Greg Thoma
Professor
Bates Teaching Professorship in Chemical Engineering
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Dr. Thoma's primary research interest is chemical engineering transport phenomena – particularly as it is applied to remediation of environmental contamination. Several of Dr. Thoma's projects are related to environmental issues associated with oil and gas production. The goal of these projects is to provide a means for the oil industry to meet environmental regulations in a cost effective manner. The connection between the energy and environment is significant and in the current context of maintaining national security, it is critical that we are able to provide energy from domestic sources while maintaining the integrity of our environment for both human and ecosystem health. These projects are multi-disciplinary and multi-university in scope, involving the departments of Biological Sciences and Crop, Soil, and Environmental Sciences on the UA campus along with Botany and Microbiology at Oklahoma University and Chemical Engineering at Tulsa University.
Dr. Thoma's work on the fate and transport of bacteria in fractured limestone systems has important implications with regard to watershed management and the evaluation of management practices designed to help maintain ecosystem quality, through, for example, mitigating the potentially adverse effects of coliform contamination of recreational waterways. This work is jointly conducted with researchers from the Geosciences department at UA.
Education
MS, Chemical Engineering, University of Arkansas, 1986
BS, Chemical Engineering, University of Arkansas, 1980
Selected Publications
Thoma, G.J., T.B. Lam, and D.C. Wolf, "Modeling phytoremediation for petroleum contaminated soil: Model development." International Journal of Phytoremediation 5(1):41-55, 2003
Thoma, G.J., T.B. Lam, and D.C. Wolf, "Modeling phytoremediation for petroleum contaminated soil: Sensitivity analysis." International Journal of Phytoremediation 5(2):125-136, 2003
White P. M. Jr; D. C. Wolf; G. J. Thoma; C. M. Reynolds, "Influence of organic and inorganic soil amendments on plant growth in crude oil-contaminated soil." International Journal of Phytoremediation, 5 (4) 381-97, 2003.
Thoma, G.J, J.E. Swofford, V. Popov, and T.S. Soerens, "The effect of dynamic competitive sorption on the transport of volatile organic chemicals through dry porous media," Water Resources Research 35(5) 1347-1359, 1999.
Thoma G.J., D.D. Reible, K.T. Valsaraj, L.J. Thibodeaux and D. Timberlake, "Capping of contaminated sediments: experimental results and validation of mathematical models," Chapter 19 in "Emerging Technologies in Hazardous Waste Management VI," Edited by D.W. Tedder and F.G. Pohland, American Academy of Environmental Engineers, 1996.
Funded Research Projects (Since 2000)
"Development of a bacterial source tracking and apportionment methodology using DNA micro arrays and Luminex micro beads, and its application in the Ozark Plateau," $48,000: Arkansas Biosciences Institute (2005)
"Field Demonstration and Tech-Transfer for the Continuous Measurement of Crude Oil Stock Tank Emissions", $41,473: IPEC (2004).
“Compound Specific Stable Isotope Technology for Major Questions in Human and Environmental Health Sciences,” $108,000 Arkansas Biosciences Institute (2004)
"Use of Earthworms to Accelerate the Restoration of Oil and Brine Impacted Sites," $116,100: IPEC (2003-2005)
"Using plants to remediate petroleum contaminated soils", $169,712 IPEC (2003-2004)
"Data for Design of Vapor Recovery Units for Crude Oil Stock Tank Emissions," $100,000: IPEC (2003)
"Bacterial and Sediment Tracing for Karst Aquifers," $274,000: National Science Foundation (2002- 2005).
"Risk Reduction and Soil Ecosystem Restoration in an Active Oil Producing Area in an Ecologically Sensitive Setting", $166,893: DOE (2002-2005)
"Using plants to remediate petroleum contaminated soils," $145,298: IPEC (2000-2001).
"Bacterial Tracing in Karst Terrain," $55,000: Arkansas Science and Technology Authority (2000 - 2001).
"Administrative Services for the Integrated Petroleum Environmental Consortium," $204,000: IPEC (2000-2005)