Faculty and Staff

Donald S. Gamble

Chemistry
Adjunct Professor
Phone: 902.667.1974
Email: dgamble@ns.sympatico.ca

Research Interests:
Predictive chemical calculations for hydrophobic molecules and metal ions in complicated irregular mixtures

Alternate Address:
7412 Route 336 Northport
Cumberland County, NS, B0E 1E0

Biographical Sketch

B.Sc. (Dalhousie University)
M.Sc. (Dalhousie University)
Ph.D. (State University of New York at Buffalo)

Donald Gamble is a native of Amherst Nova Scotia, and began studying high school chemistry there. He is married and has a son and two daughters. He has studied and worked in four Canadian Provinces and one American State, but is now back in Nova Scotia. He has worked in all three sectors of industry, government and university, publishing an integrated mix of theory and experiment. His publications have produced a number of original solutions to environmental chemistry problems at the basic science level. Supervision has also been provided for a number of graduate students who have gone on to successful careers.  He continues a lifetime membership in the Chemical Institute of Canada, having held offices at the local section level and national level, including chairmanship of the Environment Division. He continues to identify environmental problems in need of basic and applied chemical research.

Research Interests

Research interests focus on predictive chemical calculations for hydrophobic molecules and metal ions in complicated irregular mixtures. The reason is that this is the area of pure science that is required for making possible, some solutions to practical environmental problems. Solutions to some industrial or biological problems might also be opened up. Some particular research issues in irregular mixtures are of interest because they are necessary support for the focus. These include chemical stoichiometry, sorption and reactions at solution - solid interfaces, intraparticle diffusion, and the resulting kinetics of approach to equilibrium and irreversible final states. Practical examples include pesticides, hydrocarbons, and heavy metals in soils and sediments.

Recognitions/Awards 

  1. Awarded the Union Carbide Fellowship in Chemistry, for doctoral thesis research in physical chemistry. 1963 - 1964.
  2. Fellow of the Chemical Institute of Canada.
  3. Visiting Professor, Laboratoire de Chimie Physique A,  Universite de Bordeaux, Talence France.  May 1 - 30, 1986.
  4. Visiting Scientist, Department of Chemistry. University of Calgary, July 1997 to 1999.
  5. Recognition for the contribution to Environmental Chemistry. The Environment Division of the  Chemical Institute of Canada. 2013.

