CAREER: Surfactant Mixtures in Complex Environmental Systems

概述。这里提出的工作将结合研究包括表面活性剂混合物、复杂环境吸附剂和有机液体混合物在内的环境相互作用，并将教育重点放在培养本科生和研究生的抽象问题解决能力上。这项研究工作将提供新的知识，直接应用于设计新的环境修复系统和了解环境中有机液体污染物的命运。建议工作的教育部分将强调提高本科生和研究生解决定量抽象问题的能力-这是一项基本技能。研究计划。这项工作的具体研究重点将是全面研究复杂表面活性剂混合物在环境中的相互作用，重点是低浓度表面活性剂混合物对地下有机液体污染物的运动和分布的影响。当存在复杂的表面活性剂混合物时，混合物中的单个组分通常对表面活性剂的整体行为产生不成比例的影响。在这种情况下，对混合表面活性剂行为的定量理解对于理解有机化学品在环境中的命运至关重要。为这个项目进行的实验工作将与广泛的数值模型开发相结合。教育计划。这项工作的教育部分将侧重于提高学生解决定量、抽象问题的能力。这将通过本科和研究生课程的综合活动计划来实现，并与拟议的研究计划紧密结合。在五年项目期间将执行七项具体活动。在本科和研究生课程中，新的教育单元将在四个独立的班级中开发和实施。教育单元将针对班级学生的年级水平和需求，教授一般问题解决方法的不同方面。课程将进行重组，以提供定量抽象问题解决的动手实践。新的教育单元将强调重要的解决问题的技能，如检查答案、测试假设和开发概念模型。研究者研究小组的活动将包括学生主导的关于重要问题解决文本的讨论，动手模型开发研讨会，以及学生主导的K-12扩展计划，由该项目支持的研究生与小学和高中学生一起举办问题解决研讨会。

Overview. The work proposed here will combine research examining environmental interactions involving surfactant mixtures, complex environmental sorbents, and organic liquid mixtures, with an educational emphasis on developing abstract problem solving skills in undergraduate and graduate students. The research work will provide new knowledge with immediate direct application in design of new environmental remediation systems and understanding the fate of organic liquid contaminants in the environment. The educational portion of the proposed work will emphasize enhancing abilities of undergraduate and graduatestudents in quantitative abstract problem solving - an essential skill.Research Plan. The specific research focus of this work will be to provide a comprehensive examination of the interactions of complex surfactant mixtures in the environment, with emphasis on the impacts of low concentration surfactant mixtures on the movement and distribution of organic liquid contaminants in the subsurface. When complex surfactant mixtures are present, individual components in the mixtures often have a disproportionate influence on the overall surfactant behavior. A quantitative understanding of mixed surfactant behavior in this context is essential to understanding the fate of organic chemicals in the environment. Experimental work conducted for this project will be combined with extensive numerical model development.Educational Plan. The educational component of the work will focus on enhancing students' abilities in quantitative, abstract problem solving. This will be achieved through an integrated program of activities in undergraduate and graduate courses, coupled closely with the proposed research program. Seven specific activities will be implemented over the five year project period. In the undergraduate and graduate curricula, new educational units will be developed and implemented in four separate classes. The educational units will teach different aspects of general problem solving methods, targeted to the grade level and needs of students inthe class. Classes will be restructured to provide hands-on practice with quantitative abstract problem solving. New educational units will emphasize important problem-solving skills, such as checking answers, testing assumptions, and developing conceptual models. Activities with the investigator's research group will include student-led discussions of important problem-solving texts, hands-on model development workshops, and a student-led K-12 outreach program where graduate students supported by the project conduct problem-solving workshops with elementary and high school students.