Dr. Ashley Parks has a background in environmental chemistry and toxicology, including the environmental fate and effects of nanomaterials, sediment quality assessment, and contaminant bioavailability and bioaccumulation. Dr. Parks has planned and executed local and regional water quality monitoring programs and field sampling events involving both sediment and water collection for organic and inorganic contaminant analysis. She led an intercalibration study for more than ten toxicity testing laboratories and has experience conducting sediment and water column toxicity tests using standard methods, including Toxicity Identification Evaluation (TIE) methods. Dr. Parks is proficient in several analytical techniques and their sample preparation methods, including near infrared fluorescence spectroscopy (NIRF), graphite furnace atomic absorption spectroscopy (GFAA), inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectroscopy (ICP-AES), ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy (UV-Vis), radioisotope analysis (liquid scintillation counting and catalytic combustion of organic samples), and density gradient ultracentrifugation.