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Spotlight Profile on Kurt Pennell
Dr. Kurt Pennell is an Associate Professor in the School of Civil & Environmental Engineering and a member of the interdisciplinary Bioengineering Graduate Program. Dr. Pennell also holds an adjunct appointment in the Department of Neurology at Emory University and is a member of the Emory Neuroscience Graduate Program and Center for Neurodegenerative Disease.
Dr. Pennell received his bachelor’s degree with high distinction from the University of Maine, master’s degree from North Carolina State University, and doctorate from the University of Florida. Prior to joining the Environmental Engineering Program at Georgia Tech in 1995, Dr. Pennell was a post-doctoral fellow and an assistant research scientist in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Michigan.
Dr. Pennell teaches undergraduate courses environmental engineering principles and hazardous waste management, as well as graduate courses in contaminant fate and transport and remediation technologies. He also guest lectures in environmental toxicology graduate courses offered by the Emory School of Public Health. Dr. Pennell served as the civil engineering honor society (Chi Epsilon) faculty advisor for seven years and was instrumental in developing the new undergraduate degree program in environmental engineering (BSEnvE).
Dr. Pennell’s research program focuses on three areas: (1) fate and transport of environmental contaminants, including pathogens, nanomaterials, volatile organic contaminants (VOCs), and non-aqueous phase liquids (NAPLs) in porous media; (2) development and testing of remediation technologies for restoration of aquifers, surface soils and sediments contaminated with chlorinated solvents, such as trichloroethylene (TCE) and tetrachloroethylene (PCE), and strongly-sorbed compounds, such as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs); and (3) effects of chronic exposure to persistent environmental pollutants on human health, specifically oxidative stress and neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson’s disease. Parkinson’s disease is particularly interesting from an environmental perspective because less than 10% of the cases are attributed to genetic factors, and because as the population ages and life expectancies increase, neurodegenerative diseases will become far more prevalent.
Dr. Pennell’s current research projects focus on the transport and retention of C60 fullerenes in soils, the effects of partial mass removal on contaminant distribution and groundwater plume development, chemical and biological reactions during thermal treatment of contaminated sites, and coupled surfactant flushing and bioremediation for treatment of chlorinated solvent source zones. In addition, Dr. Pennell recently received a 4-year career development award (K25) from the National Institutes of Health to study “Quantitative Metabolomic Analysis of Chronic Exposures to Environmental Toxicants.
Dr. Pennell's research on the link between pesticide exposure and Parkinson's disease was recently cited in USA Today , HealthDay and Medical News Today articles
More information about Dr. Pennell can be found on his CEE Faculty page.