Dr. Brian A. Dempsey
Professor of Environmental Engineering
Associate Director of the Penn State Institutes of the Environment

		Penn State University 212 Sackett Building University Park, PA 16802 (814) 865-1226 (phone) (814) 863-7304 (fax) bad5@psu.edu
		Research | Courses | Vitae

Penn State Institutes of the Environment

Primary Research Interests

Aquatic chemistry with an emphasis on solid-liquid interfacial phenomena.

Specific Research Topics

Inorganic coagulants and coagulation processes
Microfiltration for potable water and wastewater
Treatment of acid mine drainage
Chemistry of iron, aluminum, and trace metals
Reactions of natural organic materials
Manipulation of solid phases to enhance purity or density
Stream monitoring and TMDLs
Removal of arsenic from potable water
Uranium mobility and reactivity

Courses Taught at Penn State University

• C E 100 First-year Seminar
• C E 370 Introduction to Environmental Engineering
• C E 475 Water Quality Chemistry
• C E 570 Enironmental Aquatic Chemistry
• C E 573 Fate & Transport of Hazardous Chemicals

Vitae

Education

• 1981 Ph.D., Environmental Chemistry, University of North Carolina
• 1975 M.S.P.H, Environmental Chemistry, University of North Carolina
• 1969 B.A., Chemistry and Interdisciplinary Science, State University of New York-Brockport

Experience

• Professor of Environmental Engineering, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, The Pennsylvania State University (2001-present)
• Visiting Scientist, Ecole des Mines d'Ales, Laboratoire Génie de l'Environnement Industriel, 2004
• Associate Professor of Environmental Engineering, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, The Pennsylvania State University (1991-2001)
• Visiting Scientist, ELF-Atochem-GRL (1993-1994)
• Assistant Professor of Environmental Engineering, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, The Pennsylvania State University (1986-1991)
• Assistant Professor of Civil Engineering, University of Missouri-Rolla (1982-1986)
• Post-doctoral fellow (1981) & Visiting Assistant Professor (1983) in the Department of Geography and Environmental Engineering, The Johns Hopkins University
• Sanitary Engineer I and II for the City of Durham, N.C. (1974-1976)
• Instructor of Chemistry at the Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Honduras, Tegucigalpa, Honduras (1969-1971)

Professional Memberships

• American Chemcial Society
• American Water Works Association
• Association of Environmental Engineering and Science Professors
• International Water Association
• International Humic Substances Society
• American Society of Engineers
• Water Works Operators Association of Pennsylvania
• The Geological Society of America

Honors and Awards

• Outstanding Service Award, Association of Environmental Engineers and Science Professors (2003)
• Lawrence Perez Student Advocate Award (1992)
• Second Place for Poster Session at the Water Quality International, IAWPRC (1992)
• Distinguished Service Award to Association of Environmental Engineering Professors (1991)
• Academic Achievement Award (2nd place, Xiaoxin Men thesis) from American Water Works Association (1990)
• Most notable contribution to the Journal, American Water Works Association (1985)
• Outstanding Teacher Award, University of Missouri-Rolla (1982)

Recent Publications

Kim, H., and Dempsey, B.A.2008. Effects of wastewater effluent organic materials on fouling in ultrafiltration. Water Research (accepted 4/1/08)

Jang, J.-H. and B.A. Dempsey. 2008. Co-adsorption of As(III) and As(V) onto Hydrous Ferric Oxide: Effects on Abiotic Oxidation of As(III), Extraction Efficiency, and Model Accuracy. Environmental Science & Technology, 42(8):2893-2898.

Jang, J.-H., B.A. Dempsey, and W.D. Burgos. 2008.  Reduction of U(VI) by Fe(II) in the presence of Hydrous Ferric Oxide and Hematite: Effects of solid transformation, surface coverage, and humic acid . Water Research, 42:2269-2277.

Cheng S., Dempsey,, B. A.; Logan, B. E. 2007. Electricity Generation from Synthetic Acid-Mine Drainage (AMD) Water using Fuel Cell Technologies, Environ. Sci. Technol., 41(23):8149-8153.

Jang, J.-H., B.A. Dempsey, and W.D. Burgos. 2007. Solubility of Hematite Revisited: Effects of Hydration. Environmental Science & Technology, 41(21):7303-7308. August 2007.