Publications

  1. Owen H. Wheeler and Donald S. Gamble. Saponification of Methyl ‑  Substituted‑Butyrolactones. J. Organic Chem. 26, 3221 (1961).
  2. Donald S. Gamble, Jacob A. Marinsky and Joel P. Guptill. Mean molal activity coefficient ratios of mixed Na+ ‑ K+  solutions of p‑toluene and polystyrene sulphonates. Can. J. Chem. 44, 2181 (1966).
  3. Donald S. Gamble. Solubility of p‑dimethylaminobenzaldehyde in aqueous solutions of HCl and H2SO4 at 25.00E C. Can. J. Chem. 45,  2805 (1967). 
  4. Donald S. Gamble and I. Hoffman. Photometric analysis of trace amounts of hydrazine with p‑dimethylamonobenzaldehyde. Chemical equilibria. Can. J. Chem. 45, 2813 (1967). 
  5. Donald S. Gamble. Photometric analysis of trace amounts of hydrazine with p‑dimethylaminobenzaldehyde. Chemical equilibria. Part II. Can. J. Chem. 46, 1365 (1968).
  6. D. Siminovitch, W. L. Ball, R. Desjardin, and D. S. Gamble. Use of protein ‑ based foams to protect plants against frost. Can. J. Plant Sci. 47, 11 (1967). 
  7. Peter Voisey and Donald S. Gamble. Trap to remove moisture from gases. Rev. Scientific Instruments. 39, 1371 (1968).
  8. Donald S. Gamble. Titration curves of fulvic acid: the analytical chemistry of a weak acid polyelectrolyte. Can. J. Chem. 48, 2662 (1970)
  9. Donald S. Gamble, M. Schnitzer and I. Hoffman. Cu++ ‑ fulvic acid chelation equilibriin 0.1 m KCl at 25.0E C. Can. J. Chem. 48, 3197 (1970).
  10. Donald S. Gamble. Potentiometric titration of fulvic acid: equivalence point calculations and acidic functional groups. Can. J. Chem. 50, 2680 (1972).
  11. Donald S. Gamble. Peat humic materials: a review of the chemistry. Proceedings of the symposium "Peat Moss in Canada". University of Sherbrooke, Quebec. April 24 ‑ 25, (1972).
  12. Donald S. Gamble. Peat humic materials: a review of the chemistry. Proceedings of the symposium "Peat Moss in Canada". University of Sherbrooke, Quebec. April 24 ‑ 25, (1972).
  13. Donald S. Gamble and Morris Schnitzer. The chemistry of fulvic acid and its reactions with  metal ions. In "Trace Metals and Metal ‑ Organic Interactions in Natural Waters". Ann Arbor Science Publishers, Inc., Philip C. Singer, Ed. (1973).
  14. Donald S. Gamble. Na+ and K+ binding by fulvic acid. Can. J. Chem. 51, 3217 (1973).
  15. C. H. Langford and Donald S. Gamble. Dynamics of interaction of cations and fulvic acid. Proceedings of the International Conference on Transport of Persistent Chemicals. In "Aquatic Ecosystems". Ottawa, Ontario (1974).
  16. Donald S. Gamble, Cooper H. Langford, and James P. K. Tong. The structure and equilibria of a manganese(II) complex of fulvic acid studied by ion exchange and NMR. Can. J. Chem. 54, 1239 (1976).
  17. D. S. Gamble, M. Schnitzer, and D. S. Skinner. Mn(II) ‑ fulvic acid complexing equilibrium measurements by electron spin resonance spectroscopy. Can. J. Soil Sci. 57, 47 (1977).
  18. J. A. McKeague, G. J. Ross, and D. S. Gamble. Properties, criteria of classification, and concepts of genesis of podzolic soils in Canada. Proceedings, "Quaternery Soils Symposium", York University, Toronto, Ontario. May 21 ‑ 23,  (1976).
  19. Jan C. T. Kwak, R. W. P. Nelson and D. S. Gamble. Ultrafiltration of fulvic acid and humic acids. A comparison of stirred cell and hollow fiber techniques. Geochim. et Cosmochim. Acta. 41, 993 (1977).
  20. R. D. Burch, C. H. Langford, and D. S. Gamble. Methods for the comparison of fulvic acid samples: the effects of origin and concentration on acidic properties. Can. J. Chem. 56, 1196 (1978).
  21. D. S. Gamble, A. W. Underdown and C. H. Langford. Theoretical potentiometric and spectrophotometric treatment of the copper(II) titration of ligand sites on a soluble soil organic fraction (fulvic acid). Anal. Chem. 52, 1901 (1980).
  22. D. S. Gamble. Potentiometric measurements of H+ concentrations for aluminum orthophosphate titration curves. Can. J. Chem. 58, 2105 (1980).
  23. Donald S. Gamble, Jacob A. Marinsky and Cooper H. Langford Humic ‑ trace metal ion equilibria in natural waters. A report submitted to Commission V6 On Equilibrium Data Analytical Chemistry Division of the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry. December, (1980).
