Peter H. Santschi

Courses Taught

Texas A&M University at Galveston Undergraduate Courses:

CHEM 383: Environmental Chemistry
CHEM 464: Nuclear Chemistry
MARS 340: Geochemistry
MARS 430: Geological Oceanography
MARS 440: Chemical Oceanography
MARS 481: Seminar in Marine Science
MARS 491: Research, Environmental Geology

Texas A&M University, Department of Oceanography Graduate Courses:

OCNG 644: Isotope Geochemistry
OCNG 681: Seminar in Oceanography/Marine Science
OCNG 646: Dynamics of Environmental Colloids

Swiss Institute of Technology (ETH), Zurich, Switzerland:

Geochemical Oceanography
Radioactivity in the Environment
Environmental Colloids

AMCE, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, HKUST:

Marine Organic Chemistry
Marine Colloids Chemistry
Marine Radiochemistry
Marine Biogeochemistry

Publications

10 Representative Publications

1. Honeyman, B.D., and Santschi, P.H. 1989. A Brownian-pumping model for trace metal scavenging: evidence from Th isotopes, J. Mar. Res., 47/4, 950-995.

2. Wen, L.S., P.H. Santschi, C. Paternostro, and G. Gill. 1999. Estuarine trace metal distributions in Galveston Bay I: Importance of colloidal forms in the speciation of the dissolved phase, Mar. Chem., 63 (3-4), 185-212.

3. Guo, L., and Santschi, P.H. 2000. Sedimentary sources of old high molecular weight dissolved organic matter from the ocean margin benthic nepheloid layer. Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta, 64(4), 651-660.

4. Santschi, P.H., Guo, L., Asbill, S., Allison, M., Kepple, B., and Wen, L.-S. 2001. Accumulation rates and sources of sediments and organic carbon on the Palos Verdes shelf based on multiple radioisotopic tracers (¹³⁷Cs, ^239,240Pu, ²¹⁰Pb, ²³⁴Th, ²³⁸U and ¹⁴C). Marine Chemistry, 73(2), 125-152.

5. Tang, D., Warnken, K.W., and Santschi, P.H. 2001. Organic complexation of Copper in surface waters of Galveston Bay. Limnol. Oceanogr., 46(2), 321-330. 

6. Verdugo, P., Alldredge, A.L., Azam, F., Kirchman, D.L., Passow, U., and Santschi, P.H. 2004. The oceanic gel phase: a bridge in the DOM-POM continuum. Mar. Chem., 92, 67-85.

7. Xu, C., Zhang, S., Kaplan, D.I., Ho, Y.-F. , Schwehr, K.A., Roberts, K.A., Chen, H.M., Didonato, N., Athon, M.*, Hatcher, P.G., Santschi, P.H. 2015. Evidence for Hydroxamate Siderophores and Other N-Containing Organic Compounds Controlling ^239,240Pu Immobilization and Remobilization in a Wetland Sediment. Environ. Sci. Technol., 49, 11458−11467.

8. Santschi, P.H., Xu, C., Schwehr, A.K., Lin, P., Sun, L., Chin, W.-C., Kamalanathan, M., Quigg, A. 2020. Can the protein/carbohydrate (P/C) ratio of exopolymeric substances (EPS) be used as a proxy for its ‘stickiness’ and other biophysical properties? Perspective article in Marine Chemistry, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marchem.2019.103734.

9. Sun, L., Chin, W.-C., Chiu, H.-H., Xu, C., Lin, P., Schwehr, K.A., Quigg, A., Santschi, P.H. 2021. Sunlight induced aggregation of protein-containing dissolved organic matter (DOM) in the coastal ocean, Marine Chemistry, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marchem.2020.103907.

10. Xu, C., Goranov, A.I., Kaplan, D.I., Lin, P., Yeager, C.M., Patterson, N., Jiang, H., Ware, S., Hatcher, P.G., Santschi, P.H. 2024. Molecular features of uranium-binding natural organic matter in a DOE site using ultrahigh resolution mass spectrometry. STOTEN 174867, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.174867

Presentations

2012: Invited Presentation “Biopolymers as carriers of radionuclides in marine aggregates" at the International Workshop on Marine Aggregates (IWOMA) - From Molecular principles to Biogeochemical Impacts (August 15-17, 2012), in Bremen, Germany.

2013: Presentation at the International Goldschmidt 2013 Conference (August 25-30, 2013) in Florence, Italy.

2014: Invited Presentation at the Ocean Sciences Meeting (February 23-28) in Honolulu, HI.

2014: Invited Presentation at the International Goldschmidt 2014 Conference (June 8-13, 2014) in Sacramento, CA.

2014: Invited Presentation at the International Plutonium Futures Conference (September 7-12) in Las Vegas Nevada.

