Geology Department
Mason O. Stahl
Job Title
Assistant Professor of Environmental Engineering
Areas of expertise
Hydrogeology, Geochemistry, Surface Water Hydrology
Research interests
My research spans the fields of hydrogeology, geochemistry and water resources. I study how perturbations to the environment influence elemental cycling and the quality of our water resources. A main focus of my research has been on improving our understanding of the hydrologic and biogeochemical factors that result in the mobilization of naturally occurring arsenic from sediments into groundwater, which is a problem that threatens the health of millions of people around the world. One of the primary goals of my research is to help answer questions about how groundwater and surface water quality will change in response to natural and anthropogenic changes to the environment and what this means for the health of people and the environment.
Field Areas: Vietnam, Bangladesh
Teaching interests
ENS 100: Introduction to Environmental Science
ENS 215: Exploring Environmental Data
GEO/ENS 210: Groundwater Hydrology
Publications
(* = students):
Stahl M.O., Mehedi Hasan Tarek, Borhan Badruzzaman, Charles F. Harvey (2017). Using Novel Laboratory Incubations and Field Experiments to Identify the Source and Fate of Reactive Organic Carbon in an Arsenic-contaminated Aquifer System, Abstract [B42B] presented at 2017 Fall Meeting, AGU, New Orleans, LA, 11-15 Dec 2017.
Lin, T.Y., Hafeznezami, S., Rice, L., Lee, J., Maki, A., Sevilla, T., Stahl, M.O., Neumann, R., Harvey, C.F., Suffet, I.H.M., Badruzzaman, A.B.M., Jay, A.J, (2017). Arsenic oxyanion binding to NOM from dung and aquaculture pond sediments in Bangladesh: Importance of site-specific binding constants. Applied Geochemistry, 78, pp. 234-240.
Stahl, M.O., Harvey, C.F., van Geen, A., Sun, J., Thi Kim Trang, P., Mai Lan, V., Mai Phuong, T., Hung Viet, P., and Bostick, B.C., (2016). River bank geomorphology controls groundwater arsenic concentrations in aquifers adjacent to the Red River, Hanoi Vietnam. Water Resources Research, 52, pp. 6321-6334.
Stahl, M.O., Tarek, M.H., Yeo, D.C., Badruzzaman, A.B.M., and Harvey, C.F., (2014). Crab burrows as conduits for groundwater‐surface water exchange in Bangladesh. Geophysical Research Letters, 41(23), pp. 8342-8347.
Stahl, M.O., Ong, J.B., Harvey, C.F., Johnson, C.D., Badruzzaman, A.B.M., Tarek, M.H., van Geen, A., Anderson, J.A., and Lane, J.W., (2014). Detecting well casing leaks in Bangladesh using a salt spiking method. Groundwater, 52(S1), pp. 195-200.
van Geen, A., Bostick, B.C., Trang, P.T.K., Lan, V.M., Mai, N.N., Manh, P.D., Viet, P.H., Radloff, K., Aziz, Z., Mey, J.L., Stahl, M.O., Harvey, C.F., Oates, P., Weinman, B., Stengel, C., Frei, F., Kipfer, R., and Berg, M., (2013). Retardation of arsenic transport through a Pleistocene aquifer. Nature, 501(7466), pp. 204-207.
Stahl, M.O. (2015). Surface-water groundwater interaction and arsenic mobilization in south and Southeast Asia. Massachusetts Institute of Technology, PhD. Thesis.
Additional media
Academic credentials
B.S., Tufts University; Ph.D., Massachusetts Institute of Technology
F.W. Olin Center 310
Fax:
(518) 388-6417