Hi! I’m Meghanne, a 4th year PhD student in Analytical Chemistry. I’ve always been a big fan of the great outdoors and this has led me to pursue a career in protecting the environment and the people who live in it! My studies have been focused on improving how we measure and remediate environmental contaminants so that ultimately less people are affected by toxins in their environment. My main research projects have been on rapid analysis of lead in homes (paint, dust, soil, and drinking water) and screening for perfluoro alkyl substances (PFAS) in drinking water.
Highlighted Contributions
- Helped with the installation of the 9S particle accelerator
- Developed a lead (Pb) screening kit that tests dust, paint, soil, and water, and screened over 500 homes in St Joseph County for Pb
- Developed an inexpensive and easy to use water filter for faster analysis of lead and PFAS in drinking water
- Developed a method for analyzing PFAS in fish with particle induced gamma ray emission (PIGE) spectroscopy
Project Links
Publications:
- Ringwald, P., Chapin, C., Iceman, C., Hayes, S., Tighe, M.E., Sisk, M., Peaslee, G.F., Peller, J., Wells, E.M. Characterization and within-site variation of environmental metal concentrations around a contaminated site using a community-engaged approach. Chemosphere, 272, 129915, (2021).
- Peaslee, G.F., Wilkinson, J.T., McGuinness, S.R., Tighe, M., Casterisano, N., Lee, S., Gonzales, A., Roddy, M., Mills, S., Mitchell, K. Another Pathway for Firefighter Exposure to Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances: Firefighter Textiles. Environmental Science & Technology Letters, 7 (8), 594–599 (2020).
- Tighe, M., Bielski, M., Wilson, M., Ruscio-Atkinson, G., Peaslee, G.F., Lieberman, M. A Sensitive XRF Screening Method for Lead in Drinking Water. Analytical Chemistry, 92 (7), 4949-4953 (2020).
- Tighe, M., Knaub, C., Sisk, M., Ngai, M., Lieberman, M., Peaslee, G.F., Beidinger, H. Validation of a screening kit to identify environmental lead hazards. Environmental Research, 181, (2020).
- Tighe, M., Beidinger, H., Knaub, C., Sisk, M., Peaslee, G.F., Lieberman, M. Risky Bismuth: Distinguishing Between Lead Contamination Sources in Soils. Chemosphere, 234, 297-301 (2019).
- Beidinger-Burnett, H., Knaub, C., Ngai, M., Sawyer, K., Sisk, M., Lieberman, M., Tighe, M., & Peaslee, G. Development of a scaleable, low-cost home lead test-kit: a blinded case-control study. The Lancet Global Health,(2019).
- McGuinness, S.R., Wilkinson, J.T., Tighe, M.E., Majumdar, A., Mulder, B., Stech, E., Robertson, D., Peaslee, G.F. Development of the St. Andre Ion Beam Analysis Facility at Notre Dame. AIP Conference Proceedings, 2160, 050025 (2019).
- Tighe, M.E., Libby, D.K., Dorn, S.K., Hosmer, J.R. and Peaslee, G.F. A Survey of Metals Found in Tattoo Inks. Journal of Environmental Protection, 8, 1243-1253 (2017).
- Miller, G., Tighe, M., Peaslee, G., Peña, K. and Gearhart, J. Toys, Décor, and More: Evidence of Hazardous Electronic Waste Recycled into New Consumer Products. Journal of Environmental Protection, 7, 341-350 (2016).