Rate My Professor Bruce Manning

Bruce Manning is Department Chair and Professor in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at San Francisco State University, where he has served since 1999. He earned a B.S. in Environmental Science from the University of Massachusetts in 1985 and a Ph.D. in Environmental Chemistry from the University of California, Davis in 1993. Following his doctorate, Manning conducted postdoctoral research at the USDA U.S. Salinity Laboratory in Riverside, California, and the University of California, Riverside. His research centers on analytical and environmental chemistry, investigating the origin, fate, transport, and remediation of inorganic contaminants in soil and groundwater environments. Manning's group focuses on redox-sensitive elements such as arsenic (As(III)/As(V)), chromium (Cr(III)/Cr(VI)), and selenium (Se(IV)/Se(VI)), employing techniques including ion chromatography coupled with atomic absorption or ICP-MS spectrometry, X-ray absorption spectroscopy (EXAFS/XANES), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and chemical modeling with PHREEQC and MINTEQ.

Manning's work includes development of sorbents like metal oxide-coated substrates, nanoscale zero-valent iron, and silver nanoparticles for removing contaminants such as Pb(II), Cd(II), As(V), Cr(VI), and Se(VI). He received the Research Corporation Cottrell College Science Award Fellowship from 2001 to 2005 and has secured funding from the National Science Foundation, USDA, and DuPont. Key publications include 'Arsenic(III) oxidation and arsenic(V) adsorption reactions on synthetic birnessite' (Environmental Science & Technology, 2002), 'Removal of arsenic(III) from groundwater by nano-scale zero-valent iron' (Environmental Science & Technology, 2005), 'Spectroscopic investigation of Cr(III)- and Cr(VI)-treated nanoscale zerovalent iron' (Environmental Science & Technology, 2007), and 'Reduction and immobilization of chromium(VI) by iron(II)-treated faujasite' (Journal of Hazardous Materials, 2010). His research has garnered over 6,490 citations. Manning teaches in the Chemistry program and mentors undergraduate and graduate students in environmental remediation and speciation analysis.