Grants per year
Personal profile
Research Interests
Professor Gray's areas of expertise are environmental catalysis and physicochemical processes in natural and engineered environmental systems with particular focus on energy and urban sustainability applications. She studies the synthesis, characterization and performance of photo-active materials, principally TiO2-based nanocomposites for solar fuel production, resource recovery and water/air treatment. Work in her group also involves the investigation of chemical fate in natural systems. She probes the role of periphyton (algal biofilms) in contaminant accumulation in stream sediments and in denitrification in wetlands. She studies the ways in which detailed understanding of ecological relationships (periphyton structure, dynamic food web descriptions) improves our ability to predict chemical transfer (bioaccumulation) in aquatic systems and ultimately human health risks. Application of this research is important in efforts to restore critical ecosystems (Great Lakes), to make ecological forecasts in the face of climate change and to employ ecosystem function for environmental protection (treatment wetlands). She is also studying the unintended ecotoxicological impacts of nanomaterial mixtures in aquatic systems and under light illumination. Recent work entails the adaptive and resilient design of urban systems to incorporate coupled ecological processes in response to climate change and demographic shifts.
Expertise related to UN Sustainable Development Goals
In 2015, UN member states agreed to 17 global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure prosperity for all. This person’s work contributes towards the following SDG(s):
Education/Academic qualification
Geography and Environmental Engineering, PhD, Johns Hopkins University
… → 1988
Civil Engineering, MS, University of Miami
… → 1983
Biology, Minor Biochemistry, BA, Northwestern University
… → 1978
Research interests keywords
- Aquatic chemistry
- Catalysis
- Ecotoxicology
- Emissions treatment technologies
- Environmental chemistry
- Treatment technology
- Wetland biogeochemistry
Fingerprint
- 1 Similar Profiles
Collaborations and top research areas from the last five years
-
HDR DSC: Collaborative Research: The Metropolitan Chicago Data Science Corps (MCDC): Learning from Data to Support Communities
van der Lee, S., Birkett, M. A., Goldberg, B. B., Schanzenbach, D. W., Amaral, L. A. N., Amato, K. R., Blomberg Stathopoulos, A. I., Brown, C. H., Drane, D. L., Dunn, J. B., Gray, K. A., Hambleton, J. P., Hammond, K. J., Hedges, L. V., Horton, D. E., Kuyper, A. M., Linna Jr., D. W., Miller, W. M., Packman, A., Pah, A. R., Papachristos, A. V., Phillips II, G., Rogers, J. M., Van Wart, S. J., Voigt, R., Wells, G. & Youn, H.
9/1/21 → 8/31/24
Project: Research project
-
Designing Sustainable & Just Communities: Developing an undergraduate curriculum around innovation, climate action and social justice
Gray, K. A., Blomberg Stathopoulos, A. I., Buscarnera, G., Corr, D. J., Cusatis, G., Durango-Cohen, P. L., Hambleton, J. P., Rotta Loria, A. & Wells, G.
National Collegiate Inventors and Innovators Alliance, Inc.
6/30/21 → 12/31/24
Project: Research project
-
REU Supplement for LEAP-HI: Catalyzing Resilient Urban Infrastructure Systems: Integrating the Natural and Built Environments
8/1/19 → 7/31/24
Project: Research project
-
LEAP-HI: Catalyzing Resilient Urban Infrastructure Systems: Integrating the Natural and Built Environments
8/1/19 → 7/31/24
Project: Research project
-
Northwestern University/Art Institute of Chicago Center for Scientific Studies in the Arts (NU-ACCESS)
Katsaggelos, A. K., Walton, M. S., Luijten, E., Cossairt, O. S., Dunand, D. C., Gray, K. A., Olvera de la Cruz, M. & Shull, K. R.
9/1/18 → 8/31/23
Project: Research project
-
Creating anti-viral high-touch surfaces using photocatalytic transparent films
Fu, H., Yaniv, V., Betzalel, Y., Mamane, H. & Gray, K. A., May 2023, In: Chemosphere. 323, 138280.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
-
Effect of molecular structure on the adsorption behavior of sulfanilamide antibiotics on crumpled graphene balls
Fu, H. & Gray, K. A., Aug 15 2023, In: Water Research. 242, 120177.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
-
Metal oxide encapsulated by 3D graphene oxide creates a nanocomposite with enhanced organic adsorption in aqueous solution
Fu, H., Cai, H. & Gray, K. A., Feb 15 2023, In: Journal of Hazardous Materials. 444, 130340.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
4 Scopus citations -
Valorization of Lignin under Mild Conditions: Biorefining Flavonoids and Lignin Nanoparticles
Obrzut, N., Carnelli, P. F. F., Brauer, S., Notestein, J. M., Wells, G. F. & Gray, K. A., Jan 16 2023, In: ACS Sustainable Chemistry and Engineering. 11, 2, p. 491-501 11 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
-
New insights into the deterioration of TiO2 based oil paints: the effects of illumination conditions and surface interactions
Schmitt, T., Rosi, F., Mosconi, E., Shull, K., Fantacci, S., Miliani, C. & Gray, K., Dec 2022, In: Heritage Science. 10, 1, 99.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open Access3 Scopus citations
Datasets
-
New insights into the deterioration of TiO2 based oil paints: the effects of illumination conditions and surface interactions
Schmitt, T. (Creator), Rosi, F. (Creator), Mosconi, E. (Creator), Shull, K. R. (Creator), Fantacci, S. (Creator), Miliani, C. (Creator) & Gray, K. A. (Creator), figshare, 2022
DOI: 10.6084/m9.figshare.c.6069732.v1, https://springernature.figshare.com/collections/New_insights_into_the_deterioration_of_TiO2_based_oil_paints_the_effects_of_illumination_conditions_and_surface_interactions/6069732/1
Dataset
-
Dataset for: Novel Physics Informed-Neural Networks for Estimation of Hydraulic Conductivity of Green Infrastructure as a Performance Metric by Solving Richards-Richardson PDE
Elkhadrawi, M. (Creator), Ng, C. (Creator), Bain, D. J. (Creator), Sargent, E. E. (Creator), Stearsman, E. V. (Creator), Gray, K. A. (Creator) & Akcakaya, M. (Creator), ZENODO, Jul 21 2023
DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.8173194, https://zenodo.org/record/8173194
Dataset