Burgos, W.D., Senko, J.M., Dempsey, B.A. et al. 2007. Soil humic acid decreases biological uranium(VI) reduction by Shewanella putrefaciens CN32, Environmental Engineering Science, 24(6):755-761.

Stone, J. J.; Royer, R. A.; Dempsey, B. A.; Burgos, W. D. 2007. Effect of Natural Organic Matter on Zinc Inhibition of Hematite Bioreduction by Shewanella putrefaciens CN32, Environmental Science & Technology, 41(15):5284-5290.

Chen, W.F., Parette, R., Zou, J.Y., Cannon, F.S., Dempsey, B.A. 2007. Arsenic Removal by iron-modified activated carbon, Water Research, 41:1851-1858

Jang, J.-H., B.A. Dempsey, and W.D. Burgos. 2007. A Model-Based Evaluation of Sorptive Reactivities of Hydrous Ferric Oxide and Hematite for U(VI). Environmental Science & Technology, 41(12):4305-4310.

Jang, J.-H., Dempsey, B.A., & Burgos, W.D. 2006. Solubility of Schoepite: Comparison and Selection of Complexation Constants for U(VI), Water Research. 40:2738-2746.

Dempsey, B.A. 2006. Coagulation Characteristics and Reactions, Chapter 4 in Interface Science in Drinking Water Treatment: Fundamentals and Applications (G. Newcombe & D. Dixon, eds.), Elsevier Press, NY.

Guibal, E., Van Vooren, M., Dempsey, B.A., and Roussy, J. 2006. A Review of the Use of Chitosan for the Removal of Particulate and Dissolved Contaminants. Separation Sci. Techn. 41:2487-2514.

Burgos, W.D., Senko, J.M., Dempsey, B.A., Roden, E.E., Kemner, K.M., and Kelly, S.D. 2006. Soil Humic Acid Decreases Biological Uranium (VI) Reduction by Shewanella putrefaciens CN32. Environmental Engineering Science, accepted for publication.

Jang, J.-H., Dempsey, B.A., and Burgos, W.D. 2006. Solubility of schoepite: Comparison and Selection of Complexation Constants for U(VI). Water Research 40:2738-2746.

Stone J.J., W.D. Burgos, R.A. Royer, and B.A. Dempsey. 2006. Impact of Zinc on Biological Fe(III) and NO3- Reduction by Shewanella putrefaciens CN32. Environ. Eng. Science. 23(4): 691-704.

Stone J. J., Burgos W. D., Royer R. A., and Dempsey B. A. 2006. Zinc and manganese inhibition of biological hematite reduction. Environ. Eng. Science. 23(5): 859-870.

Park, B., and B.A. Dempsey. 2005. Mechanisms of Heterogeneous Oxidation of Fe(II) on Ferric Oxide at Neutral pH, Environ. Sci. Techn. 39(17):6494-6500.

Roussy, J., M. Van Vooren, B.A. Dempsey, and E. Guibal. 2005. Influence of Chitosan Characteristics on the Coagulation and the Flocculation of Bentonite Suspensions, Water Research 39:3247-3258.

Choi, Y.J., and B.A. Dempsey. 2005. Bench-scale evaluation of critical flux and trans-membrane pressure for low-pressure membrane filtration, J. American Water Works Assoc. 97(7):134-143.

Jeon, B.H., B.A. Dempsey, W.D. Burgos, M.O. Barnett, & E.E. Roden. 2005. Chemical Reduction of U(VI) by Fe(II) at the Solid-Water Interface using Natural and Synthetic Iron(III) Oxides, Environ. Sci. Techn. 39(15):5642-5649

Jeon, B.H., S.D. Kelly, K.M. Kemner, M.O. Barnett, W.D. Burgos, B.A. Dempsey, and E.E. Roden. 2004. Microbial Reduction of U(VI) at the Solid Water Interface. Environ. Sci. Techn.38(21):5649-5655.

Choi, Y.J., and B.A. Dempsey. 2004. In-Line Coagulation with Low-Pressure Membrane Filtration. Wat. Res. 38(2004):4271-4281.

Jeon, B.H., B.A. Dempsey, and W.D. Burgos. 2004. Low-Temperature Oxygen Trap for Maintaining Strict Anaerobic Conditions. ASCE Journal of Environmental Engineering 130(11):1407-1410.

