Chemistry Department Faculty

Dr. Sherri A. Mason
Associate Professor of Chemistry
Environmental Sciences Program Coordinator
Sustainability Coordinator, SUNY FACE Center
220 Houghton Hall
SUNY College at Fredonia
Fredonia, NY 14063
Tel: (716) 673-3292
Fax: (716) 673-3347
Sherri.Mason@Fredonia.edu

Research

We are currently working with Dunkirk Bio-Electric, a new start-up company in the SUNY Fredonia Business Technology Incubator, to determine the methane generation potential of various food (organic) wastes from the local area. According to the USDA, more than 25% of all the food we produce world-wide is simply thrown away without being consumed. The production of meat alone accounts for at least 18% of all of our greenhouse gas emissions worldwide. Given our ever-increasing energy needs, but our ever-decreasing fossil fuel supplies, we, as a society, need to look for alternative energy sources. Organic (food) waste is such an alternative energy source.

The business plan of Dunkirk Bio-Electric is to utilize local organic waste as the feedstock for an industrial-scale anaerobic digestor. When organic waste is decomposed under an anaerobic conditions, methane (the main component in natural gas) is produced. This methane can then be utilized to generate electricity and heat in an overall carbon neutral process. Additionally the digested feedstock is rich in nutrients and can be utilized for compost fertilizer.

Following a campus food waste assessment completed in the Spring of 2011, we are now working to determine the methane generation potential of our campus food waste stream, as well as other local organic waste. This work will be utilized as part of the scientific backbone of the Dunkirk Bio-Electric facility, which is expected to serve as a model for similar facilities in other localities across the nation.

In addition to the above project, I have research students working on environmental policy and civic engagement initiatives in the local community.

Publications

Mason, S. A., J. Arey, and R. Atkinson, ‘Kinetics and Products of the OH Radical-Initiated Reaction of 1,4-Butanediol and Rate Constants for the Reactions of OH Radicals with 4-Hydroxybutanal and 3-Hydroxypropanal,’ Environ. Sci. Tech., 44, 707, 2010.

Mason, S. A., J. Arey, and R. Atkinson, ‘Rate Constants for the Gas-Phase Reactions of NO₃ Radicals and O₃ with C₆-C₁₄ 1-Alkenes and 2-Methyl-1-alkenes at 296 ± 2 K,’ J. Phys. Chem. A, 113, 5649, 2009.

Mason, S. A., J. Trentmann, T. Winterrath, R. J. Yokelson, T. J. Christian, L. J. Carlson, T. R. Warner, L. C. Wolfe, and M. O. Andreae, ‘Intercomparison of Two Box Models of the Chemical Evolution in Biomass-Burning Smoke Plumes,’ J. Atmos. Chem., 55, 273, 2006.

Trentmann, J., R. J. Yokelson, P. V. Hobbs, T. Winterrath, T. J. Christian, M. O. Andreae, and S. A. Mason, ‘An Analysis of the Chemical Processes in the Smoke Plume from a Savanna Fire,’ J. Geophys. Res., 110, D12301, 2005.

Mason, S. A., R. J. Field, R. J. Yokelson, M. A. Kochivar, M. R. Tinsley, D. E. Ward, and W.-M. Hao, ‘Complex Effects Arising in Smoke Plume Simulations due to Inclusion of Direct Emissions of Oxygenated Organic Species from Biomass Combustion,’ J. Geophys. Res., 106, D12527, 2001.

Community Interest Powerpoints