Dr. Philip Bennett teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in aqueous geochemistry, hydrogeology, and geomicrobiology. Dr. Bennett's research is primarily in the areas of microbial geochemistry, geomicrobiology, and geochemical kinetics. He is particularly interested in the link between microbes and minerals, and examining the role of minerals and mineral-bound nutrients in subsurface microbial ecology and the role of microbes in rock weathering.

Areas of Expertise

Aqueous geochemistry, geomicrobiology, environmental and microbial geochemistry, hydrogeology


Evelyn and Moses E. Knebel Distinguished Teaching Award - The University of Texas (2012)

Henry Darcy Distinguished Lecturer - National Ground Water Association (1997)

Faculty Excellence Award - Houston Oil and Minerals Corporation (1994)

Fellow - Geological Society of America (1994)

Jackson Centennial Teaching Fellowship in Geological Sciences - The University of Texas at Austin (1993)

Syracuse University Graduate School Marshall - Syracuse University (1989)

NSF Review Panel, Nanotechnology in Research and Technology, (2005)

NRC Ad Hoc Committee , Geology and Public Health, (2004 - 2005)

NIEHS Review Panel, (2003)

NSF Review Panel, EAR-GE program, (1999 - 2003)

NSF Review Panel, Life in Extreme Environments program, (1999)

Associate Editor, J. Hydrology, (1997)

Associate Editor, GSA Bulletin, (1995)

Editorial Board, Ground Water, (1995 - 2003)

Editorial Board, Geology, (1994 - 1997)

to be entered,

Graduate Students

Eugenio Felipe U Santillan, Ph.D., expected 2013

Lindsey A Sydow, M.S., expected 2013

John G Warden, Ph.D., expected 2015

Aaron A Jones, Ph.D., expected 2016

Kim Gilbert

Kim Meyers


Role of microorganisms in karstification, Society for General Microbiology, (2005)

Methods for Investigating Microbial-Mineral Interactions, Clay Mineral Society Workshop, (2004)

, William Smith Conference, The Geological Society, (2002)

, The International Symposium on Groundwater Contamination, Tokyo, Japan (2000)

, Virginia Tech etc., (2000)

, Swiss Federal Institute for Environmental Science and Technology, (1999)

, XIVth Intl. Symposium on Environmental Biogeochemistry, (1999)

, University of Wisconsin, (1999)

Modeling Flow in Permeable Materials, Gordon Research Conference, (1998)

Bacterially mediated silicate diagenesis, Goldschmidt Conference, Toulouse France, (1998)

, University of New Mexico, (1998)

, Duke University, (1996)

Contaminant Organic Geochemistry, GSA Annual Meeting, (1995)

Geologic significance of microbial processes, GSA Annual Meeting, (1994)

, University of Michigan, (1992)

, Southern Methodist University, (1992)

, Texas A&M University, (1991)

, IAH Water-2000, Cape Town, South Africa

GEO 387E Environmental Organic Geochemistry (Graduate)

GEO 391 Geomicrobiology (Graduate)

GEO 346C Introduction to Physical and Chemical Hydrology (Undergraduate)

GEO 476M, GEO 387C Chemical Hydrogeology (Grad-Undergrad Combined)

GEO 376L, GEO 382C Summer Field Methods in Hydrogeology (Grad-Undergrad Combined)

RESEARCH

Tatio Geyser Complex