2015: Invited Keynote Speaker at The International Conference on Contaminated Sediments, Environmental Chemistry, Ecotoxicology and Engineering, ContaSed

2015: 8–13 March 2015, Congressi Stefano Franscini in Monte Verità, Switzerland, organized by the Swiss Institute of Technology, ETH Zurich.

2016: Invited Keynote Speaker at the International Goldschmidt Conference in Yokohama, Japan, June 26 - July 1, 2016, in the Session "Biological Transformation and Fate of Natural and Anthropogenic Radionuclides in the Environments”.

2016: Presenter and Member of Scientific Committee of ICRM-LLRMT (International Committee for Radionuclide Metrology – Low Level Radioactivity Measurements Techniques) conference, Seattle (WA, USA) September 26-30, 2016.

2016: Organizer of special ACS Symposium on “Chemical and Biological Processes Regulating Transport of Pollutants in the Gulf of Mexico and Its Estuaries” at the 72nd Annual Southwest Regional Meeting (SWRM), Galveston, TX, November 10-13, 2016.

2017: Session Co-Organizer, Co-Chair and presenter at the Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill and Ecosystem Science Conference 2017, New Orleans, LA. February 6-9, 2017.

Grants and Fellowships

National Science Foundation – Chemical Oceanography, “Biopolymers produced by diatoms and coccolithophores as carriers for selected natural radionuclides (of Th, Pa, Pb, Po, Be) in the ocean”, Peter H. Santschi, PI, Quigg, A., Schwehr, K.A., and Xu, C., co-PIs, Feb. 1, 2014 – Jan. 31, 2018 ($506,849).

DOE, Office of Science, SBR, “Collaborative Research: The Importance of Organo-Iodine and Iodate In Iodine-127,129 Speciation, Mobility and Microbial Activity in Groundwater at DOE Sites”,  Santschi, P.H., PI, 2014-2015 ($60,000 supplement to TAMUG).

Gulf of Mexico Research Initiative (GoMRI), “Role of microbial exopolymers in aggregation and degradation of oil and dispersants”, Santschi, P.H. (Deputy Director and PI), with Quigg, A. (Consortium Director), and Knapp, T., Wade, T.L., Chin, W.-C., Passow, U., Hatcher, P.G., Silvan, J., and Finkel, Z. (co-PIs), Jan. 1, 2015 – Dec. 31, 2017 ($7,245,432 total, $3,209,495 to TAMUG).

DOE, Office of Science, SBR, “Collaborative Research: Natural Organic Matter and Microbial Controls on Mobilization/Immobilization of I and Pu in soils in USA and Japan”, Santschi, P.H. PI,  Xu, C., Schwehr, K.A., and Zhang, S., Kaplan, D.I., and Yeager, C.M., co-PIs, Aug. 1, 2015-July 31, 2018 ($600,000 total, $300,000 to TAMUG).

DOE, PNNL, “Post Detonation Maritime Collection and Analysis paper study”, subcontract from PNNL, Santschi, P.H., PI, 2016 ($20,000 to TAMUG), March 28, 2016 through September 30, 2016.

DOE, NEUP, Office of Nuclear Energy “Using Radioiodine Speciation to Address Environmental Remediation and Waste Stream Sequestration Problems at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant and a DOE Site”, Santschi, P.H., PI ($420,000 to TAMUG), Oct.1, 2016-Sept. 30, 2019.

DOE, LDRD, “Silver-iodine Secondary Waste Stabilization: Multiscale Evaluation”, Santschi, P.H., PI ($40,000 to TAMUG, subcontract from SRNL), January 1, 2017 - September 30, 2017.

DOE, subcontract from SRNS, “Radioiodine Speciation on G-SOW-A-01859 Waste Form Stabilization (SRNS RFP No.0000318991)”, Santschi, P.H., PI, ($40,000 to TAMUG), 2017-2018 ($40,000 to TAMUG, subcontract from SRNL).

Amec Foster Wheeler Environment & Infrastructure, Inc., fixed price contract for court-mandated study, “Radiochemical Analyses of sediments from the Penobscot River”,

Santschi, P.H., PI, ($177,600 to TAMUG), Sept. 30-Dec. 31, 2017.

Gulf of Mexico Research Initiative (GoMRI), “ADDOMEx 2: Towards a synthesis of processes and pathways of marine oil snow formation”, Santschi, P.H. (Deputy Director and PI), with Quigg, A. (Consortium Director), and Knapp, T., Wade, T.L., Chin, W.-C., Passow, U., Hatcher, P.G., Silvan, J., and Finkel, Z. (co-PIs), Jan. 1, 2018 – Dec. 31, 2019 ($2.54 Million total).

DOE, LDRD, “Silver-iodine Secondary Waste Stabilization: Multiscale Evaluation”, Santschi, P.H., PI ($40,000 to TAMUG, subcontract from SRNL), January 1, 2018 - September 30, 2018.

Professional Appointments