Jani Benoit
Associate Professor of Chemistry
Office: 331 Science Center
Phone: (508)286-3966
Fax: (508)286-8276
Email: jbenoit@wheatoncollege.edu
Degrees
Ph.D., University of Maryland
M.S., University of Connecticut
B.A., Connecticut College
Research Interests
The biogeochemistry of mercury and other trace metals in estuaries and wetlands with emphasis on pore water reactions and transport, sediment-water exchange, and chemical and biological controls on Hg methylation.
Teaching Interests
Analytical and Environmental Chemistry.
Student Projects
This summer, Mike Smith '07 will be working with me as a Mars Fellow on a new project in Boston Harbor. We will be investigating the fates of methylmercury produced in harbor sediments, including efflux to the water column and uptake by benthic invertebrates. This project is in collaboration with David Shull of Western Washington University and is funded by MIT Sea Grant.
Selected Publications, Creative Work or Performances
Benoit, J.M., D.H. Shull, P. Robinson and L.R. Ucran. 2006. Infaunal burrow densities and sediment monomethyl mercury distributions in Boston Harbor, Massachusetts. Mar. Chem. Available online 7 Feb 2006. doi:10.1016/j.marchem.2005.09.017.
Ekstrom, E.B., F.M.M. Morel and J.M.Benoit. 2003. Mercury methylation independent of the Acetyl-CoA Pathway in sulfate-reducing bacteria. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 69:5414-5422.
Benoit, J.M. C.C. Gilmour, A. Heyes, R.P. Mason and C.L. Miller. 2003. Geochemical and biological controls over methylmercury production and degradation in aquatic ecosystems. In: Biogeochemistry of Environmentally Important Trace Elements, Y. Cai and O.C. Braids, Eds., American Chemical Society Symposium Series 835, pp 262-297.
Lamborg, C.H., W.F. Fitzgerald, A.W.H. Damman, J.M. Benoit, P.H. Balcom and D.R. Engstrom. 2002. Modern and historic atmospheric mercury fluxes in both hemispheres: Global and regional mercury cycling implications. Global Biogeochem. Cycles 16:1104-1114.