Dan Brabander
Daniel Brabander

Associate Professor of Geosciences

Contact Information:
Email: dbraband@wellesley.edu
Room: SCI-390
Phone: (781) 283-3056
Fax: (781) 283-3642

Jump to: Previous Positions
Teaching Interests
Research Interests
Publications
Curriculum Vitae (Word Doc)
Seminar on Medical Geology (iTunes)
Degrees: B.S., M.A., Binghamton University; Ph.D., Brown University

Previous Positions:

Teaching Interests:
I teach courses ranging from large introductory classes such as Earth Processes and the Environment with as many as 42 students to mid- and upper-level courses such as Environmental Science and Environmental Geochemistry. At present time all the courses I teach have a lab component, and the upper-level courses have field and semester-long projects. My tentative schedule for the coming academic year includes:

  • GEOS 101 Earth Processes and the Environment (Fall 2008)
  • GEOS 201/ES201 Methods and Problems in Environmental Science (Spring 2010)
  • GEOS 315/ES 315 Environmental Geochemistry (Fall 2009)
  • GEOS 320 Isotope Geology (Fall 2008)

In the classroom I foster peer instruction and inquiry-based learning and assessment all within a context-based curriculum. In my classroom, I seek to create a learning community that increases students' self-confidence, encourages all students to participate, helps students learn how to define problems and seek solutions, and lends itself to authentic assessment of students' performance.

Research Interests:
My research emphasizes multidisciplinary projects that cut across departmental boundaries and foster collaboration among biologists, chemists, geologists and environmental engineers and involve research experiences for undergraduates. Current research focus is environmental geochemistry and the quantification of biogeochemical processes in watersheds, aquifers, and in the urban environment. Applications include bioremediation, environmental biomonitoring, fate and transport of contaminants (toxic metals) in watershed and aquifer systems, isotopic dating and mapping of contaminants within sediments and soils, and sustainable urban agriculture.

Publications (* = undergraduate author)

Lin C. G., Schaider L. A., Brabander D. J., Woolf A. D. (2010) Pediatric lead exposure from imported Indian spices and religious ceremonial powders. Pediatrics 125: (4) e828-e835.
DOI: 10.1542/peds2009-1396.

Blute N. K., Jay J. A., Swartz C. H., Brabander D. J., Hemond H. F. (2009)Aqueous and solid phase arsenic speciation in the sediments of a contaminated wetland and riverbed. Applied Geochemistry 24: 346-358.

Heiger-Bernays W., Burns V., Diskin K., Pierotti D., Mercahnt-Borna K., McClean M., Brabander D., Hynes H. P. (2009) Characterization and low-cost solutions for soils contaminated by timbers in community gardens. International Journal of Soil, Sediment and Water2: (3) Art. 5.

Smith J. P., Bullen T., Brabander D. J., Olsen C. R. (2009) Strontium isotope record of seasonal scale variations in sediment sources and accumulation in low-energy, subtidal areas of the lower Hudson River estuary. Chemical Geology 264: 375-384.

Stewart T. J. *, Yau J. H. *, Allen M. M., Brabander D. J., Flynn N. T. (2009) Impacts of calcium-alginate density on equilibrium and kinetics of lead(II) sorption onto hydrogel beads. Colloid and Polymer Science 287:1033-1040. DOI 10.1007/s00396-009-2058-4.

Clark H. F.*, Hausladen D. M. *, Brabander D. J. (2008) Urban gardens: Lead exposure, recontamination mechanisms, and implications for remediation design. Environmental Research 107: (3) 312-319. 17.

Burnet A. *, Kurtz A. C., Brabander D. J., Shailer M. (2007) Dendrochemical record of historical lead contamination sources, Wells G&H Superfund site, Woburn, Massachusetts Journal of Environmental Quality 36:1488-1494. 16.

Schaider L. A., Senn D. B., Brabander D. J., McCarthy K. D. *, Shine J. P. (2007) Characterization
of zinc, lead and cadmium in mine waste: Implications for transport, exposure, and bioavailability.
Environ. Sci. Technol. 41: 4164-4171.

Clark H.*, Brabander D., Erdil R.* (2006) Sources, sinks and exposure pathways of lead in urban garden soil.
Journal of Environmental Quality 35: (6) 2075-2083.

