Graduated from W. H. Taft H. S. in San Antonio, TX in 2001 and achieved a Bachelors of Science in Civil Engineering from The University of Texas at Austin in 2004. I’m currently on track to complete my Masters degree in Environmental Engineering from The University of Texas at Austin in December 2006 and in June 2006 tied the knot to my high-school sweetheart, Tami Sjelin Moderow. Together we have two mutts, August and Houston, who consume most of my available free time. The four of us enjoy long walks in the woods and chasing bikers inside Walnut Creek Park. If I’m not with them then I might be playing soccer, basketball or throwing darts.

I investigated the feasibility of chlorobenzene degradation by zero−valent iron employed as an active capping material for contaminated sediments. The project goal was to utilize zero−valent iron as a permeable reactive capping material between the sediment and water interface for degradation of chlorobenzenes. The investigation began with batch reactors designed to determine the effective reduction of several chlorobenzene isomers and their preferred degradation pathway at different pH levels. Unfortunately, the experiments have revealed that although chlorobenzene reduction by zero−valent iron is thermodynamically favorable, less then 5 % reduction will occur within a residence time of 24 − 48 hrs under optimal conditions.