Dr. Tucker believes that research is a collaborative endeavor and has had collaborations in chemistry, biology, environmental science, exercise physiology, medicine, geography, pharmacy, and geology. Research topics span from watershed science and environmental toxicology to analytical method development to address measurements in human cancer and agricultural products. Students in my lab will learn a variety of techniques including solid-phase extraction, mass spectrometry, and environmental sampling.

Current Projects: (collaborators)

•       Quantitation of Contaminants in Fresh Water

•       Quantitation of PPCPs in wastewater efluent affected plants

•       Quantitation of pesticides in produce

•       Detection of pesticides by thermal desorption (Dr. Adriana Martinez)

•       Quantitation of metals in water using custom MOFs (Dr. Myron Jones)

•       Metabolic Effect of Statin Drug effects on Worms

•       Quantitation of SSRI and SNRI effects on Crawfish

•       Quantitation of PPCPs in Cancun (NIU Department of Geology's Dr. Megan Brown and Dr. Melissa Lenczewski)

I am always interested in recruiting independent, self-motivated, bright freshman and sophomore Chemistry and Biochemistry majors as well as majors from Environmental Science and Biology. Please reach out if you have an interest in the types of work that we are performing.

Listen to my radio interview with Dean Leonard from Spring 2025.