Applied Research & Development

Geosyntec advances applied research and development through collaborative innovation and targeted investment to deliver science‑based, field‑ready solutions for complex environmental and infrastructure challenges.

Emerging regional and global environmental challenges require new and sustainable solutions. Geosyntec turns bold ideas into innovative approaches. We apply formalized applied research and development (R&D) to develop new technologies and bring them to market.

In this way, our scientists and engineers expand the frontiers of remediation, find more effective ways to apply existing technologies, and develop next-generation solutions.

Geosyntec R&D Spotlight

Chad Johnston discusses Geosyntec’s approach to innovation and solution development. He highlights the common disconnect between research and development and the full-scale, marketable implementation of projects.

Geosyntec R&D Spotlight

Jamey Rosen explains that, at Geosyntec, innovation thrives through collaboration, trust, and a culture that encourages bold thinking. He explores how his team continuously generates new ideas by engaging in open conversations across disciplines and backgrounds.

Bench to Field to Market

Clients recognize us as innovators who collaborate on R&D with universities and other research organizations and invest in R&D to bring innovative and cost effective solutions to market.

Hosting webinars, participating in conferences, and authoring guidance documents, articles, presentations, and books are just some of the other ways we support clients and advance knowledge across our practice areas.

We do all this to create strategies and technologies that optimize performance, cost, technology risk, and stakeholder acceptance.

Client-Focused Solutions Rooted in R&D

Research partnerships in academia and industry drive productive solutions for our clients. One notable example is SiREM, a Geosyntec Company. SiREM is a specialty environmental laboratory that supports monitoring and remediation at complex sites with high-quality testing services, remediation products, and technical support. SiREM was founded on technology developed in partnership with faculty at the University of Guelph in Ontario, Canada.

Building Lasting Solutions Fuelled by Smart R&D

Together we discover, design, and create new approaches to tackle environmental issues like the following:

  • Remediating recalcitrant and emerging contaminants like PFAS
  • Enhancing in situ approaches like bioremediation for contaminated soil, groundwater, and soil vapor
  • Managing urban watersheds
  • Sampling and remediating contaminated sediments
  • Protecting endangered species from stormwater runoff
  • Designing smarter industrial and municipal waste disposal facilities
  • Addressing geohazards involving dams, oil and gas pipelines, renewable energy projects, and other critical facilities
  • Creating new tools to process models and manage information for complex projects

Applied Research & Development Projects

Industrial facility with large blue tanks, pipes, and metal structures. Three people wearing safety helmets and vests are standing and talking among the equipment inside a spacious, well-lit building.

Groundwater Extraction and Treatment System

Contaminated Sites, Water & Wastewater, Water and Natural ResourcesContaminated Sites, Water & Wastewater, Water and Natural Resources

Midwest United States

Groundwater Extraction and Treatment System

Geosyntec Consultants is a global leader in the assessment and remediation of soil and groundwater impacted by a broad range of contaminants.

Industrial vapor intrusion mitigation and groundwater remediation system at a U.S. naval base, featuring interconnected piping, treatment equipment, and a green containment structure within a secured facility.

Vapor Intrusion Mitigation and Soil and Groundwater Remediation, United States Naval Base

Contaminated Sites

Confidential

Stormwater heatmap of the Puget Sound region in Washington, highlighting areas of higher intensity around Seattle with bright yellow and orange clusters contrasted against darker surrounding regions, representing water and natural resource conditions.

The Nature Conservancy Stormwater Heatmap

Water and Natural Resources

Puget Sound, Washington

Water supply infrastructure in Sonoma County, California, featuring a large pipeline conveying water across a channel with controlled outflow, surrounded by dense vegetation and engineered embankments for geohazard mitigation.

Water Supply System Geohazard Assessment and Mitigation Engineering for Sonoma County

Geotechnical

Sonoma County, California, USA

University Collaboration and R&D

We collaborate with researchers and students at universities worldwide. In addition to participating in research, many of our people hold adjunct, research, or emeritus faculty appointments in university departments such as environmental microbiology, geotechnical and environmental engineering, water resources, geology, hydrogeology, human health risk assessment, and applied toxicology.

Geosyntec’s University Collaboration Initiative formalizes and supports our new and long-standing connections to academic researchers and institutions.

