Ruth M. Sofield, PhD

Environmental Sciences Department, The College of the Environment at WWU

Scientific Interests

I am most interested in research at the intersection of environmental chemistry and toxicology. My educational background has led me here with degrees and research experiences in biology, environmental science, toxicology, and environmental chemistry.

My students and I use both laboratory and field work in our research; the laboratory studies let us answer specific questions in a controlled setting, while the field work is where the application of that work occurs. The majority of our work has focused on aquatic chemistry and toxicity, although we have also worked with air and soil pollution. From 2010 to 2011, I worked at Eawag in Switzerland where I investigated the impacts of NOM on Ag Nanoparticle chemistry and algal toxicity. My current work includes evaluating the contamination in edible seaweeds from the Salish Sea and the risk to consumers, microplastics and tire wear particle toxicity and chemistry to marine organisms, and modeling contaminants of emerging concern in Puget Sound.

Collaborations include scientists from the government, private, and university sectors. I am a WWU Marine and Coastal Science (MACS) affiliated faculty and a member of the Puget Sound Partnership Science Panel. Since 2020, I have been a co-host of the Toxicology and Societies Speaker Series where we work to increase understanding in how events with a toxicological component impact our lives.

Opportunities

As a teacher and a mentor, I try to make opportunities available to the students I work with. In some cases this is as simple as advising them of an Air and Waste Management Association professional opportunit or a summer research program they can apply for and making sure I spend enough time understanding their strengths and goals before writing reference letters for them. In other cases, I help guide and support independent research for undergraduate students. The projects may be the student’s idea or research that supports my work or graduate students’ work. I try to connect students with professionals by encouraging presentations at conferences and the WWU Scholars’ Week poster fair, attendance at career panels, becoming members of professional organizations, and dinners with on-campus visitors. I manage a large project funded by the Department of Ecology that gives where undergraduate students the opportunity to design and conduct research on topics related to clean-up sites in Washington. The students worked closely with me, each other, and our collaborators to implement the research. To date, the final products include many Senior Project or Thesis reports, presentations at regional and national conferences, and research publications with the students as co-authors. My graduate students get the same encouragement and support for pursuing opportunities. In the end, I believe this is the way to discover where true interests lay, to find who colleagues are, and to advance in chosen professional fields.

Education

• PhD, Environmental Science and Engineering, Colorado School of Mines – 2003
• MS, Environmental Science and Engineering, Colorado School of Mines -1999
• MS, Environmental Sciences, McNeese State University -1995
• BA, Biology, West Virginia University -1993

Professional Path

• Interim Director of the Institute of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry, Western Washington University, 2022
• Chair of the Department of Environmental Sciences, Western Washington University, 2021 – present
• Professor, The College of the Environment, Western Washington University, 2015-present (Huxley College of the Environment until 2022)
• Associate Professor, Huxley College of the Environment, Western Washington University, 2009-present
• Visiting Researcher, Environmental Toxicology Department, Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology (Eawag), 2010-2011
• Assistant Professor, Huxley College of the Environment, Western Washington University, 2003-2009
• Post-doctoral Researcher, Laboratory for Applied & Environmental Radiochemistry, Colorado School of Mines, 2002-2003
• Field Biologist, Center for Coastal Environmental Health and Biomolecular Research, Marine Ecotoxicology Branch, National Ocean Service, NOAA, Charleston, SC, 1999-2002

Selected Publications (published earlier as Harper)

• Hahn JL, Van Alstyne KL, Gaydos JK, Wallis LK, West JE, Ylitalo GM, Poppenga RH, Bolton J,
  Hollenhorst SJ McBride D, Sofield RM. Chemical Contaminant Levels in Edible
  Seaweeds of the Salish Sea and Implications for their Consumption. Internal review complete.
  In review – PlosOne.
• Brown EA, Bonnard J, Eberle C, Jensen WJ, Johnson AM, Miller JD, Yamaura AJ, Sofield R. 2021.
  Influence of Various Water Quality Parameters on Passive Sampler Accumulation of Different Metal
  Valencies in Freshwater. Environmental Science and Pollution Research.
  https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-020-11570-w
• Bannerman BG, Bodensteiner LR, Sofield RM, Rawhouser AK. 2019. The Chemistry of Sub-Alpine
  Streams in Mined Regions of the North Cascades Range. Water, Air, & Soil Pollution. 230(7):143
  DOI 10.1007/s11270-019-4195-9
• Maki BC, Hodges KR, Ford SC, Sofield RM. 2017. The Influence of Hydrous Ferric Oxide, Earthworms,
  and a Hypertolerant Plant on Arsenic and Iron Bioavailability, Fate, and Transport in Soils.
  Environmental Science and Pollution Research. 24(36): 27710-27723. DOI: 10.1007/s11356-
  016-7852-1. Epub 2016 Oct 24.
• Sofield RM, Collier TK. 2017. Recent Advances in Toxicity Assessment Across Taxa. Environmental
  Science and Pollution Research. 24(36): 27631-27633. DOI: 10.1007/s11356-017-0730-7. Epub 2016
  Oct 24.
• Diedrich, DJ, Sofield RM, Ranville JF, Hoff DJ, Wall VD, Brinkman SF. 2015. The Effects of Chronological Age and Size on Toxicity of Zinc to Juvenile Brown Trout. Archives of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology. 69(1):123-131.
• Smith K, Ranville J, Lesher E, Diedrich D, McKnight D, Sofield R. 2014.Fractionation of Dissolved Organic Matter by Iron and Aluminum Oxides – Influence on Copper Toxicity to Ceriodaphnia dubia. Environmental Science and Technology.48:11934-11943.
• Landis WG, Sofield RM, and Yu MH. 2010. Introduction to Environmental Toxicology: Impacts of Chemicals Upon Ecological Systems. 4th Edition.
• Harper RM , Kantar C, and Honeyman BD. 2008. Binding of Pu (IV) to Galacturonic Acid and Extracellular Polymeric Substances (EPS) from Shewanella putrefaciens, Clostridium sp., and Pseudomonas fluorescens. Radiochimica acta. 96:753-762.
• Martins N, Lopes I, Harper R, Ross P, and Ribeiro R. 2007. Differential Resistance to Copper and Mine Drainage in Daphnia longispina: Relationship with Allozyme Genotypes. Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry. 26(9):1904-1909.

More Here: Sofield CV and Sofield Selected Works.