Henry G. Spratt, Jr., Ph.D., Microbial Ecology, Biogeochemistry
Professor - Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences
University of Tennessee at Chattanooga
Chattanooga, TN 37403
(423) 425-4383, Fax (423) 425-2285, [email protected]
 
 
    Dr. Spratt is a tenured professor in the Biological and Environmental Sciences Department at UTC.  He holds BS and MS degrees from Georgia Tech (1977 and 1980 - Applied Biology), and a Ph.D. from the University of Georgia (1985 - Microbiology). He was a postdoctoral associate at Rutgers University (1985 - 1988), and an assistant professor of Biology at Southeast Missouri State University (1988 - 1994).  He joined the faculty at UTC in 1994.  His teaching interests lie in the fields of microbiology, environmental biology and undergraduate education.  He plays an active role in support of public education in the Chattanooga area, serving on the Hamilton County Coalition for Mathematics and Science Excellence, helping to organize and present a three-part Math and Science Summit held in Chattanooga during Winter 2003.  
 
He actively supports local environmental organizations, serving on the Board of Directors for the Tennessee River Gorge Trust for 12 of the past 15 years, advising the Lula Lake Land Trust, serving on the Water Quality Team of the North Chickamauga Creek Conservancy, and having served as the Conservation Chair of the local Sierra Club group.  Dr. Spratt is active in research, with numerous publications, and grants (since 1987, 37 grants from Federal, State, and University sources, some with collaborators, totaling $1,550,571).  Trained as a biogeochemist, he has conducted studies on carbon cycling in soils of temperate forests, and of temperate and tropical wetlands, with one long-term study (10 years) in Missouri Ozark forests.
 
Recently Dr. Spratt has conducted research on the use of bacterial batteries in the degradation of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and organic matter associated with raw sewage.  The involvement of students in Dr. Spratt’s research is critical.  He has been involved with two projects focusing on introducing high school students to university research, serving as mentor to over 25 high school students since 1995.  He has served as major professor for 13 graduates from UTC’s Masters of Science in Environmental Science program since the program was initiated in August 1997. 
 
Currently, focusing on a bioremediation and a microbial battery project, there are two students working in his lab. Dr. Spratt also does consulting work related to the development of novel organic energy sources.