B. C. “Bill” Wolverton (born 1932)http://cordis.europa.eu/docs/results/272/272520/final1-nasa-phytoremediation-2012.pdf is an American

scientist A scientist is a person who conducts scientific research to advance knowledge in an area of the natural sciences. In classical antiquity, there was no real ancient analog of a modern scientist. Instead, philosophers engaged in the philosoph ...

specialized in chemistry, microbiology,

biochemistry Biochemistry or biological chemistry is the study of chemical processes within and relating to living organisms. A sub-discipline of both chemistry and biology, biochemistry may be divided into three fields: structural biology, enzymology and ...

, marine biology and

environmental engineering Environmental engineering is a professional engineering discipline that encompasses broad scientific topics like chemistry, biology, ecology, geology, hydraulics, hydrology, microbiology, and mathematics to create solutions that will protect and ...

. He is well known for being the principal investigator of the famous

NASA Clean Air Study __NOTOC__ The NASA Clean Air Study was a project led by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) in association with the Associated Landscape Contractors of America (ALCA) in 1989, to research ways to clean the air in sealed envir ...

, where plants were tested in order to find out their ability to purify air. He completed his PhD in environmental engineering in 1978.

Biography

Early life and career

Bill Wolverton was born and lived his early life in the rural areas of

Mississippi Mississippi () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States, bordered to the north by Tennessee; to the east by Alabama; to the south by the Gulf of Mexico; to the southwest by Louisiana; and to the northwest by Arkansas. Miss ...

. After high school he served in the

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Aerial warfare, air military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part ...

during the Korean Conflict and the Air National Guard. After military service, he was awarded a

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University o ...

degree in chemistry from

Mississippi College Mississippi College (MC) is a private Baptist university in Clinton, Mississippi. Founded in 1826, MC is the second-oldest Baptist-affiliated college or university in the United States and the oldest college or university in Mississippi. Histor ...

in 1960. He completed three years of graduate studies at the

University of Mississippi School of Medicine The University of Mississippi School of Medicine (UMSOM) is the medical school of the University of Mississippi in the U.S. state of Mississippi. The UMSOM was created in 1903 on the Oxford campus. In 1955, it was moved from the Oxford campus ...

. He also served as a research assistant and participated in isolation, identification and immunological studies of abnormal high-molecular-weight blood proteins found in patients with rheumatoid arthritis and multiple myeloma. In 1963 he became a civilian scientist and headed the Chemical/Biological Branch Laboratory at the Naval Weapons Laboratory in Dahlgren, Virginia. There he researched methods for protecting military from chemical/biological warfare. In 1965 he transferred to Eglin Air Force Base,

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

, where he served as Chief of the Assessments Branch of the Air Force Armament Laboratory. He continued research on the subject of chemical/biological warfare during the Vietnam War. His studies resulted in numerous

patent A patent is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the legal right to exclude others from making, using, or selling an invention for a limited period of time in exchange for publishing an enabling disclosure of the invention."A ...

s. In Florida he also studied Marine Biology at the

University of West Florida The University of West Florida (West Florida or UWF) is a public university in Pensacola, Florida. Established in 1963 as part of the State University System of Florida, the university sits on the third largest campus in the State University Sys ...

. In 1971 he was recruited to

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil List of government space agencies, space program ...

as head of the Environmental Research Laboratory at the Mississippi Test Facility (now the

John C. Stennis Space Center The John C. Stennis Space Center (SSC) is a NASA rocket testing facility in Hancock County, Mississippi, United States, on the banks of the Pearl River at the Mississippi–Louisiana border. , it is NASA's largest rocket engine test facility. ...

). His research efforts focused upon three specific areas of study: 1) pursue plant-based options for a 'closed ecological life support system' for long-term space habitation; 2) seek practical applications for biotechnologies to treat wastewaters; and 3) seek 'spin-off' applications for solving earthly environmental pollution problems. After completing his

doctoral degree A doctorate (from Latin ''docere'', "to teach"), doctor's degree (from Latin ''doctor'', "teacher"), or doctoral degree is an academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism ''l ...

in 1978, he turned his attention to indoor air quality problems. He worked together with his colleague Dr. Rebecca McDonald-McCaleb to conduct pioneering research to determine the ability of interior plants to remove volatile organic chemicals (VOCs) from the indoor environment. Their findings were first published in 1984 in the Journal of Economic Botany. In 1983, Dr. Wolverton was named the Federal Environmental Engineer of the Year. In 1988 Dr. Wolverton was one of the first inductees into the U.S. Space Foundation's Hall of Fame. Further studies on the ability of interior plants to improve the indoor environment continued through a jointly funded program with NASA and the Associated Landscape Contractors of America. In 1989 the results of their findings were released in a NASA report entitled 'Interior Landscape Plants for Indoor Air Pollution' and at a joint news conference at the National Press Club, Washington, D.C. in conjunction with a 'Plants for Clean Air Day' on Capitol Hill. This report received worldwide attention and Dr. Wolverton appeared on many television shows and granted interviews by journalists from across the globe. He also authored more than 70 scientific technical papers during his career. In 1990, following the release of the NASA Clean Air Study, Dr. Wolverton retired from NASA and started a small research company of his own (Wolverton Environmental Services) together with his wife Yvonne and son, John. Since leaving NASA he has lectured throughout the world; written books on the subject and been awarded numerous patents. In 2010 Dr. Wolverton was inducted into the Plantscape Industry Alliance Hall of Fame.

References

External links

Wolverton Environmental Services'Interior Landscape Plants for Indoor Air Pollution'
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wolverton, Bill 1932 births Living people