Richelle Allen-King

Richelle Allen-King serves as Professor and Director of Graduate Studies in the Department of Earth Sciences within the College of Arts and Sciences at the University at Buffalo. Her academic career centers on hydrogeochemistry and environmental geochemistry, with specialized expertise in contaminant transport processes in groundwater systems.

Her educational background includes:

• PhD in Earth Sciences (Hydrogeology) from the University of Waterloo (1991)

Dr. Allen-King's research focuses on understanding the fate and transport of contaminants in groundwater, particularly organic pollutants like chlorinated solvents and nutrients. She integrates field measurements, laboratory experiments, and numerical modeling to investigate critical processes including sorption, diffusion, and biotic/abiotic degradation in heterogeneous aquifers. Her work addresses fundamental limitations in predicting natural attenuation and designing effective remediation strategies for contaminated sites, with significant contributions to understanding nonlinear sorption in low-organic-carbon sediments and aquifer heterogeneity effects.

Analysis of her publication record reveals three dominant research trajectories: (1) Advanced characterization of chlorinated solvent behavior in sedimentary rock aquifers, particularly diffusion and degradation processes in low-permeability media; (2) Investigation of nutrient transport dynamics in watersheds with applications to Lake Erie eutrophication; and (3) Development of educational frameworks for early-career geoscientists. Her recent work increasingly incorporates high-fidelity modeling of heterogeneous systems and field validation at research sites like the Borden Aquifer.

Her research is supported by major external funding including:

• SERDP Project ER-2533: Developing field methods for quantifying chlorinated solvent diffusion and degradation in low-permeability media
• NSF IGERT ERIE grant: Fostering interdisciplinary training in ecosystem restoration

Dr. Allen-King has mentored 14 graduate students to completion, with alumni now working as hydrogeologists at firms including Geosyntec Consultants, Leggette Brashears & Graham, and Intera Inc. She teaches advanced courses in environmental geochemistry and supervises thesis research focused on contaminant hydrology. Her laboratory investigations frequently involve collaborative field work at the Borden Aquifer research site in Ontario, Canada, where she examines lithofacies controls on contaminant transport properties.