People | George W. Luther

• B.A., Chemistry, La Salle College, .
• Ph.D., Physical-Inorganic Chemistry, University of Pittsburgh, .

 Curriculum Vitae

My interests cover a wide range of areas including redox reactions in the environment, trace element speciation in marine waters and sediments including metal-ligand complexes, biogeochemical processes in marine environments, application of molecular orbital theory to geochemical processes, in situ electrochemistry and microelectrode technology.

Our group also emphasizes research that interfaces chemistry with biology with the view that chemistry drives biology.

Microbial Fe(II) oxidation with Clara Chan; David Emerson, Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Science.

Nanoparticulate pyrite and metal sulfides at hydrothermal vents including synthesis and stability; Hydrothermal vent work at the Mid-Atlantic Ridge.

Development of In situ redox sensor and microelectrode technology for the determination of biologically relevant species in sediments, waters and cultures with Donald Nuzzio, Analytical Instrument Systems, Inc.,Sam Kounaves, Tufts University)

Sulfur and iron biogeochemistry at hydrothermal vents using in situ microelectrodes with Rich Lutz, Rutgers University; Peter Girguis, Harvard University; and Chuck Fisher, Penn State).

Managanese Cycling in the marine environment with Brad Tebo, Oregon Health and Science University and Sergey Konovalov, Marine Hydrophysical Institute, Ukraine; Chesapeake Bay; Inland Bays of Delaware; Lakes.

Microbial phototrophic sulfide oxidation with Tom Hanson

Amy Gartman,  Ph.D Student, (B.S., 2008, New York University) agartman@udel.edu

William Geppert, (M.S., Education Leadership and B.A., Chemical Education, University of Delaware.) Educator and outreach expert for the Mid-Atlantic Ridge hydrothermal vent studies. Teacher of Chemistry, Marine Science and Robotics, Cape Henlopen High School, Lewes, De. WGeppert@cape.k12.de.us

Sergey Konovalov, Visiting Scholar from Marine Hydrophysical Institute, Ukraine. (Ph.D., Moscow State  University) - He is working with Dr. Luther's research group on the chemistry of the Black Sea. ocean@alpha.mhi.iuf.net

Daniel MacDonald,  Ph.D. Student, (B.S., 2009, University of Rhode Island) uri@udel.edu

Alyssa Findlay,  Ph.D. Student, (B.S., 2010, University of Vermont) afindlay@udel.edu

Patricia (Trish) Hredzak-Showalter,  Ph.D. Student, (B.A. 2007, Chatham College; M.S., 2009, Tufts University) hredzak@udel.edu

Marine Inorganic Chemistry (MAST850); Chemical Oceanography (MAST646); Environmental Chemistry (CHEM683); Electrochemistry Techniques. I have advised students in both the Oceanography program and the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry.

Course Info   Grad Office

For a complete publication list click here

Trouwborst, R. E., B. G. Clement, B. M. Tebo, B. T. Glazer and G. W. Luther, III. 2006. Soluble Mn(III) in suboxic zones. Science 313, 1955-1957.

Rickard, D. and G. W. Luther, III. 2007. Chemistry of Iron Sulfides. Chemical Reviews 107, 514-562.

Luther, III, G. W., B. T. Glazer, S. Ma, R. E. Trouwborst, T. S. Moore, E. Metzger, C. Kraiya, T. J. Waite, G. Druschel, B. Sundby, M. Taillefert, D. B. Nuzzio, T. M. Shank, B. L. Lewis and P. J. Brendel. 2008. Use of voltammetric solid-state (micro)electrodes for studying biogeochemical processes: laboratory measurements to real time measurements with an in situ electrochemical analyzer (ISEA). Marine Chemistry 108, 221-235.

Nees, H. A., R. A. Lutz, T. M. Shank and G. W. Luther, III. 2009. Pre- and post-eruption diffuse flow variability among tubeworm habitats at 9 degrees 50’ north on the East Pacific Rise. Deep Sea Research II 56, 1607-1615. doi:10.1016/j.dsr2.2009.05.007

Moore, T. S., K. M. Mullaugh, R. R. Holyoke, A. S. Madison, M. Yücel and G. W. Luther, III. 2009. Marine Chemical Technology and Sensors for marine waters: Potentials and Limits. Annual Reviews in Marine Science 1, 91-115.

