B.S. in Geology at California State University Fullerton and Ph.D. from Yale University. Postdoctoral experience at the Carnegie Institution of Washington, Caltech and U.S. Navy (San Diego). Professor at Penn State 1998-2015.

• American Chemical Society Fellow - American Chemical Society (08/24/2021)
• Clay Minerals Society Pioneer in Clay Science Award - Clay Minerals Society (10/01/2020)
• U.S. DOE "Ten at Ten" Award in the Scientific Ideas - DOE (07/01/2019)
• Interdisciplinary Research Fellow - ORSP (03/01/2016)

• Ph D in Geology and Geophysics, Yale University (1989)

• A multi-scale assessment of the impact of salinity on the desorption of chromate from hematite: Sea level rise implications. Journal of Hazardous Materials (2023), M S. Barreto, Everett J. Elzinga, James Kubicki, Donald L. Sparks.
• Effects of Oxyanion Surface Loading on the Rate and Pathway of Ferrihydrite Transformation ACS Earth and Space Chemistry (2023), A Namayandeh, O J. Borkiewicz, N M. Bompoti, S K. Watson, James Kubicki, M Chrysochoou, F M. Michel.
• Zn2+, Co2+, and Ni2+ Adsorption at the Rutile–Water Interface to 250 °C ACS Earth and Space Chemistry (2023), M L. Machesky, James Kubicki, D A. Palmer, D J. Wesolowski.
• Oxide–and Silicate–Water Interfaces and Their Roles in Technology and the Environment Chemical Reviews (2023), Jose L. Banuelos, James Kubicki, et al..
• Grazing-incidence diffraction reveals cellulose and pectin organization in hydrated plant primary cell wall Scientific Reports (2023), J T. Del Mundo, S Rongpipi, H Yang, D Ye, S N. Kiemle, S L. Moffitt, C L. Troxel, M F. Toney, C Zhu, James Kubicki, D J. Cosgrove, E W. Gomez, E D. Gomez.
• Distinguishing different surface interactions for nucleotides adsorbed onto hematite and goethite particle surfaces through ATR-FTIR spectroscopy and DFT calculations Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics (2023), I Sit, M A. Young, James Kubicki, V H. Grassian.
• A perspective on iron (Fe) in the atmosphere: air quality, climate, and the ocean ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE-PROCESSES & IMPACTS (2022), Hind A. Al-Abadleh, James Kubicki, Nicholas Meskhidze.
• Connecting Thermodynamics of Alkali Ion Exchange on the Quartz (101) Surface with Density Functional Theory Calculations JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL CHEMISTRY A 126 26 (2022), Heath D. Watts, James Kubicki, Nadine Kabengi.
• Ion and Particle Size Effects on the Surface Reactivity of Anatase Nanoparticle-Aqueous Electrolyte Interfaces: Experimental, Density Functional Theory, and Surface Complexation Modeling Studies MINERALS 12 7 (2022), Moira Ridley, Michael Machesky, James Kubicki.
• Microbial Denitrification: Active Site and Reaction Path Models Predict New Isotopic Fingerprints ACS EARTH AND SPACE CHEMISTRY 6 11 (2022), Jason D. Boettger, Cajetan Neubauer, Sebastian H. Kopf, James Kubicki.
• Molecular orbital study of Fe(II) and Fe(III) complexation with salicylate and citrate ligands: Implications for soil biogeochemistry SOIL SCIENCE SOCIETY OF AMERICA JOURNAL 86 2 (2022), Tsutomu Ohno, James Kubicki, Aria Amirbahman.
• Density Functional Theory Predictions of Non-covalent Hydrogen Isotope Effects During Octane Sorption to a Kaolinite Surface ACS Earth and Space Chemistry, (2021), James Kubicki.
• Density Functional Tight-Binding Simulations Reveal the Presence of Surface Defects on the Quartz (101)-Water Interface JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL CHEMISTRY C 125 29 (2021), Ke Yuan, Nikhil Rampal, Paul Fenter, James Kubicki, Andrew G. Stack, Stephan Irle.
• Molecular orbital study of Fe(II) and Fe(III) complexation with salicylate and citrate ligands: Implications for soil biogeochemistry SOIL SCIENCE SOCIETY OF AMERICA JOURNAL (2021), Tsutomu Ohno, James Kubicki, Aria Amirbahman.