  24. Donald S. Gamble. Orthophosphoric acid: calculation of concentration for the first ionization equilibrium at 25.0E C. Can. J. Chem. 59, 1630 (1981).
  25. Alan W. Underdown, Cooper H. Langford, and Donald S. Gamble.  The fluorescence and visible absorbence of Cu(II) and Mn(II) complexes of fulvic acid: the effect of metal ion loading. Can. J. Soil Sci. 61, 469 (1981).
  26. Alan W. Underdown, Cooper H. Langford, and Donald S. Gamble.  Light scattering of a polydisperse fulvic acid. Anal. Chem. 53, 2139 (1981).
  27. Cooper H. Langford, Donald S. Gamble, Alan W. Underdown, and Stephen Lee. Interaction of metal ions with a well characterized fulvic acid. Chapter 11 In, "Aquatic and Terrestrial Humic Materials". Ann Arbor Science Publishers,  Ann Arbor, Michigan. Eds., R. F. Christman and E. T. Gjessing. 219 ‑ 237 (1983).
  28. Donald S. Gamble, M. Schnitzer, H. Kerndorf, and C. H. Langford. Multiple metal ion exchange equilibrium with humic acid. Geochim. et Cosmochim. Acta. 47, 1311 (1983).
  29. Donald S. Gamble, Shahamat U. Khan and Oswald S. Tee. Atrazine hydrolysis. Part 1 Proton catalysis at 25 C. Pestic. Sci. 14, 537 (1983).
  30. Shahamat U. Khan and Donald S. Gamble. Ultraviolet irradiation of an aqueous solution of prometryn in the presence of humic materials. J. Agric. and Food Chem. 31, 1099 (1983).
  31. D. S. Gamble, J. A. Marinsky, and C. H. Langford. Humic ‑ trace metal ion equilibria in natural waters: In, "Ion Exchange and Solvent Extraction". V 8. Ed., J. A. Marinsky. Marcel Dekker. New York. (1984).
  32. Donald S. Gamble, Cooper H. Langford and Alan W. Underdown. The interrelationship of aggregation and cation binding of fulvic acid. pp 349 ‑ 356. In, "Complexation of Trace Metals in Natural Waters". Eds., C. J. M. Kramer and J. C. Duinker. ISBN 90 2973 ‑ 4. Martinus Nijhoff/Dr. Junk Publishers, the Hague/Boston/Lancaster. Printed in the Netherlands. (1984).32.
  33. Cooper H. Langford and Donald S. Gamble. Kinetic spectroscopy of metal fulvic acid complexes. In, "Complexation of Trace Metals in Natural Waters". Eds., C. J. M. Kramer and J. C. Duinker. ISBN 90 ‑ 247 ‑ 2973 ‑ 4. Martinus Nijhoff/Dr. Junk Publishers, the Hague/Boston/Lancaster. Printed in the Netherlands. (1984).34.
  34. Donald S. Gamble, Cooper H. Langford and Alan W. Underdown.  Light scattering measurments of Cu(II) ‑ fulvic acid complexing: The interdependence of apparent complexing capacity and aggregation. Org. Geochem. 8, 35 (1985).
  35. Alan W. Underdown, Cooper H. Langford and Donald S. Gamble. Light scattering studies of the relationship between cation binding and aggregation of a fulvic acid. Eniron. Sci. & Technol. 19, 132 (1985).
  36. Donald S. Gamble and Shahamat U. Khan. Atrazine hydrolysis in soils: Catalysis by the acidic functional groups of fulvic acid. Can. J. Soil Sci. 65, 435 (1985).
  37. Mohammed I. Haniff, Raymond H. Zienius, Copper H. Langford and Donald S. Gamble. The solution phase complexing of atrazine by fulvic acid: Equilibria at 25 C. J. Environ. Sci. Health, B20(2), 215 ‑ 262 (1985).
  38. D. S. Gamble. Interactions between natural organic polymers and metals in soil and freshwater systems: Equilibria. In, "The Importance of Chemical 'Speciation' in Environmental Processes". Eds., M. Bernhard, F. E. Brinckman, and P. J. Sadler. pp 217 ­236. Dahlem Konferenzen. Springer ‑ Verlag  Berlin, Heidelberg (1986).
  39. Donald S. Gamble, Mohammed I. Haniff and Raymond H. Zienius.  Solution phase complexing of atrazine by fulvic acid: A batch ultrafiltration technique. Anal. Chem. 58, 727 (1986).
  40. Donald S. Gamble, Mohammed I. Haniff and Raymond H. Zienius.  Solution phase complexing of atrazine by fulvic acid: A theoretical comparison of ultrafiltration methods. Anal. Chem. 58, 732 (1986).
  41. Valentino Tramonti, Raymond H. Zienius and Donald S. Gamble.  Solution phase interactions of lindane with fulvic acid: Effect of solution pH and ionic strength. Intern. J. Environ. Anal. Chem. 24, 203 (1986).
  42. Donald S. Gamble and Shahamat U. Khan. Atrazine hydrolysis in aqueous suspensions of humic acid at 25.0 C. Can. J. Chem. 66, 2605 (1988).
