Objective Lens

The community of environmental scientists lost a dear colleague recently: Professor John Pichtel passed away on January 9,2026. John retired from Ball State University in 2024 from what is now the School of Earth, Atmosphere, and Sustainability.During his 37-year career at BSU, John’s research focused on developing improved methods for handling hazardous materials,from explosive residues in contaminated brownfield sites to the phytoremediation of heavy-metal contaminants in wetlandsand other watershed environments.