Don-Roger Parkinson

Environmental Science

Associate Professor

School of Science and Environment

Lead researcher on

The utility of green crab shell waste in the chitin form as a biosorbent material for metal removal from waters and drinking waters Jan 2012 - May 2019

Active Research Interests

Selective trace heavy metal uptake from aqueous systems by algal and bio-materials for the concentration of metals and for understanding of metal-biomaterial functional group binding. Techniques for analysis include: flame atomic absorption spectroscopy (

Method development for the analytical assessment and quantitation of moulds in indoor buildings and building materials by solid phase micro-extraction (SPME)- and needle trap detection (NTD)- GC/MS.

Method development for the extraction and analysis of heavy metals from aqueous and sediment solutions by fully automated derivatized - HS-SPME - GC/MS techniques.

Use of biomaterials (crab and shell waste and fresh water plants) for the removal and selective sequestoring of heavy metal and Dissolved Organic Matter (DOM) from waters

Past Research Interests

The identification and quantification of thiol components from food stuffs and from petroleum components (aqueous-oily and oil sands/soil samples) by SPME-GC/MS and NTD-GC/MS analysis.

Emerging Research Interests

The synthesis of novel meal-ligands as potential catalysts and chemical derivatization reagents. Identification by multinuclear and multidimensional nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (NMR) and MS.

The development of sampling and extraction techniques for the identification and quantification of environmentally important compounds, heavy metals and trace volatile organic compounds. Sampling techniques encompass: SPME, NTD, and derivatization combina

Expertise

Analytical Chemistry

Instrumental techniques and analysis

Organo-metallic chemistry

Phosphorous chemistry

Solution chemistry

Spectroscopy (NMR, UV-VIS, infrared, atomic absorption, chromatography)

Trace metals