Emmalyn Dupree, a Clarkson University chemistry doctoral student from Massena, N.Y., will travel to Plainsboro, N.J. in November to accept the EAS Graduate Student Research Award and present her research at the Eastern Analytical Symposium. Dupree was one of four students selected from many highly qualified nominees from all over the United States east coast.
Dupree is currently performing proteomic studies to identify the effect of legacy chemicals on the Great Lakes ecosystem, specifically contaminants like polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and organochlorine pesticides.
PCBs and organochlorine pesticides are ubiquitous persistent, bioaccumulative and toxic chemicals (PBTs) that have been targeted by the Great Lakes Water Quality Initiative and environmental monitoring programs for decades. Although the manufacturing of these chemicals has been banned by Congress, release and exposure — specifically through consumption of fish exposed to runoff pollution — is still possible. This is very problematic due to the copious adverse health effects of these chemicals, including cancers.
Dupree’s work includes developing a unique protein database for the for the top-predator lake trout species that can be used in future Great Lakes studies. Dupree also utilizes human sera samples and proteomic methods to research the effects of legacy chemicals in the ecosystem on the human proteome.
She hopes that this research will contribute to society by identifying how contaminants that accumulate in the Great Lakes are negatively affecting fish and human consumers.
Dupree works in Associate Professor of Chemistry & Biomolecular Science Costel C. Darie’s Biochemistry and Proteomics Lab. The projects mentioned above are supported through an environmental grant led by Research Associate Professor of Civil & Environmental Engineering Bernard Crimmins and Jean S. Newell Distinguished Professor of Engineering / Co-Director of CARES (Center for Air Resources Engineering & Sciences) Thomas M. Holsen.
Clarkson University educates the leaders of the global economy. One in five alumni already leads as an owner, CEO, VP or equivalent senior executive of a company. With its main campus located in Potsdam, N.Y., and additional graduate program and research facilities in the New York Capital Region, Beacon, N.Y., and New York City, Clarkson is a nationally recognized research university with signature areas of academic excellence and research directed toward the world’s pressing issues. Through more than 50 rigorous programs of study in engineering, business, arts, education, sciences and the health professions, the entire learning-living community spans boundaries across disciplines, nations, and cultures to build powers of observation, challenge the status quo, and connect discovery and innovation with enterprise.