M.T. Halbouty Building, Room 309
Geology & Geophysics, TAMU
College Station, TX 77843-3115

herbert@geo.tamu.edu
(Phone) 979-845-2405
(Fax) 979-845-6162

Here is a map to my office

• Herbert Publications
• Research Brochure
• Herbert Geoscience Classes
• Online Journals
• Thesis Templates
• Information Technology in Science Center for Teaching and Learning
• My thoughts on scholarship and departmental strategic plans
• Teaching Evolution Resources

Professor of Biogeochemistry
Ph.D., University of California-Riverside, 1992

The Environmental Geochemistry Research Group conducts innovative research on the biogeochemistry of near-surface environments, including soils, wetlands, aquatic sediments, aquifers, and the coastal margin. We are also interested in improving learning about complex, dynamic environmental systems. As such, our research group studies geoscience at the interface between biogeochemistry, cognitive science, geomorphology and landscape ecology. Our research on learning is being conducted in partnership with the Information Technology in Science Center for Teaching and Learning. Read more details.

Download: Publications. '04 GSA Talk. '04 U Texas Talk. '04 AGU Talk.

Here is an article on my Ph.D. student, Laiman Lee, World Citizen in the Colgate University Alumni magazine, The Scene.

• Karen Sell (PhD student) was awarded the 2004 Chevron-Texaco Fellowship ($6000), Geology & Geophysics, Texas A&M.
• Li-Jung Kuo (PhD student) was awarded the 2004 Conoco-Phillips Fellowship ($14,000), Geology & Geophysics, Texas A&M.
• Karen Sell (PhD student) won the $300 Research Paper Award in the “Cognitive & Instructional Technologies Laboratory” category. 9th Annual Educational Research Exchange, Texas A&M University, Jan. 30, 2004.
• Karen Sell (PhD student) won $1000 from the 2004 TWRI Mills Fellowship Program based upon her proposal entitled “The Microbial Response to Stressors Across Watershed System Boundaries”.
• Heather Miller (PhD student) won $1000 from the 2004 TWRI Mills Fellowship Program based upon her proposal entitled “Water management, soil salinity and landscape ecology in Laguna Atascosa National Wildlife Refuge”.
• Karen Sell (PhD. student) successfully defended her M.S. thesis entilted Temporal Influences of Seasonal Hypoxia of Seasonal Hypoxia on Sediment Biogeochemistry, June 2003. Download the Limnology & Oceanography paper.
• Christopher Markley (PhD. student) successfully defended his M.S. thesis entilted Arsenate uptake, sequestration and reduction by a freshwater cyanobacterium: A potential biological control of arsenic in South Texas, March 2004.
• Christopher Markley (PhD. student) won the 2003 College of Geoscience GAANN Ph.D. fellowship (up to $21,000/year).

More News

Bruce Herbert collecting soil in the blackland praries east of Austin, Texas. Helping is Dr. Mark Schlautman, Professor of Environmental Engineering at Clemson University. Mark is a good friend except when he is sitting down on the job.

Current Research Areas

• Organic biogeochemistry and the landscape ecology of terrestrial ecosystems.
• Contaminant bioavailability; linking molecular sorption mechanisms to field-scale bioavailability.
• Risk assessment of arsenic and uranium-associated elements (U, Mo, V, and Se) released by uranium mining in the Nueces and San Antonio River watersheds.
• Mineral surface reactivity and contaminant colloidal transport in surface waters.
• Mental models and cognitive issues of human understanding of complex systems.
• Design and implementation of innovative science teacher professional development programs.
• Integration of geoscience education and research to form a synergistic, learning continuum.