Martin Alexander
Professor Emeritus of Soil Microbiology

708 Bradfield Hall (607) 255-1717 E-mail: ma59@cornell.edu BS 1951 Rutgers University MS 1953 University of Wisconsin PhD 1955 University of Wisconsin Martin Alexander, Liberty Hyde Bailey Professor Emeritus of Soil Science, came to Cornell University in 1955 as an Assistant Professor. He subsequently was appointed Associate Professor, Full Professor, and, more recently, Liberty Hyde Bailey Professor of Soil Science. He has chaired or been a member of a variety of advisory committees to EPA, National Research Council, National Institutes of Health, U.S. Army, Food and Agricultural Organization of the UN, and UNESCO, and he has consulted with many private companies on environmental pollution.

Research Program Dr. Alexander's research focus is in the areas of soil and environmental microbiology, bioavailability and aging of chemical pollutants, and microbial transformations that are of environmental or agricultural importance in natural environments. His research deals with the bioavailability and biodegradation of a variety of toxic organic chemicals and pesticides in soils, subsoils, groundwaters and surface waters. A variety of different issues are dealt with, including the biodegradation of sorbed chemicals, interaction between species during transformations of chemicals, finding means to enhance microbial destruction of pollutants, exploring bioremediation methodologies to promote the use of introduced microorganisms to rid natural environments of toxicants, and unique problems arising because of persistence of low concentrations of organic compounds Courses Taught Soil Microbiology Advanced Soil Microbiology Selected Publications Nam, K., Chung, N. and Alexander, M. 1988. Relationship between organic matter contents of soil and the segmentation of phenanthrene. Environ. Sci.: Technol. 32: 3785-3788.

Tang, J. Carroguino, M. J., Robertson, B. K., and Alexander, M. 1998. Combined effect of sequestration and bioremedication in reducing the bioavailability of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in soil. Environ. Sci: Technol. 32: 3586-3590. White, J. C., Quinones - Rivera, A. and Alexander, M. 1998. Effect of wetting and drying on the bioavailability of organic compounds sequestered in soil. Environ. Toxicol. Chem. 17: 2378-2382. Alexander, M. 1999. Biodegradation and bioremediation. 2nd ed. Academic Press, San Diego, CA. Alexander, R. R., Chung, N. and Alexander, M. 1999. Solid-phase genotoxicity assay for organic compounds in soil. Environ. Toxicol. Chem. 18: 420-425. White, J. C., Alexander, M., and Pignatello, J. J. 1999. Enhancing the bioavailability of organic compounds sequestered in soil and aquifer solids. Environ. Toxicol. Chem. 18: 182-187. Alexander, R. R., and Alexander, M. 1999. Genotoxicity of two polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons declines as they age in soil. Environ. Toxicol. Chem. 18: 1140-1143. Liste, H. H., and Alexander, M. 1999. Rapid screening of plants promoting phenanthrene degradation. J. Environ. Qual. 28: 1376-1377.