Rauch S., Hemond H., Brabander D. (2006) High spatial resolution analysis of lake sediment cores
by laser ablation-inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS). Journal of
Limnology and Oceanography: Methods 4: 268-274.

Harvey C. F., Swartz C. H., Badruzzaman A. B. M., Keon-Blute N., Yu W., Ashraf Ali M., Jay J.,
Beckie R., Niedan V., Brabander D. J., Oates P. M., Ashfaque K. N., Islam S., Hemond H. F.,
Ahmed M. F. (2005) Groundwater arsenic contamination on the Ganges Delta: biogeochemistry,
hydrology, human perturbations, and human suffering on a large scale. C. R. Geoscience 337: 285–296.

Blute N. K., Brabander D. J., Hemond H. F., Sutton S., Newville M. G., Rivers M. L. (2004)
Arsenic sequestration by ferric iron plaque on cattail roots. Environ. Sci. Technol. 38: 6074–6077.

Swartz C. H., Keon-Blute N., Badruzzaman A. B. M., Ashraf Ali M., Brabander D. J., Jay J.,
Besancon J., Islam S., Hemond H. F., Harvey C. F. (2004) Mobility of arsenic in a Bangladesh
aquifer: Inferences from geochemical profiles, leaching data, and mineralogical characterization.
Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 68 (22): 4539–4557.

Oktay S. D., Brabander D. J., Smith J. P., Kada J., Bullen T., Olsen C. R. (2003) WTC
geochemical fingerprint recorded in New York harbor sediments, EOS Trans. AGU, 84: (3) 21–28.

Harvey C. F., Swartz C. H., Badruzzaman A. B. M., Keon-Blute N., Yu W., Ashraf Ali M., Jay J.,
Beckie R., Niedan V., Brabander D. J., Oates P. M., Ashfaque K. N., Islam S., Hemond H. F.,
Ahmed M. F. (2003) Response to comments on “Arsenic mobility and groundwater extraction
in Bangladesh.” Science 300: 584d.

Rogers C. E., Brabander D. J., Barbour M. T., and Hemond H. F. (2002) Use of physical, chemical,
and biological indices to assess impacts of contaminants and physical habitat alteration in urban
streams. Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry 21 (6): 1156–1167.

Harvey C. F., Swartz C. H., Badruzzaman A. B. M., Keon-Blute N., Yu W., Ashraf Ali M., Jay J.,
Beckie R., Niedan V., Brabander D. J., Oates P. M., Ashfaque K. N., Islam S., Hemond H. F.,
Ahmed M. F. (2002) Arsenic mobility and groundwater extraction in Bangladesh. Science 298: 1602–1606.

Edmands J. D.*, Brabander D. J., Coleman D. S. (2001) Uptake and mobility of uranium in black oaks:
Implications for biomonitoring depleted uranium-contaminated groundwater. Chemosphere 44: 789-795.

Keon N., Swartz C. H., Brabander D. J., Harvey C., Hemond H. F. (2001) Validation of an arsenic
sequential extraction method for evaluating mobility in sediments. Environ. Sci. Technol. 35: 2778–2784.

Farver J. R., Brabander D. J. (2001) Magma ascent rates from mineral reaction rims and extension to
teaching about volcanic hazards. Journal of Geoscience Education 49 (2): 140-145.

Brabander D. J., Keon N., Stanley R. H. R.*, Hemond H. F. (1999) Intra-ring variability of Cr, As,
Cd, and Pb in red oak revealed by secondary ion mass spectrometry: Implications forenvironmental
biomonitoring. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
96: (25) 14635–14640.

Brabander D. J., Giletti B. (1995) Strontium diffusion kinetics in amphiboles and significance to
thermal history determinations. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta. 59 (11): 2223–2238.

Brabander D. J., Hervig R. L., Jenkins D. M. (1995) Experimental determination of F-OH interdiffusion
in tremolite and significance to fluorine-zoned amphiboles. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta. 59
(17): 3549–3560.

Created by: Rachel Kaston '10 & Rae Yan '11
Maintained by: Rita Purcell
Created on: June 20, 2008
Last Updated: June 16, 2010
Expires: August 8, 2010