Our Team
Onur Apul
Dr. Apul is an assistant professor of environmental engineering at University of Maine. His research is evaluation of intermolecular interactions between carbon-based adsorbents and synthetic organic compounds.
David Hart
Dr. Hart has been growing the capacity of universities to conduct stakeholder-engaged, interdisciplinary research for more than 15 years. The Mitchell Center’s PFAS team brings together natural and social scientists and engineers to address this complex issue.
Dianne Kopec
Dr. Kopec is a Research Fellow at the Mitchell Center. Her research examines how ecology and behavior influence an organism’s exposure to toxic contaminants in aquatic ecosystems.
Jean MacRae
Dr. MacRae is an Associate Professor of Environmental Engineering. Her research involves identifying the risks associated with a circularized food system, and the fate of contaminants in waste treatment and resource recovery.
Caroline Noblet
Dr. Noblet is an associate professor of economics at the University of Maine. Her research in behavioral economics focuses on how people form preferences, and use information, to make decisions about the environment.
John Peckenham
John is a research associate with the Mitchell Center. He has worked for decades on wastewater and water pollution in Maine and has direct experience with contamination of groundwater from biosolids.
Sam Roy
Sam is a research associate with the Mitchell Center. His expertise is in dynamic socio-ecological systems, machine learning, biophysical modeling, stakeholder engagement and team science leadership.
Charity Zimmerman – Graduate student
Charity is a graduate student working towards a Master of Science in Economics and Master of Arts in Global Policy at the University of Maine. She is a member of the One Health and the Environment NRT on campus and is advised by Dr. Caroline Noblet and Dr. Onur Apul. Her current research involves surveys of Maine citizens to assess knowledge and attitudes about PFAS. She is especially interested in the willingness to pay to prevent and mitigate PFAS contamination as it relates to citizen trust and information.
Molly Shea – Undergraduate student
Molly is an undergraduate student doubling in Environmental Science and Ecology and Economics at the University of Maine working towards her bachelors. She’s done prior work in sustainable agriculture. Her current research involves surveying Maine citizens to assess knowledge and attitudes about PFAS. She is especially interested in the uncertainty of PFAS science and how it may be similar to the uncertainty in climate science.