Jeon, B.H., B.A. Dempsey, Burgos, W.D., and Royer, R.A. 2004. Modeling the Sorption Kinetics of Divalent Metal Ions to Hematite. Wat. Res. 38(10):2499-2504.

Mendinsky, J., and Dempsey, B.A. 2004. Effects of AMD and Treatment Options for Recovery of Streams in the Hazleton PA Area, Proc. 2004 National Meeting of the American Society of Mining and Reclamation, Morgantown, WV, April 18-24.

Park, B., and B.A. Dempsey. 2004. Mechanisms of Heterogeneous Fe(II) Oxidation in Acid Mine Drainage. Proc. 2004 National Meeting of the American Society of Mining and Reclamation, Morgantown, WV, April 18-24.

Hoover, S.E., Wang, M.C., and Dempsey, B.A. 2004. Structural Damage Induced by Pyritic Shale. Accepted for Proceedings of the Fifth International Conference on Case Histories in Geotechnical Engineering, April 13-17, 2004.

Royer, R.A., B.A. Dempsey, B.H. Jeon, and W.D. Burgos. 2004. Inhibition of Biological Reductive Dissolution of Hematite by Ferrous Iron. Environ. Sci. Techn. 38(1):187-193.

DeWolfe, J.R., and Dempsey, B.A. 2003. Guidance Manual for Coagulant Changeover, AWWARF Project No. 2512, American Water Works Association Research Foundation, 213 pages.

Dempsey, B.A., and Swisher, D. 2003. Evaluation of Porous Pavement and Infiltration in Centre County, PA, ASCE EWRI 2003, Philadelphia, PA, June 23-26, 2003.

Hoover, S.E., Wang, M.C., and Dempsey, B.A. 2003. Structural Damage Induced by Pyritic Shale. Accepted for Proc. 5th Intern. Conf. Case Histories in Geotechn. Eng., April 13-17, 2004.

Jang, J-H., Dempsey, B.A., Catchen, G.L., and Burgos, W.D.. 2003. Effects of Zn(II), Cu(II), Mn(II), NO3-, or SO4-2 at pH 6.5 and 8.5 on Transformation of Hydrous Ferric Oxide (HFO) to More Stable Ferric Oxides. Colloids and Surfaces A, 221(1-3):55-68.

Jeon, B.H., Dempsey, B.A., and Burgos, W.D. 2003. Kinetics and Mechanisms of Reactions of Ferrous Iron with Hematite. Environ. Sci. Techn. 37(15):3309-3315.

Jeon, B.H., Dempsey, B.A., Burgos, W.D., and Royer, R.A. 2003. Sorption Kinetics of Fe(II), Zn(II), Co(II), Ni(II), and Cd(II) onto Hematite for Single Adsorbate and for Fe(II)/Me(II) Competitive Adsorption. Wat. Res. 37(17):4135-4142.

Burgos, W.D., Fang, Y., Royer, R.A., Yeh, G.T., Stone, J., Jeon, B.H., and Dempsey, B.A. 2003. Reaction-Based Modeling of Quinone-Mediated Bacterial Iron(III) Reduction. Geochem. Cosmochim. Acta, 67(15):2735-2748.

Royer, R.A., Unz, R.F., Dempsey, B.A., and Burgos, W.D. 2003. Dissimilatory Metal Reducing Bacteria in Biogeochemistry and Corrosion. NACE Corrosion 2003, pages 03554/1-16.

Royer, R. A., Burgos, W. D., Fisher, A. S., Jeon, B-H., Unz, R. F., and Dempsey, B.A., 2002. Enhancement of Hematite Bioreduction by Natural Organic Material. Environ. Sci. Techn. 36(13): 2897-2904.

Dempsey, B.A., Paksuchon, B., and Suhataikul, R., and Dietz, J. Sampling Strategies for TMDL of AMD-Affected Streams. Proceedings of the 2002 National Meeting of the American Society of Mining and Reclamation, Lexington, KY, June 9-13, 2002.

Dietz, J., and Dempsey, B.A. A Deterministic Model for Predicting Alkalinity from Limestone for Design of AMD Passive Treatment Systems. Proceedings of the 2002 National Meeting of the American Society of Mining and Reclamation, Lexington, KY, June 9-13, 2002.