Podowski, E. L., S. Ma, G. W. Luther III, D. Wardrop, and C. R. Fisher. 2010. Biotic and abiotic factors affecting realized distributions of mega-fauna in diffuse flow on andesite and basalt along the Eastern Lau Spreading Center, Tonga. Marine Ecology Progress Series 418, 25-45. DOI:10.3354/meps08797

Luther, III, G. W. 2010. The role of one and two electron transfer reactions in forming thermodynamically unstable intermediates as barriers in multi-electron redox reactions. Aquatic Geochemistry 16, 395-420. DOI: 10.1007/s10498-009-9082-3

Gartman, A., M. Yücel, A. S. Madison, D. W. Chu, S. Ma, C. P. Janzen, E. L. Becker, R. A. Beinart, P. R. Girguis and G. W. Luther, III. 2011. Sulfide Oxidation across Diffuse Flow Zones of Hydrothermal Vents. Aquatic Geochemistry 17, 583-601. DOI 10.1007/s10498-011-9136-1

Madison, A., B. M. Tebo, G. W. Luther, III. 2011. Simultaneous determination of soluble manganese(III), manganese(II) and total manganese in natural (pore)waters. Talanta 84, 374-381. doi: 10.1016/j.talanta.2011.01.025

Mullaugh, K. M. and G. W. Luther III. 2011. Growth kinetics and long term stability of CdS nanoparticles in aqueous solution under ambient conditions. Journal of Nanoparticle Research 13, 393-404. DOI: 10.1007/s11051-010-0045-9

Yücel, M., A. Gartman, C. S. Chan and G. W. Luther, III. 2011. Hydrothermal vents as a kinetically stable source of iron-sulphide-bearing nanoparticles to the ocean. Nature Geoscience 4, 367-371. DOI: 10.1038/NGEO1148

Luther, G.W. III, A. Gartman, M. Yücel, A.S. Madison, T.S. Moore, H.A. Nees, D.B. Nuzzio, A. Sen, R.A. Lutz, T.M. Shank, and C.R. Fisher. 2012. Chemistry, temperature, and faunal distributions at diffuse-flow hydrothermal vents: Comparison of two geologically distinct ridge systems. Oceanography 25(1):234–245, http://dx.doi.org/10.5670/oceanog.2012.22.

Yücel, M., W. S. Moore, I. B. Butler, A. Boyce and G. W. Luther, III. 2012. Recent sedimentation in the Black Sea: new insights from radionuclide distributions and sulfur isotopes. Deep Sea Research I 66, 103-113. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.dsr.2012.04.007

Beinart, R. A., J. G. Sanders, B. Faure, S. P. Sylva, R. W. Lee, E. L. Becker, A. Gartman, G. W. Luther III, J. S. Seewald, C. R. Fisher, and P. R. Girguis. 2012. Evidence for the role of endosymbionts in regional-scale habitat partitioning by hydrothermal vent symbioses. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 109, E3241-E3250. www.pnas.org/cgi/doi/10.1073/pnas.1202690109

Geszvain, K., C. Butterfield, R. E. Davis, A. S. Madison, S.W.Lee, D. L. Parker, A. Soldatova, T. G. Spiro, G. W. Luther III and B. M. Tebo. 2012. The molecular biogeochemistry of manganese(II) oxidation. Biochemical Society Transactions 40, 1244-1248. http://doi:10.1042/BST20120229 

Elizabeth Tsamakis , Oceanography (M.S., 1991), Laboratory Coordinator, Dept. of Oceanography, University of Washington, Seattle, WA. elitsa143@yahoo.com

Joel Kostka, Marine Biosciences (Ph.D., 1992), Professor, Georgia Institute of Technology, School of Biology & Earth & Atmospheric Science. Atlanta, GA. joel.kostka@biology.gatech.edu

Stephen Skrabal, Oceanography (Ph.D., 1993), Assistant Department chair and Professor, Dept. of Chemistry & Biochemestry, University of North Carolina, Wilmington, NC. skrabals@uncwil.edu

Caroline Burkhard, Oceanography (M.S., 1994), Laboratory Instructor, Chemistry Department, Swarthmore College. cburkha1@swarthmore.edu

Timothy Ferdelman, Oceanography (Ph.D., 1994), Research Scientist and leader of the Research Group on biogeochemistry, Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology, Germany. tferdelm@mpi-bremen.de

Paul Brendel, Analytical Chemistry (Ph.D., 1995), Honors Chemistry Teacher, Ward Melville High School, 380 Old Town Road, East Setauket, NY.