University Collaborators

Our practitioners have collaborated with these and other universities, helping conduct and fund research, contributing to engineering and scientific programs, and hosting symposia and related events:

  • The Arizona State University
  • The Colorado School of Mines
  • Cornell University
  • Cranfield University (United Kingdom)
  • Georgia Institute of Technology
  • Johns Hopkins University
  • Louisiana State University
  • The New Mexico State University
  • The Ohio State University
  • Oregon Health and Science University
  • The Oregon State University
  • Purdue University
  • Queens University (Canada)
  • Rice University
  • Rutgers University
  • San Diego State University
  • Southern Methodist University
  • Stanford University
  • Tufts University
  • The University of Alabama
  • The University of California, Berkeley
  • The University of California, Davis
  • The University of California, Los Angeles
  • The University of Colorado
  • The University of Edinburgh (United Kingdom)
  • The University of Florida
  • The University of Guelph (Canada)
  • The University of Michigan
  • The University of Missouri, Kansas City
  • The University of Strathclyde (United Kingdom)
  • The University of Tennessee, Knoxville
  • The University of Texas at Austin
  • The University of Toronto (Canada)
  • The University of Waterloo (Canada)
  • The University of Western Ontario (Canada)

Geosyntec Collaboration Spotlight

Phil Dennis talks about collaboration with academic partners. Geosyntec Consultants come from competitive academic background and bring a network of partners ready to solve environmental challenges

R&D Spotlight

Mackenzie Cremeans showcases Geosyntec’s innovative approach to solving complex groundwater contamination issues. She shares an example where a client faced plume rebound after previous treatments failed to achieve regulatory closure.

R&D Spotlight

Julie Konzuk discusses what innovation means to Geosyntec and how we find innovative solutions for clients. An innovative work environment helps our practitioners find efficient and best-value solutions.

R&D with Government Agencies & Professional Organizations

We partner with governmental institutions and agencies to develop and demonstrate new technologies. This includes collaborating on nationally funded R&D on lab-, field-, and full-scale research.

SERDP and ESTCP

In the United States, we are active with the Strategic Environmental Research and Development Program (SERDP) and the Environmental Security Technology Certification Program (ESTCP), programs of the Department of Defense that help bring to market cost-saving new technologies.
These projects bring together researchers from private companies, universities, and agencies to create and validate new ways to address tough problems. Our SERDP and ESTCP projects have included the following:

  • Treating PFAS in situ using thermally enhanced low-pH persulfate oxidation
  • Finding new ways to more accurately measure vapor intrusion over time and space
  • Using bacteria to assist in abiotic degradation of PCE and TCE
  • Developing nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) sensors to monitor groundwater
  • Assessing and managing the recontamination of sediment via stormwater
  • Using electrokinetic technology to help deliver amendment to low-permeability media
  • Finding cost-effective ways to mitigate radon and VOC vapor intrusion
  • Designing climate management systems for corrosion control facilities
  • Forecasting the performance of site characterization and early remediation
  • Using bioaugmentation to enhance natural attenuation of cis-DCE
  • Demonstrating in situ bioremediation of perchlorate

Partnerships with Institutions and Agencies

Our people have worked with the following agencies, organizations, and programs to promote or bring new technologies to market:

  • American Chemical Society
  • American Petroleum Institute
  • American Society of Civil Engineers
  • Federal Highway Administration
  • Geological Society of America
  • Interstate Technology and Regulatory Council (ITRC)
  • National Aeronautics and Space Administration
  • National Cooperative Highway Research Program
  • National Ground Water Association
  • National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
  • National Science Foundation
  • Navy Environmental Sustainability Development to Integration Program
  • Ontario Genomics (Canada)
  • Society for Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry
  • United States Department of Defense
  • United States Environmental Protection Agency
  • United States Geological Survey

Looking for a partner in innovation?

Geosyntec supports our practitioners as they explore new ideas, find new uses for established technologies, and develop more efficient ways of serving our clients. We work across disciplines, often partnering with universities, researchers, and clients, to develop and commercialize leading-edge solutions.

Three Geosyntec team members reviewing large engineering drawings spread across a conference table, with one pointing to specific details while others examine the plans; a hard hat, rolled documents, and a laptop are visible in a modern office setting.