Dempsey, B.A., Dietz, J., Jeon, B-H., Roscoe, H.C., and Ames, R. Heterogeneous Oxidation of Ferrous Iron for Treatment of Mine Drainage. Proceedings of the 2002 National Meeting of the American Society of Mining and Reclamation, Lexington, KY, June 9-13, 2002.

Royer, R.A., Burgos, W.D., Fisher, A.S., Unz, R.F., and Dempsey, B.A. 2002. Enhancement of Biological Reduction of Hematite by Electron Shuttling and Fe(II) Complexation. Environ. Sci. Techn., 36(9): 1939-1946.

Burgos, W.D., R.A. Royer, G.T. Yeh , Y.L. Fang, A.S. Fisher, B-H. Jeon, and B.A. Dempsey. 2002. Theoretical and Experimental Considerations Related to Mechanistic Modeling of Iron (III) Oxide Bioreduction. Geomicrobiology Journal 19:253-287.

Dietz, J. M., and Dempsey, B. A. 2001. Treatment of Mine Drainage Using Recirculated Iron Oxides In A Complete Mix Reactor. Proceedings of the 2001 National Association of Abandoned Mine Lands Annual Conference, August 19-22, 2001, Athens, Ohio.

Jeon, B.H., B.A. Dempsey, W.D. Burgos, and R.A. Royer. 2001. Reactions of Ferrous Iron with Hematite. Colloids & Surfaces A, 191(1-2):41-55.

Frederick, H.T., Cannon, F.S., and Dempsey, B.A. 2001. Calcium and TOC Loading: Effect of Hydroxyl and Carboxyl Substituents. Colloids & Surfaces A, 191(1-2):161-177.

Dempsey, B.A., and Jeon, B.H. 2001. Characteristics of Sludge Produced from Passive Treatment of Acid Mine Drainage. Geochemistry: Exploration, Environment, Analysis, 1(1):89-94.

Dempsey, B.A., Roscoe, H.C., Ames, R., Hedin, R., and Jeon, B.H. 2001. Ferrous Oxidation Chemistry in Passive Abiotic Systems for Treatment of Mine Drainage. Geochemistry: Exploration, Environment, Analysis 1(1):81-88.

Baldwin, J.L., and Dempsey, B.A. 2001. Mean Free Path of Brownian Motion and Implications for Coagulation of Charged Nano-particles. Colloids & Surfaces A 177(2-3):111-122.

Frederick, H.T., Cannon, F.S., and Dempsey, B.A. 2001. Calcium Loading onto Granular Activated Carbon with Salicylate or Phthalate. Colloids & Surfaces A. 177(2-3):157-168.

Dempsey, B.A. 2000. Membranes and Coagulants: Competition or Opportunity. Proceedings of Coagulants and Flocculants 2000, Arlington VA, May 15-17, 2000.

Jacobson, B.A., Unz, R.F., and Dempsey, B.A. 1999. An Analysis of Manganese as an Indicator for Metal Removal in Passive Treatment Using Laboratory Spent Mushroom Compost Columns. Proc. Annual Mtg. of the Am. Soc. for Sfc. Mining & Reclamation, Scottsdale AZ, Aug. 13-19, 1999.

Smith, D.A., & Dempsey, B.A. 1999. Effect of Treatment Processes on Wastewater Temperature. Keystone Water Quality Manager Volume XXXII, No. 4, July-August 1999, pages 10 ff.

Dempsey, B.D., Baldwin, J., Fu, F., and Jeon, B-H. 1999. Getting Rid of Water: Back to the Basics. Proceedings of the WEF/AWWA Joint Residuals and Biosolids Management Conference, Charlotte NC, Jan. 27-30, 1999.

Fu, L.F., & Dempsey, B.A. 1998. Modeling the Effect of Particle Size and Charge on the Structure of Filter Cake in Ultrafiltration. Journal of Membrane Science 149(1998):221-240.

Koloras, A.T., & Dempsey, B.D. 1998. Measurement of Diurnal Variations in BNR Systems. Keystone Water Quality Manager Volume XXXI, No. 4, July-August 1998, pages 9 ff.

Shen, Y-H., and Dempsey, B.A. 1998. Fractions of Aluminum Coagulants as a Function of pH. Environmental Technology 19:845-850.

Shen, Y-H., and Dempsey, B.A. 1998. Synthesis and Speciation of Polyaluminum Chloride for Water Treatment. Environmental International 24(8):899-910.