Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are a group of emerging contaminants, including PFOA, PFOS, GenX, and many other chemicals, that are very persistent in the environment. There are numerous PFAS-contaminated groundwater plumes and impacted surface water bodies throughout the Northeast, and the USGS has made PFAS a focus area for integrated science to better serve local, state, and federal stakeholders. Michelle’s talk will provide an overview of PFAS-related projects throughout the region, ranging from monitoring, process characterization, groundwater flow simulation, ecological effects, and her laboratory research on anaerobic PFAS biodegradation.
Michelle Lorah, Ph.D., is a Research Hydrologist with the U.S. Geological Survey in the Maryland-Delaware-DC Water Science Center, where she directs the Fate and Bioremediation Team and co-leads the USGS North Atlantic-Appalachian Region PFAS Capability Team. She leads multiple projects focused on understanding contaminant fate and microbial processes in complex environments, including wetlands and fractured rock, with the goal of defining natural attenuation and developing bioremediation technologies. Much of her research has focused on halogenated organic contaminants, including chlorinated ethanes and ethenes, chlorinated benzenes, and PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances). She received a B.S. in Geosciences and Marine Science from Penn State University, M.S. in Environmental Science from the University of Virginia, and Ph.D. in Environmental Chemistry through the Marine-Estuarine-Environmental Sciences Program at the University of Maryland. For more information, please refer to her USGS profile.