After receiving his master's degree from Stanford University, Professor Lion worked for two years with the U.S. Public Health Service on assignment to the Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Solid Waste Management Programs. He returned to Stanford to obtain his doctorate, continued there as a postdoctoral scholar, and then joined the Cornell faculty in 1981. He was a resident research fellow with the U.S. Air Force Engineering Services Center in 1988.
Professor Lion's research focuses on improving the understanding of processes that influence the fate and transport of pollutant compounds in both natural and engineered systems.Pollutant interfacial reactions constitute a unifying theme in research that has dealt with both toxic trace metal cations and nonionic organic compounds. In the case of toxic trace metals such as Cd, and Pb, Prof. Lion has evaluated the influence of the formation of microbial coatings (ie, biofilms) and bacterial extracellular polymers on metal adsorption from aqueous solution. This interdisciplinary research is being performed at Cornell in conjunction with Professors in Chemical Engineering (M.L. Shuler) and Microbiology (W.C. Ghiorse). Dr. Lion's research on organic pollutant compounds includes studies of: the sorption and transport of volatile organic chemicals (VOCs) in unsaturated porous media; of the effect of sorption on biodegradation of polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), of PAH desorption kinetics, and of the effect of colloidal solids and dissolved macromolecules on PAH transport in aquifers and estuaries.
Professor Lion routinely instructs an introductory (sophomore level) course in environmental engineering, "CEE 351 Environmental Quality Engineering," and the upper level (senior/graduate) course "CEE 653 Water Chemistry for Environmental Engineering." He is also an occasional instructor for the graduate course "CEE 656 Physical Chemical Processes" He has offered "CEE 309 Special Topics in Civil and Environmental Engineering" courses to undergraduates interested in receiving course credit for laboratory research. Professor Lion's research served as the basis for the creation of several of the experimental modules that are used in the class "CEE 453 Laboratory Research in Environmental Engineering." He was awarded the College of Engineering's Stephen and Marilyn Miles Excellence in Teaching Award in 2001.