  43. Donald S. Gamble and Cooper H. Langford. Complexing equilibria in mixed ligand systems: Tests of theory with computer simulations. Environ. Sci. & Technol. 22, 1325 (1988).
  44. Luis E. Sojo, Donald S. Gamble, Cooper H. Langford and Raymond H. Zienius. The reactions of paraquat and divalent metal ions with humic acid: Factors influencing stoichiometry. J. Environ. Sci. Health. B24(6), 619 (1989).
  45. Donald S. Gamble. Titrations of organic soils with standard base: Solubility of ionizable functional groups at 25 C. Can. J. Soil Sci. 69, 313 (1989).
  46. G. J. Ross, R. A. Cline, and Donald S. Gamble. Potassium exchange and fixation in some Southern Ontario soils. Can. J. Soil Sci. 69, 649 (1989).
  47. Donald S. Gamble and Shahamat U. Khan. Atrazine in organic soil: Chemical speciation during heterogeneous catalysis. J. Agric. Food Chem. 38, 297 ‑ 308 (1990).
  48. Zhen‑di Wang, Donald S. Gamble and Cooper H. Langford. Interaction of atrazine with Laurentian fulvic acid: binding and hydrolysis. Analytica Chimica Acta 232, 181 (1990).
  49. Zhendi Wang, Donald S. Gamble and Cooper H. Langford. Interaction of atrazine with Laurentian humic acid. Analytica  Chimica Acta 244, 135 (1991).
  50. Donald S. Gamble and L. Ali Ismaily. Atrazine in mineral soil: the analytical chemistry of speciation. Can. J. Chem. 70, 1590 ‑ 1596  (1992).
  51. Donald S. Gamble and Shahamat U. Khan. Atrazine in mineral soil: chemical species and catalysed hydrolysis. Can. J. Chem. 70, 1597 (1992).
  52. Jinhe Li, Donald S. Gamble, Bhuvan C. Pant and Cooper H. Langford. Interaction of lindane with Laurentian fulvic acid: a complexation model. Environ. Technol. 13, 739 (1992).
  53. Glen F. R. Gilchrist, Donald S. Gamble, Hideomi Kodama, and Shamat U. Khan. Atrazine interactions with clay minerals: Kinetics and equilibria of sorption. J. Agric. Food Chem. 41, 1748 ‑ 1755 (1993).
  54. Milan Ihnat, Donald S. Gamble and Glen F. R. Gilchrist. Determination of trace element levels in natural fresh water by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. Intern. J. Environ. Anal. Chem. 53, 63 ‑ 78 (1993).
  55. Donald S. Gamble, Cooper H. Langford, and G. R. Barrie Webster. Interactions of pesticides and metal ions with soils: Unifying concepts. Reviews of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology. 135, 63 ‑ 91. (1994).56.
  56. Edward Topp, Donald Gutzman, Bernard Bourgoin, Jacques Millette and Donald Gamble. Rapid mineralization of the herbicide atrazine in alluvial sediments and enriched cultures. Environ. Toxicol. & Chem. 14, 743 ‑ 747 (1995).
  57. M. T. Lam, D. S. Gamble, C. L. Chakrabarti and A. L. Ismaily. On ‑ line micro extraction of Zn(II) and Cd(II) in soil slurries: A chemical speciation method. Intern. J. Environ. Anal. Chem. 64, 217 ‑ 231 (1996).
  58. C. M. Monreal, H. Dinel, M. Schnitzer and D. S. Gamble. Impact of carbon sequestration on indicators of soil quality as influenced by management in sustainable agriculture. Advances in Soil Sci. (1996).
  59. Jinhe Li, Cooper H. Langford and Donald S. Gamble. Atrazine sorption by a mineral soil: Processes of labile and nonlabile uptake. J. Agric. Food Chem. 44, 3672 ‑ 3679 (1996)
  60. Jinhe Li, Cooper H. Langford and Donald S. Gamble. Atrazine sorption by a mineral soil: The effects of size fractions and temperature. J. Agric. Food Chem. 44, 3680 ‑ 3684 (1996).
  61. Donald W. Gutzman, Donald S. Gamble and Jacques Millette.  Thermodynamic and kinetic behaviour of free and bound toxins: Atrazine and metolachlor interactions with aquatic sediments. Proceedings, Exotox Workshop. Winnipeg, Manitoba. June 16 ‑ 19. (1996).
  62. Luis E. Sojo, Donald S. Gamble, and Donald W. Gutzman. Sorption and bound residue formation of linuron,  methylparathion, and metolachlor by carrot tissues: Kinstics by on line microextraction. J. Agric. Food Chem. 45, 3634 ‑ 3641 (1997).
  63. Donald S. Gamble. Pesticide ‑ soil interaction research for the behavior of chlorothalonil and its metabolite SDS ‑ 3701 in soil. Final Report, submitted to Ricerca Inc. of Painesville Ohio September 15, 1998.
