Jeffrey J. Werner

Curriculum Vitae

Education

Teaching Experience

• Introduced graduate students to tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS) methods for protein identification and quantitation

• Facilitated students' experimental design using local environmental systems
  

• Guided students in protein extraction, separation, and analysis via shotgun proteomics

• Led the recitation and laboratory sections 

• Engaged students in designing their own experiments using an inquiry-based learning approach

• Provided individual attention to students in a small class-size setting

• Guided students in developing skills for chemistry comprehension and problem-solving in an intensive course where material was introduced at a rapid pace

• Mentored a local high school student interested in environmental photochemistry

• Guided 10 hours per week of experimental design and research by the student, accepted for publication in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry

• Supported student's development as an emerging young professional through discussion of literature and seminar topics as well as educational and career pathways

• “Chemical speciation and equilibria in the aquatic environment,” Civil Engineering 5541: Water Chemistry, September 21, 2005

• “Introduction to chemical kinetics,” Civil Engineering 5541: Water Chemistry, October 18, 2004

• Taught a weekly laboratory section (30 students; concurrent with a lecture of 120 students)

• Engaged non-science majors in environmental science and engineering with topics such as invasive species, eutrophication and watershed management, bioremediation, and sustainable development

• Cooperatively developed laboratory activities to evoke critical reflection and discussion among students

• Evaluated projects for lecture and lab

• Tutored Latino high school students in math and science in Madison, WI

• Helped form a support network for this underserved group and organized social activities

Research Experience

• Monitored enzymes used by bacterial strain Dehalococcoides ethenogenes 195 for the degradation of chlorinated pollutants

• Quantified membrane-associated proteins of D. ethenogenes using isobaric tagging and multidimensional liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (MDLC/MS/MS) shotgun proteomics

• Developed and validated multiple-reaction monitoring (MRM) transition ion targets to quantify peptide biomarkers of reductive dehalogenation activity, using nanoLC separation followed by tandem mass spectrometry

• Installed and administered a Linux/Apache/MySQL/PHP (LAMP) server used for bioinformatics computations, data backup and distribution, and a lab group wiki

• Measured the chemical values needed to predict photodegradation of various pharmaceutical compounds in sunlight-exposed surface waters and on soil surfaces

• Developed a novel kinetic technique to simultaneously quantify the quenching of singlet oxygen and an excited triplet-state sensitizer using laser flash photolysis (LFP)

• Developed and performed analytical methods including high-pressure liquid chromatography (HPLC), gas chromatography (GC), quantitative extraction of trace organics from soil and clay samples, trapping and analysis of ¹⁴C-labeled carbon dioxide

• Monitored biodegradation of carbadox in soil microcosms and quantified inhibition of microbial respiration

• Wrote data-analysis software using GNU Octave (similar to MATLAB) to investigate the complex metal-binding speciation of tetracycline in natural waters and determine the UV-vis absorption spectra of component species

• Mentored undergraduate and high school student research

• Characterized the binding of copper and nickel cations to natural organic matter ligands using trace-metal clean analysis by voltammetry and three-dimensional excitation-emission matrix (3D-EEM) fluorescence spectrometry

• Sampled field sites using trace-metal-clean techniques; filtered and fractionated dissolved organic carbon

• Performed elemental analysis via inductively-coupled plasma (ICP) spectrometry

Grants

Co-author. NSF, “Modeling Gene Networks in Dehalococcoides During Dehalorespiration and Development of Practical RNA-Biosensors for Bioremediation of Chlorinated Contaminants.” Funded for $324,585, PI Ruth Richardson, co-PIs Stephen Zinder and Antje Baumner, 2007-2010.

Co-author. DOD, “Systems Biology of Dehalococcoides: Using Network Inference Modeling to Integrate Omics Datasets Under Varied Conditions.” Funded for $381,100, PI Ruth Richardson, co-PIs Stephen Zinder and James Gossett, 2007-
2010.

Awards

• Honorable Mention, PhD Dissertation Awards, Universities Council on Water Resources, 2007

• Graduate Student Award in Environmental Chemistry, American Chemical Society, 2006

• Graduate Student Paper Award, American Chemical Society, Division of Environmental Chemistry, 2006 ($1000)

• Travel Grants, Water Resources Science Program, University of Minnesota, 2006 ($500) and 2004 ($500)

• Travel Grant, Graduate and Professional Student Assembly, University of Minnesota, 2004 ($500)

Professional Activities

• Member, Council on Undergraduate Research, 2007-present

• Judge, Minnesota State Science Fair, Minnesota Academy of Science, Saint Paul, MN, 2006

• Treasurer, Water Resources Students in Action, University of Minnesota, 2004-2005

• Active in the Sarita Wetlands cleanup, Saint Paul Campus, University of Minnesota, 2003-2005

• Member, American Chemical Society, 2003-present

• Member, Water Resources Students in Action, University of Minnesota, 2002-2006

Publications

Werner, J. J.; Ptak, A. C.; Rahm, B. G.; Zhang, S.; Richardson, R. E., 2008. Absolute quantification of environmental proteins: Enzyme bioindicators of chlorinated ethene dehalorespiration. Submitted to Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America.