• Equilibrium and Kinetic Isotopic Fractionation in the CO2 Hydration and Hydroxylation Reactions: Analysis of the Role of Hydrogen-bonding via Quantum Mechanical Calculations Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, Volume 292, p. 37-63. (2021), James Kubicki.
• Equilibrium and Kinetic Isotopic Fractionation in the CO2 Hydration and Hydroxylation Reactions: Analysis of the Role of Hydrogen-bonding via Quantum Mechanical Calculations Geochimica Cosmochimica Acta 292 (2021), Jason Boettger, James Kubicki.
• Strategic Minerals – Are They Hiding in Plain Sight? Abstract SY013-0001 presented at 2020 AGU Fall Meeting, 7-11 Dec. (2020), Nicholas E. Pingitore, Antonio Arribas, Mark Engle, Philip C. Goodell, James Kubicki.
• A density functional theory study on the shape of the primary cellulose microfibril in plants: Effects of C6 exocyclic group conformation and H-bonding. Cellulose, 1-14 (2020), James Kubicki.
• Adsorption of organic acids and phosphate to an iron (oxyhydr)oxide mineral: A combined experimental and density functional theory study. The Journal of Physical Chemistry A, 124, 3249-3260. (2020), James Kubicki.
• In silico structure prediction of full-length cotton cellulose synthase protein (GhCESA1) and its hierarchical complexes Cellulose, 27:5597–5616. (2020), James Kubicki.
• In situ and real-time ATR-FTIR temperature-dependent adsorption kinetics coupled with DFT calculations of dimethylarsinate and arsenate on hematite nanoparticles. Langmuir, 35, 4299-4307 (2020), James Kubicki.
• Integrating density functional theory modeling with experimental data to understand and predict sorption reactions: Exchange of salicylate for phosphate on goethite. Soil Systems, 4 (2), 27 (2020), James Kubicki.
• Adsorption Study of Al3+, Cr3+, and Mn2+ onto Quartz and Corundum using Flow Microcalorimetry, Quartz Crystal Microbalance, and Density Functional Theory ACS EARTH AND SPACE CHEMISTRY 3 3 (2019), Nicholas Allen, Chong Dai, Yandi Hu, James Kubicki, Nadine Kabengi.
• Arabinose substitution effect on xylan rigidity and self-aggregation CELLULOSE 26 4 (2019), Utsab R. Shrestha, Sydney Smith, Sai V. Pingali, Hui Yang, Mai Zahran, Lloyd Breunig, Liza A. Wilson, Margaret Kowali, James Kubicki, Daniel J. Cosgrove, Hugh M. O'Neill, Loukas Petridis.
• Cyclodextrin-enhanced 1,4-dioxane treatment kinetics with TCE and 1,1,1-TCA using aqueous ozone Chemosphere 219 (2019), Naima A. Khan, Michael D. Johnson, James Kubicki, F O. Holguin, Barry Dungan, Kenneth C. Carroll.
• Evaluating Computational Chemistry Methods for Isotopic Fractionation between CO2(g) and H2O(g) JOURNAL OF CHEMICAL INFORMATION AND MODELING 59 11 (2019), Jason D. Boettger, James Kubicki.
• Gibbsite (100) and Kaolinite (100) Sorption of Cadmium(II): A Density Functional Theory and XANES Study of Structures and Energies JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL CHEMISTRY A 123 29 (2019), Heath D. Watts, Peggy A. O'Day, James Kubicki.
• Probing cellulose structures with vibrational spectroscopy CELLULOSE 26 1 (2019), Mohamadamin Makarem, Christopher M. Lee, Kabindra Kafle, Shixin Huang, Inseok Chae, Hui Yang, James Kubicki, Seong H. Kim.
• Quantum Mechanical Modeling of the Vibrational Spectra of Minerals with a Focus on Clays MINERALS 9 3 (2019), James Kubicki, Heath D. Watts.
• Simulations of Cellulose Synthesis Initiation and Termination in Bacteria JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL CHEMISTRY B 123 17 (2019), Hui Yang, John McManus, Daniel Oehme, Abhishek Singh, Yaroslava G. Yingling, Ming Tien, James Kubicki.
• Simultaneous Adsorption and Incorporation of Sr2+ at the Barite (001)-Water Interface JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL CHEMISTRY C 123 2 (2019), Jacquelyn N. Bracco, Sang S. Lee, Joanne E. Stubbs, Peter J. Eng, Sarah Jindra, D. M. Warren, Anitha Kommu, Paul Fenter, James Kubicki, Andrew G. Stack.