  64. Li, J. S.O. Prasher. R.S. Clemente, W.D. Reynolds, W.N. Smith, D.S. Gamble, E. Topp, C.H.  Langford,  and  F.  Salehi.  Modeling  the sorption  behavior  of  atrazine  on  intact soil columns. Journal of Irrigation and Drainage Engineering. 125(4), 212 ‑ 222 (1999).
  65. Donald S. Gamble, Aldo G. Bruccoleri, Elspeth Lindesay, GregoryA. Leyes and Cooper H Langford. Chlorothalonil  in  a quartz sand soil:  Speciation and kinetics. Environ. Sci. Technol. 34, 120 ‑ 124 (2000).
  66. Donald S. Gamble, Aldo Bruccoleri, Elspeth Lindsay, Cooper H. Langford and GregoryA. Leyes. Chlorothalonil in a quartz sand soil: Wetting effects on sorption capacityand bound residue. Environ. Sci. Technol. 34, 125 ‑ 129 (2000).
  67. R. Sha=ato, E. Buncel, D. S. Gamble and G. W. vanLoon.  Kinetics and equilibria of Metribuzin sorption on model soil components. Can. J. Soil Sci. 80: 301B307 (2000).
  68. onald S. Gamble, Elspeth Lindsay, Aldo G. Bruccoleri, cooper H. Langford, and Gregory Leyes. Chlorothalonil And Its 4‑Hydroxy Derivative In Simple Quartz Sand Soils: A Comparison Of Sorption Processes. Environ. Sci. Technol. 35, 2375 ‑ 2380 (2001).
  69. Donald S. Gamble, Cooper H. Langford, and Aldo G. Bruccoleri. Chemical stoichiometry and molecular level mechanisms as support for future predictive engineering. Chapter 6 In, Eds. I. V. Perminova, N. Herkorn, and P. Baveye. Use of humic substances to remediate polluted environments: From theory to practice. NATO Science Series. Kluwer Academic Publisher. Dordrecht. (2005).
  70. Donald S. Gamble and Marc Lamoureux.  Analytical chemical methods for determining reaction mechanisms in soils and sediments. Department  of  Chemistry, Saint Mary=s University. Halifax Nova Scotia B3H 3C3. Refereed proceedings, EnviroAnalysis 2006, The 6th Biennial Conference on  Monitoring  and  Measurement  of the Environment Toronto, Canada from May 15‑17, (2006).
  71. Donald  S.  Gamble.  Atrazine  Sorption  kinetics  in  a characterized  soil:  Predictive  calculations. Environ. Sci. Technol. 42, 1537 ‑ 1541 (2008).
  72. Donald S. Gamble. Herbicide sorption by immersed soils: Stoichiometry and the law of mass action in support of predictive kinetics. Environ. Sci. Technol. 43(6), 1930 ‑ 1934 (2009).
  73. D. S. Gamble, G. R. Barrie Webster, Marc Lamoureux, Quantitative Prediction Of Atrazine Sorption In A Manitoba Soil Using Conventional Chemical Kinetics Instead Of  Empirical Parameters. J. Phys. Chem. C 2010, 114, 20055‑20061. Internet.
  74. Donald S. Gamble, G. R. Barrie Webster, and Marc Lamoureux. Pesticide reaction mechanism in soil: an interactive spreadsheet model based on conventional chemical kinetics.  J. Environ. Monit., 2012, 14 (4), 1166 ‑ 1172. Advance Article DOI: 10.1039/C2EM10366D
  75. Donald S. Gamble. Discoveries Leading To Conventional Chemical Kinetics For Pesticides In Soils: A Review. Chapter 6. In, Donald L. Sparks, Ed. Advances In Agronomy Volume 120, June 2013.
  76. Heather A. Gamble, Donald S. Gamble. A Quantitative LC‑MS/MS Study of the Partitioning, Transport, and Fate of Pesticide Residues on Soil. Journal of Environmental Protection, 2016, 7, 331‑340 http://dx.doi.org/10.4236/jep.2016.73029 .
  77. Donald S. Gamble and Aldo G. Bruccoleri. Pesticide regulations for agriculture: Chemically flawed regulatory practice. Journal of Environmental Science and Health, Part B.  2016, Vol. 0, No. 0, 1B7. 
  78. Donald S. Gamble. The Physical Chemistry of Pesticides in Soil and Water. Agriculture 2017, 7, 91; doi:10.3390/agriculture7110091.  .
  79. Donald S. Gamble. The chemistry component of agricultural pesticides regulatory technology. Current Opinion in Environmental Science & Health, 2018,4, 16-18. WWW.Sciencedirect.com
  80. Donald Stanton Gamble. Predictive Models For Soil Contaminants: A Source Book For Research and development. Lady Stephen Library, Cambridge Scholars Publishing,  Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom & Cambridge, UK. Registered in England. Reg. No: 4333775; VAT No: 108280727. 2021.
  81. Donald S. Gamble. Physical Chemistry Parameters That Control Pesticide Persistence And Leaching In Watershed Soils. Final Report, submitted to the Great Lakes Water quality Program Committee, Guelph Ontario. June 27, 1994
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