Michelle Marie Scherer is the Donald E. Bently Professor of Engineering at the

University of Iowa The University of Iowa (UI, U of I, UIowa, or simply Iowa) is a public university, public research university in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1847, it is the oldest and largest university in the state. The University of Iowa is org ...

. Her research considers

environmental A biophysical environment is a biotic and abiotic surrounding of an organism or population, and consequently includes the factors that have an influence in their survival, development, and evolution. A biophysical environment can vary in scale f ...

geochemistry, in particular redox-reactions at mineral-water interfaces. In 2009 she was awarded the Association of Environmental Engineering and Science Professors Distinguished Service Award.

Early life and education

Scherer grew up in

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

. She enjoyed mathematics and problem solving as a child, and was particularly interested in using engineering in an environmental context. She studied systems engineering at the

University of Virginia The University of Virginia (UVA) is a Public university#United States, public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia. Founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson, the university is ranked among the top academic institutions in the United S ...

. She moved to the

University of Connecticut The University of Connecticut (UConn) is a public land-grant research university in Storrs, Connecticut, a village in the town of Mansfield. The primary 4,400-acre (17.8 km2) campus is in Storrs, approximately a half hour's drive from Hart ...

where she earned a master's degree in civil and environmental engineering. Scherer joined the

OGI School of Science and Engineering The OGI School of Science and Engineering, located in Hillsboro, Oregon, United States was one of four schools at the Oregon Health and Science University (OHSU). Until June 2001, it functioned independently as a private graduate school, the Oreg ...

for her doctoral studies and earned a PhD in 1998.

Research and career

In 1998 Scherer joined the

as an Assistant Professor. She was promoted to Professor in 2010 and made a Chair in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering. That year she was awarded the AEESP Frontier in Research Award. Scherer specialises in environmental geochemistry, in particular, the interaction of pollution and soil. Before Scherer it was believed that pollutants only interacted with the surfaces of soil and minerals, but Scherer has demonstrated that they can penetrate the interiors of mineral particles. Her research considers the reduction-oxidation reactions that occur at iron oxide surfaces. She has investigated the attenuation of chlorinated solvents (including perchloroethylene, PCE, and trichloroethylene, TCE) through biological degradation, and the impact of abiotic degradation due to iron minerals in

natural attenuation In physics, attenuation (in some contexts, extinction) is the gradual loss of flux intensity through a medium. For instance, dark glasses attenuate sunlight, lead attenuates X-rays, and water and air attenuate both light and sound at variable a ...

. She has shown that at high iron concentrations the formation of metastable mineral phases can reduce the PCE and TCE, making them more susceptible to attenuation. She is involved with a

project to monitor the levels of lead in Iowan drinking water, which is known to impact children's physical and mental capacity. Whilst the Flint water crisis occurred due to city-wide changes in water sources and poor control of corrosion, Iowan homes often have sources of lead in their own plumbing, and need lead monitoring at the tap. In 2014 she spoke about ''Women Leaders in Environmental Chemistry'' at the annual

American Chemical Society The American Chemical Society (ACS) is a scientific society based in the United States that supports scientific inquiry in the field of chemistry. Founded in 1876 at New York University, the ACS currently has more than 155,000 members at all d ...

meeting. She joined the

United States Environmental Protection Agency The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is an independent executive agency of the United States federal government tasked with environmental protection matters. President Richard Nixon proposed the establishment of EPA on July 9, 1970; it be ...

Advisory Board in 2014.

Awards and honours

Her awards and honours include: * 2010 Malcolm Pirnie Frontier in Research Award * 2015 Excellence in Teaching and Dedication to Student Success * 2016 May Brodbeck Distinguished Achievement Award

Selected publications

Her publications include: * * *

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Scherer, Michelle Living people Year of birth missing (living people) University of Connecticut alumni University of Virginia School of Engineering and Applied Science alumni University of Iowa faculty 21st-century American educators