitments. I see a lack of ambition. A lack of trust. A lack of support. A lack of cooperation. And an abundance of problems around clarity and credibility" -- U.N. Secretary General António Guterres https://www.commondreams.org/news/taking-aim-at-industry-un-chief-warns-fossil-fuels-incompatible-with-human-survival
ChemBob
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"America needs to know who Barre Seid is, what kind of country he wants, and just how massive an impact his $1.6 billion gift can have on our political discourse." https://newrepublic.com/article/172480/barre-seid-leonard-leo-dark-money-king
I would be very interested in a discussion of this article; whether anyone finds it compelling, sees problems with it, etc. In it are a variety of physics concepts, evolution, the genesis of time and what it is (the gist of the article), and more, including Legos.
There is all this worry about AI permeating the media and the government. Here is what I think about how to manage it:
There are thousands of predictive models of various sorts and for various purposes in use and there have been for years. AI is simply another type of predictive model. All the models of which I am aware have what are known as “boundary conditions” that are set in the model before it is run for whatever reason...predicting the movement of groundwater contamination for example.
These boundary conditions limit the range of predictions to avoid nonsensical results, to avoid the models running endlessly by trying to address too large a dataset, and because going further than a certain point in the calculations is unnecessary. Boundary conditions can be inserted into AI just as easily, set the code so that it simply can’t embark into certain areas, doesn’t allow it to go beyond where it is useful to humans to the point where it considers us to be stupid garbage.
Perhaps this is where regulations could come in, setting such boundary conditions. Having said that, there will still be the potential for rogue countries to ignore such safety protocols, so detection methods for that will be needed, possibly performed by the AIs themselves.
This is too important to ignore. The potential gutting of all our agencies by the Supreme Court. The EPA, FDA, OSHA, and on and on.
I'm not normally political on here, but everyone on earth should read this article by Thom Hartmann. The title is a little misleading, because the primary topic is how fascism arises and takes over a government, precisely what the ignorant supporting Trump are slowly but surely doing.
https://www.rawstory.com/cnn-town-hall-trump/#comments_section_start
ChemBob
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[emploi] La science ouverte se développe aussi grâce à des cabinets experts qui se mettent au service de l'enseignement supérieur et de la recherche pour accompagner cette transformation profonde ! Si vous avez une bonne expérience des données de recherche (si possible dans plusieurs contextes disciplinaires) et souhaitez travailler en remote au sein d'une société coopérative unique en son genre, n'hésitez pas à candidater chez Datactivist ! https://odoo.datactivist.coop/jobs/detail/consultante-science-ouverte-8
I am Robert M. Powell. My degrees are in Zoology and Environmental Science, with a lot of chemistry courses thrown in, which was fortunate because almost all my professional work has involved extremely detailed chemistry, including some chemical reactions in experiments that hadn't been described before. I’m also a consultant, so get in touch if my expertise matches your needs.
I currently teach environmental science courses at three colleges. I had a very long career prior to becoming a professor, with over 40 years of experience. Here are some highlights:
- Two years as a senior technician in a genetics research lab.
- Eleven years at the Oklahoma Geological Survey (OGS) as an Analytical Chemist.
- Eleven years as a Researcher at USEPA's National Risk Management Research Laboratory, Ada, OK.
- Twenty-four years as an environmental consultant via Powell & Associates Science Services.
- Seven years+ (so far) as a professor at three colleges.
My expertise includes aqueous chemistry, ground water geochemistry, contaminant remediation using permeable reactive barriers (PRBs) in the subsurface and other innovative in situ treatment technologies, ground water sampling, site characterization, contaminant transport and fate, including colloidal contaminant transport, analytical chemistry, exploratory data analysis, risk assessment, technical writing and editing, and providing expert witness support for clients on a variety of environmental topics under litigation. One of my fascinations is sorting out complex data using exploratory data analysis software.
At the OGS I analyzed large numbers of environmental samples, including rocks, coal, surface water, ground water, water from deep sea sediments, uranium levels in ore, and so on; I programmed computers to do the calculations.
At EPA, my emphasis was in surface water and subsurface systems including soil, the unsaturated zone above the aquifers, and ground water, including the transport of contaminants adsorbed onto colloidal particles and as chelates. I was involved in the research and development of low-flow rate and passive purging and sampling of groundwater monitoring wells. I also worked on the development and understanding of the geochemical mechanisms, reaction rates, costs and approaches to in situ contaminant remediation using permeable reactive barrier technology, authoring many reports and peer-reviewed papers in the process. Both these methods are now being used worldwide, for which I get nothing because my work was government-funded, LOL.
As a consultant I have had numerous clients from industry, legal teams, Native American tribes, other consultancies, and government, both local and federal. One of my favorite projects was serving as a member of the six-person External Advisory Group for the Hydrogeologic Workplan at the Los Alamos National Laboratory for seven years; I got to go to New Mexico at least twice per year and I love it there, both the scenery and the stupendously good Mexican food.
About three years ago, I was subcontracted to Michigan Technological University for the State of Michigan. Michigan Tech was contracted to develop a worst-case scenario risk assessment for the Mackinac Straits Line 5 pipelines owned by Enbridge, Inc., should they rupture and release large amounts of oil. I worked on the ecosystems part of the risk assessment.
I've authored 40+ publications, book chapters, and encyclopedia articles and lost count of my professional presentations at around 50 or so.
Joined Nov 2022
