Heileen Hsu-Kim, Professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering

Professor Heileen (Helen) Hsu-Kim's research interests include the chemical processes that affect the fate of trace metals in the environment. In particular, she is interested in the biogeochemical cycling of pollutant metals and interfacial processes controlling the fate and bioavilability of nanoparticles in aqueous systems.

Dr. Hsu-Kim's current research efforts focus on the role of reduced sulfur and natural organic matter for controlling mobility and toxicity of metals in the aquatic environment. The methodologies her group employs for this research include laboratory techniques for quantifying trace metal speciation, water-surface interactions, and in-situ applications of solid-state microelectrodes to determine important aquatic constituents in water and sediment.

Contact Info:

Office Location:	127A Hudson Hall
Office Phone:	(919) 660-5109
Email Address:
Web Pages:	http://hsukim.pratt.duke.edu/ http://www.ceint.duke.edu

Teaching (Spring 2024):

• CEE 666.01, AQUATIC GEOCHEM Synopsis

  Hudson 212, MW 10:05 AM-11:20 AM

  (also cross-listed as ENVIRON 666.01)

• CEE 890.01, ADVANCED TOPICS IN CEE Synopsis

  Hudson 216, W 11:45 AM-01:00 PM

Education:

PhD	University of California, Berkeley	2004
MS	University of California, Berkeley	1999
BS	Massachusetts Institute of Technology	1998

Specialties:

Water, Resources and Treatment
Environmental Engineering
Environmental Impacts

Research Interests: Environmental Engineering

Aquatic chemistry and geochemistry, environmental chemistry, trace element environmental chemistry, nanogeoscience, mercury biogeochemistry, water-particle surface processes.

Representative Publications   (More Publications)

1. Hsu-Kim, H.; Kucharzyk, K.H.; Zhang, T.; Deshusses, M.A., Mechanisms Regulating Mercury Bioavailability for Methylating Microorganisms in the Aquatic Environment: A Critical Review, Environmental Science & Technology, vol. 47 no. 6 (2013), pp. 2441-2456 [doi]
2. Zhang, T.; Kim, B.; Levard, C.; Reinsch, B. C.; Lowry, G. V.; Deshusses, M. A.; Hsu-Kim, H., Methylation of mercury by bacteria exposed to dissolved, nanoparticulate, and microparticulate mercuric sulfides, Environmental Science & Technology, vol. 46 no. 13 (2012), pp. 6950–6958 [es203181m], [doi]
3. Gondikas, A. P.; Morris, A.; Reinsch, B. C.; Marinakos, S. M.; Lowry, G. V.; Hsu-Kim, H., Cysteine-induced modifications of zero-valent silver nanomaterials: Implications for particle surface chemistry, aggregation, dissolution, and silver speciation, Environmental Science \& Technology, vol. 46 no. 13 (2012), pp. 7037–7045 [es3001757], [doi]
4. Deonarine, A.; Bartov, G.; Johnson, T.M.; Ruhl, L.; Vengosh, A.; Hsu-Kim, H., Environmental impacts of the Tennessee Valley Authority Kingston coal ash spill. 2. Effect of coal ash on methylmercury in historically contaminated river sediments, Environmental Science & Technology, vol. 47 no. 4 (2013), pp. 2100-2108 [doi]
5. Aiken, G. R.; Hsu-Kim, H.; Ryan, J. N., Influence of dissolved organic matter on the environmental fate of metals, nanoparticles, and colloids, Environmental Science \& Technology, vol. 45 (2011), pp. 3196-3201 [es103992s], [doi]
6. Zhang, T. and Hsu-Kim, H., Photolytic degradation of methylmercury enhanced by binding to natural organic ligands, Nature Geoscience, vol. 3 no. 7 (2010), pp. 473-476 [NGEO892], [doi]
7. Ruhl, L.; Vengosh, A.; Dwyer, G. S.; Hsu-Kim, H.; Deonarine, A., Environmental impacts of the coal ash spill in Kingston, Tennessee: An 18-month survey, Environmental Science \& Technology, vol. 44 no. 24 (2010), pp. 9272-9278 [es1026739], [doi]

Professional and Service Activities

• American Chemical Society, member
• Association of Environmental Engineering and Science Professors, member
• Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry, member