Dr. Mark Kram |
Dr. Kram is a leading environmental scientist and has been involved with some of the most innovative discoveries, inventions, and industry activities over the past 30 years. Dr. Kram served as a Senior Hydrogeologist and PI for innovative U.S. DoD assessment and remediation projects, and has taught related graduate level courses at the University of California at Santa Barbara (UCSB). He has authored articles, book chapters and national standards on the subject.
Dr. Kram is world renown for his work in the areas of sensor development and implementation, innovative GIS applications, dense non-aqueous phased liquid (DNAPL) chlorinated solvent assessment and management, expedited high resolution site characterization, vapor intrusion dynamics, mass flux based remediation design and assessment, monitoring well design and water sustainability, and holds several patents for hydrogeologic and chemical characterization tools and methods. Dr. Kram was instrumental in gaining approval for the use of direct push monitoring wells for long term groundwater monitoring and management, which has saved the government and private sector billions per year in assessment costs since the early 2000s. He has worked with colleagues to commercialize innovative automated vapor intrusion risk detection and response platforms that afford peace of mind and liability protection, as they do not suffer from the same criticisms associated with traditional sampling approaches.
Dr. Kram has managed assessment and remediation projects for the Navy, Marine Corps, DOE, and numerous private industry clients, has presented (by invitation) highly technical workshops on behalf of the USEPA, and has visited with many international entities developing new environmental programs, including the Chinese Environmental Delegation and AHLSUD Chile.
With respect to vapor intrusion, Dr. Kram’s seminal article entitled “Dynamic Subsurface Explosive Vapor Concentrations: Observations andImplications” resulted in an ASTM international conference on the subject (co-Chaired by Dr. Kram) and an ASTM International book entitled “Continuous Soil Gas Measurement: Worst Case Risk Parameters” (co-Edited by Dr. Kram). Dr. Kram's documented observations related to vapor intrusion are having a profound impact on regulatory activities, standards development efforts, and have been introduced in numerous legal cases. Through refinement, Dr. Kram and his colleagues have commercialized the first cost-competitive Cloud based platform for real-time vapor intrusion monitoring and response. This is the only monitoring system available for automatically preventing acute TCE exposure risks. Dr. Kram is the recipient of the National Ground Water Association’s prestigious Technology Award, the 2014 ASTM International D18 Editors Award, and serves as an expert witness on high-profile related legal cases. Dr. Kram earned his Ph.D. in Environmental Science and Management from UCSB, an M.S. degree in Geology from San Diego State University, and his bachelors degree in Chemistry from UCSB.