URI Graduate School of Oceanography Student Wins National Award in Environmental Chemistry

Narragansett -- February 16, 2000 --The American Chemical Society recently awarded URI Graduate School of Oceanography (GSO) Ph.D. candidate Paul Hartmann the 2000 Graduate Student Award in Environmental Chemistry. This nationally competitive award is based on a student's academic excellence, research productivity and potential for future contributions as professionals in the field.

He will receive a one-year membership in the American Chemical Society's Division of Environmental Chemistry and a subscription to the scientific journal Environmental Science and Technology.

Hartmann, a native of Essex, Connecticut, lives in Narragansett. He received his B.S. in oceanography from Southern Connecticut State University and is currently working on his Ph.D. in chemical oceanography under the guidance of GSO chemical oceanographer Dr. James Quinn.

Hartmann's research involves collecting and analyzing sediment samples throughout Narragansett Bay for soot carbon and organic carbon. In particular, he has been studying the abundance and distribution of the hydrocarbon linear alkylbenzene (LAB) which first started being discharged into the environment in the early 1960s as a byproduct of detergents.

Hartmann is the recipient of the 1998-9 Narragansett Electric Coastal Fellowship in Oceanography, which supports Ph.D. candidates working on research projects in and around Narragansett Bay. He also received an award for the best student platform presentation at a recent Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry regional meeting.

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Contact: Lisa Cugini, 874-6642, lcugini@gsosun1.gso.uri.edu