Jingfeng Wu, Oceanography (Ph.D., 1995), Associate Professor, University of Miami, Rosenstiel School of Marine & Atmospheric Chemistry, 4600 Rickenbacker Causeway Miami, FL. jwu@rsmas,miami.edu

Stephen Theberge, Analytical Chemistry (Ph.D., 1999), Associate Professor and Chair Chemistry Departement, Merrimack College, N. Andover, MA. theberges@merrimack.edu

David Ruppel, Oceanography (M.S., 1999), Ball Aerospace, Boulder, CO. druppel@ball.com

Jeannette Popp, Oceanography (M.S., 1999), Aquatic Scientist, Anchor Environmental, Oakland, CA.

Anna Farrenkopf, Oceanography (Ph.D., 2000), Eco Chemie B.V., Kanaalweb 29/G, 3526 KM Utrecht, The Netherlands. anna@ecochemie.nl

Brian Glazer, Marine Biosciences (Ph.D., 2004), Associate Professor, University of Hawaii, Department of Oceanography, 205 Marine Sciences Bldg., 1000 Pope Rd. Honolulu, HI. glazer@hawaii.edu

Robert Trouwborst, Oceanography (Ph.D.,2006), Research Scientist Geochemistry, Deltares Institute. robert.trouwborst@tno.nl

Shufen "Sophie" Ma, Oceanography (Ph.D, 2006). Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of Earth and Planetary Science, University of California-Berkeley. sfma@berkeley.edu

Tommy Moore, Oceanography (Ph.D., 2008) Postdoctoral Fellow, IMEDEA (UIB-CSIC) Spain. tsmoore@imedea.uib-csic.es

Katherine M. Mullaugh, Analytical chemistry (Ph.D., 2009) Assistant Professor, Department of Chemistry , Elon University. kmullaugh@elon.edu

Mustafa Yucel, Oceanography (Ph.D., 2009) Postdoctoral Scientist at GEOMAR-Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel, Germany. myuecel@geomar.de

Andrew Madison, Oceanography, (Ph.D, 2012) Staff Geochemist, Golder Associates, Inc. Mt. Laurel, New Jersey Andrew_Madison@golder.com

Heather Nees, Oceanography, (M.S. 2009) Lab Technician, Iams Pet Care, Lewisburg, OH.

David Chu,  Analytical Chemistry (M.S., Chemistry 2013) Lockheed Martin. daived@gmail.com

Charoenkwan Kraiya, Assistant Professor, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, Thailand. kraiya@hotmail.com.

Karen Perry, Associate Professor, Okanagan University College, Chemistry Department, Ohanagan, British Columbia, Canada. karen.perry@ubc.ca

Brent Lewis, Associate Professor, Coastal Carolina University, Marine Science Department.  blewis@coastal.edu.

Martial Taillefert, Associate Professor, Georgia Institute of Technology, School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, Atlanta, Georgia.  mtaillef@eas.gatech.edu

Gregory K. Druschel, Associate Professor, Department of Earth Sciences, Indiana University -Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI). gdrusche@iupui.edu

Amy Witter, Associate Professor, Department of Chemistry, Dickinson College.  witter@dickinson.edu

Heileen Hsu-Kim, Assistant Professor, Duke University, Civil and Environmental Engineering Department. hsukim@duke.edu.

Edouard Metzger, Associate Professor, University of Angers, Frqnce, Geology Department (Ph.D., Université Denis Diderot-Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris). edouard.metzger@univ-angers.fr.

Tim Rozan, Director, Ontario Hockey Academy. 

Jeffrey Tsang, Postdoctoral Fellow (PhlD., Northern Territory University, Darwin, Australia), Metal and sulfur geochemistry in the aquatic environment.  jtsangj@hotmail.com.

Tim Waite, chemkistry and Physics Teacher, Headington School, Oxford, England. tjwaite@ukonline.co.uk.

Rebecca Holyoke, Policy Analyst, National Marine Sanctuaries program (National Ocean Service, NOAA).  rebecca.holyoke@noaa.gov.