Gang Hu, Ph.D.

Dr. Hu is the senior scientist in the NewFields Forensic Microscopy practice with capabilities to determine chemical fingerprints of visible and microscopical particulates with source-specific morphologies. This capability is particularly useful for distinguishing the origin of heavy metals and technologically enhanced naturally occurring radioactive material (TENORM) based upon morphological and compositional features. Past forensic microscopy projects determined the origin of contaminants attributed to anthropogenic fill, fly ash, slag, metallurgical wastes, lead- and PCB-containing paint chips, and wildfire debris using stereobinocular microscopy, polarized light microscopy (PLM), Fourier transformed infrared microscopy (FTIR), confocal Raman microscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), energy dispersive X-ray spectrometers (EDS), wavelength dispersive spectrometers (WDS), electron microprobe analysis (EMPA), and others.

Over the past 15 years, Dr. Hu led numerous environmental (onshore and offshore) field sampling teams to support studies related to the fate of chemical contaminants in water, soil, marine sediments and ambient air systems.   Dr. Hu was part of a multidisciplinary technical team that conducted water and marine sediment sampling after the PL193 oil release incident in Bohai Bay, China and worked on multiple project teams investigating domestic oil spills including the 2010 BP Deepwater Horizon blowout and fire.  In addition, Dr. Hu’s understanding of environmental chemistry data has allowed him to design, build and manage complex environmental databases, often after compiling and homogenizing diverse historic datasets into a single, usable database for both 2-D and 3-D GIS-based analysis and communication.

Credentials:

• Ph.D., Biology, University of Maryland, 2005
• B.S., Beijing Agricultural University, Beijing, P. R. China, 1990

Research: Gang Hu, PhD - ResearchGate