Mark Barnett is a Professor of Environmental Engineering in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Auburn University. He has over 30 years of national and international environmental engineering and science experience in industry, government, and academia ranging from water supply and sanitation in rural communities to nuclear waste disposal. His technical research focuses on the chemical processes controlling water quality and contaminant behavior in natural and engineered systems. He has been a principal or co-principal investigator on 17 grants totaling over $12 million, and he has published over 50 peer-reviewed journal articles, several book chapters, and a book that collectively have received over 3,000 citations. He is a licensed professional engineer and a board-certified member of the American Academy of Environmental Engineers and Scientists with technical experience in water and wastewater treatment; site assessment and remediation; soil and groundwater contamination; human-health risk assessments; contaminant bioavailability; environmental forensics; environmental and aquatic chemistry; low-level radioactive and hazardous waste management; and nuclear environmental engineering.
Barnett has taught fundamental and applied courses in environmental and aquatic chemistry, water and wastewater treatment, environmental engineering principles and design, and sustainable design and development. His work has been supported by industry, the National Science Foundation, the Department of Energy, the Department of Defense, the Department of Agriculture, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and the Water Research Foundation.
After being promoted to full professor, Barnett began to switch his professional focus to areas of broader societal impact, and his current interests are in environmental policy; sustainable development; and water, sanitation, and health in underserved communities, both in the U.S. and abroad.
He holds a Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering and a Master of Science in Environmental Engineering from the University of Tennessee and a Doctorate in Environmental Sciences and Engineering from the University of North Carolina.
Barnett serves on EMAB as a special government employee. He provides expert advice on science and technology and environmental health.
