Karen Merritt

· Assistant Professor

Bio

Karen Merritt is an Assistant Professor of Coastal Geology/Geological Oceanography in the Corning School of Ocean Studies. She joined the Department in 2023.

Karen is an Environmental Geologist and Public Health Engineer and has worked on projects characterizing chemical fate and transport in estuarine and coastal environments in the U.S., Canada, Latin America and the E.U. Her work includes chemical fate and transport analysis, design and implementation of field sampling and monitoring programs, evaluation of community impacts and industrial histories, particularly with respect to the use of mercury (Hg) in chlor-alkali production, and biogeochemistry, contaminant bioavailability and sediment transport in salt marshes. As a Public Health Engineer, her work also focuses on urban environments and racialized health disparities created and perpetuated by infrastructural frameworks and environmental and chemical exposures.

PhD., Environmental Engineering, University of Maine
MPH, Global and Community Health, University of Massachusetts Amherst
B.A., Geology, Carleton College