Leon van Paassen is an Associate Professor at Arizona State University (ASU) and senior investigator at the Engineering Research Center for Bio-mediated and Bio-inspired Geotechnics (CBBG). He obtained an MS degree in Engineering Geology and a PhD in Environmental Biotechnology from Delft University of Technology in The Netherlands. He has more than 20 years experience in research and industry on biological, chemical, and physical characterization of soils, biochemical reactive transport, foundation engineering and embankment design. Research projects include bio-based ground improvement for slope stabilization and liquefaction mitigation through microbial induced desaturation and precipitation processes. Within CBBG he leads the research thrust on Environmental Protection and Restoration, which includes projects on dust suppression and groundwater remediation of chlorinated solvents or heavy metals, nutrient removal from surface water and the development of microbial enhanced permeable reactive barriers. Through collaboration with industrial partners he developed several of these technologies from a proof-of-concept in the laboratory to field scale demonstration projects for a variety of geotechnical and geo-environmental engineering applications. He teaches courses on Geotechnical Engineering, Engineering Geology, Bio-based Geotechnical Engineering and Advanced Geotechnical Testing.

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