Barnett Rattner, Ph.D.
Dr. Barnett Rattner is an ecotoxicologist at the Eastern Ecological Science Center in Laurel, MD.
He conducts hypothesis-driven laboratory and field investigations, risk assessments and scholarly evaluations on the toxicity of legacy and contemporary pollutants (industrial contaminants, metals, pesticides, petroleum crude oil) to wildlife and the environment. His current focus is on exposure and adverse effects of anticoagulant rodenticides, flame retardants and pharmaceuticals, comparative toxicology, non-target secondary poisoning associated with rodenticides, alternative testing methods, and screening-level risk assessments. Dr. Rattner actively represents the DOI as a member of the Interagency Coordinating Committee on the Validation of Alternative Methods, and serves as a special consultant to the Fish and Wildlife Service on issues related to nontoxic shot used in hunt nontoxic shot used in hunt waterfowl.
Active Projects:
- Development of data and models to evaluate the hazard and risk of anticoagulant rodenticides to non-target raptorial species
- Absorption, distribution, metabolism, elimination and toxicity of neonicotinoids in seed-eating birds
- Harmful algal blooms and bird die-offs in the Chesapeake Bay: A potential link?
- Contaminant exposure and potential reproductive effects in ospreys nesting in Chesapeake and Delaware Bay
- Contaminant-related activities and synoptic reviews in support of client agencies in the Department of the Interior
- Technical assistance to the Fish and Wildlife Service on alternative shot
Accomplishments:
- Authored over 150 publications, co-edited three books (Handbook of Ecotoxicology, Ecotoxicology of Wild Mammals, Anticoagulant Rodenticides and Wildlife), and made over 175 presentations at scientific meetings, workshops and symposia.
- Compiled two widely used internet-accessible ecotoxicological databases (Contaminant Exposure and Effects—Terrestrial Vertebrates database, Biological and Ecotoxicological Characteristics of Terrestrial Vertebrate Species Residing in Estuaries).
- Serves as Terrestrial Editor of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry, and as an Editorial Board member of the Bulletin of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology.
Professional Experience
Ecotoxicologist and Physiologist (research scientist, section leader, deputy branch chief) Department of the Interior, FWS, NBS, and USGS (1978-present)
Adjunct Professor University of Maryland, Department of Animal and Avian Sciences & Department of Environmental Science and Technology (1988-2022)
National Research Council Post-doctoral Research Associate, National Naval Medical Center (1978)
Guest Worker, National Institute of Arthritis, Metabolism and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, NIH (1974-1981)
Instructor and Graduate Teaching Assistant, University of Maryland, Department of Zoology (1972-1977)
Education and Certifications
B.S., University of Maryland, 1972 - Zoology
M.S., University of Maryland, 1974 - Zoology, Developmental Biology
Ph.D., University of Maryland, 1977 - Zoology, Environmental Physiology
National Research Council Postdoctoral Associateship, Naval Medical Research Institute, 1978 - Hyperbaric Physiology
Affiliations and Memberships*
Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry
Society of Toxicology
The Wildlife Society
American Physiological Society
Honors and Awards
Distinguished Service Award, Department of the Interior 2018
Fellow, Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry 2017
President, Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry World Council 2015
President, Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry - North America 2012
SETAC Government Service Award 2007
Science and Products
Examination of contaminant exposure and reproduction of ospreys (Pandion haliaetus) nesting in Delaware Bay and River in 2015
Environmental contaminants of health-care origin: Exposure and potential effects in wildlife
Biomarker responses of Peromyscus leucopus exposed to lead and cadmium in the Southeast Missouri Lead Mining District
Anticoagulant rodenticides and wildlife: Concluding remarks
Anticoagulant rodenticides and wildlife: Introduction
Anticoagulant rodenticide toxicity to non-target wildlife under controlled exposure conditions
Pharmaceuticals in water, fish and osprey nestlings in Delaware River and Bay
Predictive framework for estimating exposure of birds to pharmaceuticals
Alternative approaches to vertebrate ecotoxicity tests in the 21st century: A review of developments over the last 2 decades and current status
Chesapeake Bay fish–osprey (Pandion haliaetus) food chain: Evaluation of contaminant exposure and genetic damage
Retrospective: Adjusting contaminant concentrations in bird eggs to account for moisture and lipid Loss during their incubation
Science and Products
Examination of contaminant exposure and reproduction of ospreys (Pandion haliaetus) nesting in Delaware Bay and River in 2015
Environmental contaminants of health-care origin: Exposure and potential effects in wildlife
Biomarker responses of Peromyscus leucopus exposed to lead and cadmium in the Southeast Missouri Lead Mining District
Anticoagulant rodenticides and wildlife: Concluding remarks
Anticoagulant rodenticides and wildlife: Introduction
Anticoagulant rodenticide toxicity to non-target wildlife under controlled exposure conditions
Pharmaceuticals in water, fish and osprey nestlings in Delaware River and Bay
Predictive framework for estimating exposure of birds to pharmaceuticals
Alternative approaches to vertebrate ecotoxicity tests in the 21st century: A review of developments over the last 2 decades and current status
Chesapeake Bay fish–osprey (Pandion haliaetus) food chain: Evaluation of contaminant exposure and genetic damage
Retrospective: Adjusting contaminant concentrations in bird eggs to account for moisture and lipid Loss during their incubation
*Disclaimer: Listing outside positions with professional scientific organizations on this Staff Profile are for informational purposes only and do not constitute an endorsement of those professional scientific organizations or their activities by the USGS, Department of the Interior, or U.S. Government