Mazzer, Paula

• Ph.D., Chemistry, Kent State University, Kent, OH

•  B.A., Biology, University of Delaware, Newark, DE

Forest fires can devastate large regions of wildland, endangering the lives of both humans and wildlife. Smoke particulates generated by fires, as well as charred material remaining after the fire, consist of a large mixture of semi-graphitic organic carbon compounds or structures, often collectively referred to as “black carbon.” Black carbon is very long-lived in the environment (“refractory”) and can be found in ocean or lake sediment cores or ice cores from glaciers centuries after major fire events.

Our question is this: What ecotoxicological efects may be caused by fresh runof from major wildland fires? We have several samples of biochar generated from diferent species of wood and under diferent conditions. We want to know if the dissolved black carbon generated by runof from fire events harms the surrounding environment. Initial research from summer 2024 demonstrated that biochar generated from diferent starting materials and diferent environmental conditions resulted in very diferent toxicity to our model aquatic organism, Daphnia magna. Summer 2025 studies will begin to explore the mechanisms of toxicity, using both enzymatic and toxicogenomic approaches, to help explain the diferences between biochar samples. During the 2025-2026 academic year, we plan to complete the initial phase of this project, leading to work on a publication in the summer of 2026.