Werner, J. J.; McNeill, K.; Arnold, W. A. Photolysis of chlortetracycline on a clay surface and in aqueous solution. Manuscript in preparation for submission to Environmental Science & Technology.

Werner, J. J.; Chintapalli, M.; Ludeen, R. A.; Wammer, K. H.; McNeill, K.; Arnold, W. A., 2007. Environmental photochemistry of tylosin: efficient, reversible photoisomerization to a less-active isomer followed by photolysis. Journal of Agricultural & Food Chemistry 55:7062-7068 [Digital Object Identifier: 10.1021/jf070101h].

Werner, J. J.; Arnold, W. A.; McNeill, K., 2006. Water hardness as a photochemical parameter: photolysis of tetracycline as a function of pH, calcium concentration and magnesium concentration. Environmental Science & Technology 40:7236-7241 (Special Issue on Emerging Contaminants). [Digital Object Identifier: 10.1021/es060337m]

Werner, J. J.; McNeill, K.; Arnold, W. A., 2005. Environmental photodegradation of mefenamic acid. Chemosphere 58: 1339-1346. [Digital Object Identifier: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2004.10.004]

Packer, J. L.; Werner, J. J.; Latch, D. E.; McNeill, K.; Arnold, W. A., 2003. Photochemical fate of pharmaceuticals in the environment: Naproxen, diclofenac, clofibric acid, and ibuprofen. Aquatic Science 64:342-351 (Special Issue on Photochemical Processes in the Hydrosphere). [Digital Object Identifier: 10.1007/s00027-003-0671-8]

Popular Press

Werner, J. J.; Boreen, A. L.; Edhlund, B.; Wammer, K. H.; Matzen, E.; McNeill, K.; Arnold, W. A., 2005. Photochemical transformation of antibiotics in Minnesota waters. CURA Reporter 35(2):1-5. Available in PDF format.

Presentations

Werner, J. J.; Zhang, S.; Richardson, R. E. MDLC/MS/MS shotgun and MRM analysis of protein biomarkers indicative of dehalorespiration in contaminated groundwater. Poster presented at the24th Montreux Symposium on LC/MS and Related Techniques, Hilton Head Island, SC, October 10-12, 2007.

Werner, J. J.; McNeill, K.; Arnold, W. A. Environmental photochemistry of antibiotic compounds. Invited talk. Ithaca College, Department of Chemistry Seminar Series, February 20, 2007.

Werner, J. J.; Arnold, W. A.; McNeill, K. The environmental photochemical kinetics of tetracycline as a function of pH and water hardness. Presentation at the American Chemical Society National Meeting, San Francisco, CA, September 10-14, 2006.

Arnold, W. A.; Werner, J. J.; Chintapalli, M.; McNeill, K. Environmental photochemistry of antibiotic compounds. Poster presented at the Environmental Science: Water Gordon Conference, Plymouth, NH, June 25-30, 2006.

Werner, J. J.; McNeill, K.; Arnold, W. A. Environmental photochemistry of the antibiotic compound tetracycline. Presentation at the Minnesota Water 2005 and Annual Water Resources Joint Conference, Brooklyn Center, MN, October 25-26, 2005.

Werner, J. J.; McNeill, K.; Arnold, W. A.. Speciation-dependent photochemistry of tetracycline antibiotics: acid-base speciation and metal-binding effects. Presentation at the 27th Annual Mid-West Environmental Chemistry Workshop, Madison, WI, October 16-17, 2004.

Werner, J. J.; McNeill, K.; Arnold, W. A. Kinetics of the environmental photodegradation of mefenamic acid. Poster presented at the American Chemical Society National Meeting, Philadelphia, PA, August 22-26, 2004.

Arnold, W.A.; Werner, J.J.; McNeill, K. Kinetics of the environmental photodegradation of mefenamic acid. Poster presented at the Environmental Sciences: Water Gordon Research Conference, Plymouth, NH, June 27-July 2, 2004.

Werner, J. J.; McNeill, K.; Arnold, W. A. Environmental photodegradation of pharmaceuticals. Poster presented at the 26th Annual Mid-West Environmental Chemistry Workshop, Iowa City, IA, October 11-12, 2003.

Arnold, W.A; Boreen, A.L.; Latch, D.E.; McNeill, K.; Packer, J.L.; Werner, J.J. Photochemistry of pharmaceuticals in the environment. Poster presented at the AEESP Frontiers in Assessment Methods for the Environment symposium, Minneapolis, MN, August 10-13, 2003.