Biography

Richard Wilkin is an Environmental Geochemist in GWERD's Subsurface Remediation Branch. He is the Team Leader of the Permeable Reactive Barriers Research Team, an interdisciplinary research team that explores key issues involving this ground water remediation technology. Dr. Wilkin has a B.A. degree in Geology from the University of Minnesota (Twin Cities), a M.S. degree in Geology and Geochemistry from Michigan Technological University, and a Ph.D. in Geosciences from the Pennsylvania State University. He is a member of the Geochemical Society, the American Chemical Society, the Geological Society of America, and the Mineralogical Society of America. He serves on the editorial boards of Chemosphere, American Mineralogist, and Geochemical Transactions.

Dr. Wilkin focuses his research on understanding the rates and mechanisms of mineral-fluid interactions. Problems of interest include redox reactions and contaminant interactions at mineral surfaces. The dominant approach has been to combine experimental studies and geochemical modeling with various microscopic, spectroscopic, and isotopic analyses. Examples of current research efforts include: i) evaluation of methods for characterizing the redox state of contaminated ground water, sediments, and soils; ii) geochemistry of reactive iron minerals such as iron sulfides and green rusts; and, iii) laboratory and field investigations that explore the Permeable Reactive Barrier technology for treating inorganic and organic contaminants in ground water.

Contact Information:: e-mail: wilkin.rick@epa.gov; phone (580) 436-8874

Some Recent Publications:

Wilkin, R.T. and Bischoff, K.J. (2006). Coulometric determination of total sulfur and reduced inorganic sulfur fractions in environmental samples. Talanta, v. 70, 766-773.

Wilkin, R.T. and Ford, R.G. (2006). Arsenic solid-phase partitioning in reducing sediments of a contaminated wetland. Chemical Geology, v. 228, 156-174.

Wilkin, R.T., Su, C., Ford, R.G., and Paul, C.J. (2005). Chromium removal processes during groundwater remediation by a zerovalent iron permeable reactive barrier. Environmental Science and Technology, v. 39, 4599-4605.

Wilkin, R.T., Wallschläger, D., and Ford, R.G. (2003). Speciation of arsenic in sulfidic waters. Geochemical Transactions, v. 4, 1-7.

Wilkin, R.T., Puls, R.W., and Sewell, G.W. (2003). Long-term performance of Permeable Reactive Barriers using zero-valent iron: Geochemical and microbiological effects. Ground Water, v. 41, 493-503.

Wilkin, R.T. (2003). Metal sulfides in sediments. In Encyclopedia of Sediments and Sedimentary Rocks, ed. G. Middleton, Kluwer.

Biography

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