• The Role of Universities in Training Students for the Critical Materials Workforce (2023), Volume San Francisco, CA, James Kubicki.
• The Role of Universities in Training Students for the Critical Materials Workforce (2023), Volume Rolla, MO, James Kubicki.
• Density functional theory simulations of ferrihydrite nanoparticle aggregation via organic surface complexation (2023), Volume Vancouver, BC, James Kubicki.
• Organic-Mineral Interactions at the Molecular Level: Soils, Climate, and Health (2023), Volume Indianapolis, IN, James Kubicki.
• Molecular Modeling from the Mantle to Mars (2022), Volume Houghton, MI, James Kubicki.
• Density Functional Theory Simulations of Ferrihydrite Nanoparticle Aggregation Via Organic Surface Complexation (2022), Volume Baltimore, MD, James Kubicki.
• Density functional theory simulations of ferrihydrite nanoparticle aggregation via organic surface complexation (2022), Volume Chicago, IL, James Kubicki.
• inking Density Functional Theory Calculations with EXAFS and ATR-FTIR to Model Adsorption Mechanisms in Soils (2021), Volume Salt Lake City, UT, James Kubicki.
• Adapting Geologic Sciences to the 21st Century (2021), James Kubicki.
• Density functional theory modeling of nanoparticles (2021), Volume Atlanta, GA, James Kubicki.
• Organic-mineral interactions at the molecular level: Impacts and research needs (2021), Volume Atlanta, GA, James Kubicki.
• Honoring R. James “Jim” Kirkpatrick: Computation of NMR chemical shifts for water-aluminosilicate interactions (2021), Volume Atlanta, GA, James Kubicki.
• Water – Atom by Atom (2021), James Kubicki.
• Oxyanion adsorption structures, thermodynamics and kinetics: Review of density functional theory results in comparison to experimental observations (2021), James Kubicki.
• Complex Interfaces and their Roles in Society (2021), James Kubicki.
• Macroscopic and molecular understanding of Np(V) sorption on the birnessite-water interface (2021), James Kubicki.
• Density functional theory modeling of Ba2+ and SO42- adsorption onto the quartz (101) surface (2021), James Kubicki.
• Molecular Processes at Mineral-Water Interface (2021), James Kubicki.
• Vision and Change: Implementing Curricular Reform (2021), Volume https://www.americangeosciences.org/tags/heads-and-chairs, James Kubicki.
• Strategic minerals - are they hiding in plain sight? (2020), Volume virtual meeting, Nicholas E. Pingitore, Antonio Arribas, Mark Engle, Philip C. Goodell, James Kubicki.
• Linking Density Functional Theory Calculations with EXAFS and ATR-FTIR to Model Adsorption Mechanisms in Soils (2020), James Kubicki.
• Quantum Mechanical Modeling of Mineral-Water Interfaces with Surface Defects (2020), Volume Pittsburgh PA, James Kubicki.
• Organic-Mineral Interactions at the Molecular Level: Impacts and Research Needs (2020), Volume Richland WA, James Kubicki.
• Molecular Modeling inEnvironmental Geochemistry (2020), Volume UT San Antonio, James Kubicki.
• The Role of Universities in Training Students for the Critical Materials Workforce (2020), Volume San Francisco, CA, James Kubicki.
• Molecular Modeling in Petroleum Geochemistry (2020), James Kubicki.

• SRG-Developing Biomimetic Binding Sites in Metal Organic Frameworks for the Separation of Critical Rare Earth Elements
• The Origins of Molecules in Diverse Space and Planetary Environments and Their Intramolecular Isotope Signatures
• Biogeochemistry of Phosphate and Carbon Interactions in Agroecosystems: Coupling Experimental Data with Density Functional Theory
• Center for Lignocellulose Structure and Formation