Department of Biological Sciences
Chen Lab
Dartmouth College Class of ’78 Life Sciences Center,Room 108A
78 College Street
Hanover, NH 03755
Tel: 603-264-6875
Email: Pianpian.Wu@dartmouth.edu
Areas of Expertise: Environmental toxicology (mercury bioaccumulation, lipids analysis, environmental pollutants in freshwaters), environmental monitoring data analysis
Background: Pianpian investigated historical archives of freshwater and marine fish Mercury (Hg) for one of her M.S. essays at Uppsala University in Sweden. She also completed an M.S. essay at Western Catholic University in France which focused on ecotoxicology of cadmium sulphide nanoparticles in estuarine bivalve. She completed her Ph.D. study in Environmental Assessment on freshwater mercury bioaccumulation at Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences. Most of Pianpian’s prior research projects were empirical work derived from field investigations within Europe.
Research: Pianpian’s current research focuses on the bioaccumulation of toxic mercury and methylmercury in aquatic freshwaters. Rising methylmercury bioaccumulation in aquatic food webs is a health threat to humans and wildlife and is influenced by intensified human activities, either directly through land use change or indirectly through climate change. Curbing the rise of continued emissions of Hg and assessing changes in environmental methylmercury requires continuous monitoring efforts, as stated in the Minamata Convention. Pianpian is particularly interested in understanding the role played by the base of the food web in this bioaccumulation since the base of the food web is a key factor in predicting how changes in environmental conditions such as water browning and eutrophication influence the biological uptake of methylmercury.
Her research in mercury bioaccumulation addresses many land-use change activities, including forest clearcutting, beaver impoundment, manipulated nutrition addition, aquacultural activities and rice cultivation. To highlight the importance of coexistence of multiple contaminants in the freshwater environment, she currently is investigating local and national environmental datasets of fish mercury and organic pollutants across the U.S. over time At Dartmouth College, she also is leading field research in streams around Lake Sunapee (NH) to investigate mercury bioaccumulation in blackfly larvae and macroinvertebrates.
Experience: Pianpian has participated in several international research conferences and workshops for science communication across disciplines and borders. One of her recent online NIEHS workshop presentations on co-contaminants had an attendance of over 200.