McNeill Research Group

Professor of Environmental Chemistry
ETH Zurich
Universitaetstrasse 16
CHN F 31.2
8092 Zurich, Switzerland
Phone: + 41 44 632 47 55

E-mail: kris.mcneill@env.ethz.ch
Website: mcneill-group.org

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BIOGRAPHICAL
Birthdate: 26 June 1970
Birthplace: Tucson, AZ, USA

EDUCATION AND POSTDOCTORAL TRAINING
Postdoctoral Associate, 1997 - 1999
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA

• Project Title: Effect of Methane Cycling in Lakes on the Fate of Organic Pollutants

• Advisor: Professor Philip M. Gschwend

Ph.D., Chemistry, 1992 - 1997
University of California, Berkeley, CA

• Thesis Title: Mechanistic Studies of beta-Methyl Elimination at Ruthenium(II) and the Reduction of Nitric Oxide by Zirconium(II)

• Thesis Advisors: Professors Robert G. Bergman and Richard A. Andersen

B. A., Chemistry, 1988 - 1992
Reed College, Portland, OR

• Thesis Title: Dimethylbipyrazinium and Chromium(II): Experimental and Theoretical Studies

• Thesis Advisor: Professor Thomas G. Dunne

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

Primary appointments
Professor of Environmental Chemistry (2009 - present)
ETH Zurich, Switzerland

Associate Professor of Chemistry (2006 - 2009)
University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, USA
 

Assistant Professor of Chemistry (2000 - 2006)
University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, USA

 

Other appointments
Member of the Graduate Faculty in Water Resources Science (2001 - 2009)
University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, USA

Visiting Professor (2007)
Stanford University, USA

SELECTED HONORS
ETH Golden Owl teaching award (2 times; 2018, 2022) • Publons Top Reviewer for Environment/Ecology (2018) • AAAS Fellow (2017) • Kappe Lecturer (inaugural), Penn State (2017) •  Super Reviewer Award, Environmental Science & Technology (2015) •  Erudite Scholar-in-Residence, Mahatma Gandhi University, Kottayam, Kerala, India (2012) • Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry (2011) • University of Minnesota Academy of Distinguished Teachers (2008) • Morse-Alumni Award for Outstanding Contributions to Undergraduate Education, Univ. Minnesota (2008) • Excellence in Review Award, Environmental Science & Technology (2007) • McKnight Land-Grant Professorship, Univ. Minnesota (2004-2006) • Outstanding Graduate Student Instructor Award, Univ. of Calif., Berkeley (1993).

 

RESEARCH INTERESTS
Mechanisms of chemical reactions in aquatic environments:
• Photochemistry and the sulfur cycle

• Photochemical production of reactive oxygen species
• Emerging contaminant degradation
• Photochemistry of proteins, peptides and amino acids
• Biodegradable polymers

PUBLICATIONS
Link to Google Scholar

BIOGRAPHY
Kris McNeill received his B.A. in Chemistry from Reed College (Portland, Oregon) in 1992 and his Ph.D. in Chemistry from the University of California, Berkeley in 1997.  At Berkeley, he was co-advised by Professors Robert Bergman and Richard Andersen. Following his PhD, he switched his research focus from organometallic chemistry to environmental chemistry. He was a postdoctoral researcher at MIT from 1997 to 1999 with Prof. Philip Gschwend in the department of Civil and Environmental Engineering. McNeill began his independent career as a faculty member at the University of Minnesota in the Department of Chemistry, holding ranks of Assistant Professor (2000-2006) and Associate Professor (2007-2009). In 2009, Kris McNeill joined the faculty of ETH Zurich, where he continues to apply physical organic chemistry to the study of environmental processes.