Jason Unrine, Ph.D.
Director
Research Interest and Expertise
Unrine joined the UK faculty in 2008 and is a professor and University Research Professor in the Department of Plant and Soil Sciences in the College of Agriculture, Martin-Gatton College of Agriculture, Food, and Environment. He has been engaged in environmental research for more than 25 years and focuses on the environmental chemistry and toxicology of trace elements, engineered nanomaterials, and disinfection byproducts in ecosystems, drinking water and wastewater.
In recent years, he has focused on community-based participatory research methods, which have been central to his research on drinking water disinfection byproducts (DBPs) in Eastern Kentucky. With funding from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS), Unrine is working with community partners in Martin and Letcher counties to study patterns of exposure to DBPs, which have been linked to urinary tract cancers and birth defects.
Unrine has served on the leadership of research centers supported by the NIEHS, National Science Foundation, and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
Academic Appointments
2022 - Present: Director, Kentucky Water Research InstituteÂ
2020 - Present:Â Professor, Department of Plant and Soil Sciences, College of Agriculture, Food and the Environment, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY.
2022 - Present: Lewis Honors Faculty, Lewis Honors College, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY
2019 - Present: University Research Professor, Office of the Vice President of Research, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY
2017 - 2020: Associate Professor, Department of Plant and Soil Sciences, College of Agriculture, Food and the Environment, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY.
2013 - 2017: Assistant Professor, Department of Plant and Soil Sciences, College of Agriculture, Food and the Environment, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY.
2008 - 2013: Assistant Research Professor, Department of Plant and Soil Sciences, College of Agriculture, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY.
