Dr. Osmar Menezes, a postdoctoral researcher in the Field-Sierra group, was awarded a Postdoctoral Research Development Grant (PRDG) from the U. of Arizona for a mini-project titled “Soil Organic Matter Improves the Microbial Degradation of Emerging Contaminants”. Recipients of the PRDG are being given the title of University of Arizona Sursum Fellows. Sursum is Latin for “upwards” and is featured at the center of the University of Arizona seal. Congratulations on becoming a Sursum Fellow!
This past weekend, the Field-Sierra Research Group went on a hike at Madera Canyon. It provided a great opportunity for members of the group to meet each other, some for the first time! We had a great time and are looking forward to our next event.
Reyes Sierra is part of a team that was awarded $97,560 for the “Acquisition of a Total Organic Fluorine Analyzer for UA Researchers” under the RII Equipment Enhancement Fund Program / Water, Environment, and Energy Solutions (WEES) TRIF Initiative. The instrument will be housed at the Arizona Laboratory for Environmental Contaminants (ALEC). Other team members included Jon Chorover (PI, Dept. Environmental Science), Bo Guo (Dept. Hydrology & Atmospheric Science), and Jefferey Burgess (Public Health).
Jim Field and Reyes Sierra have been awarded $99,918 by the Technology and Research Initiative Fund (TRIF) for the project, “Development of Injectable High-Affinity Polymers as a Green Technology for In-Situ Removal of PFAS from Contaminated Arizona Groundwaters”. This project will be conducted in collaboration with Jon Chorover (PI) and Leif Abrell (Dept. Environmental Science).
Prof. Jim Field was invited to deliver a presentation at the 2020 SERDP/ESTCP Symposium: Enhancing DoD’s mission effectiveness.
The title of his talks was “DNAN & NTO: A tale of three fates”
We w
ere really glad to welcome Lucia Rodriguez-Freire to our Department for a virtual visit on Oct. 26, 2020. Lucia, a former PhD in the Field-Sierra group, gave a presentation at the CHEE department series. She is an assistant professor at the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, New Jersey Institute of Technology.
Warren Kadoya graduated in Spring 2020. He has started a position as an environmental engineer at the Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory in Hannover, New Hampshire.
Reyes Sierra received an inaugural Craig M. Berge Dean’s Fellowship, recognizing and rewarding excellence in research and/or innovation in education. Fellows are awarded $8,000 annually in discretionary funding to be used in support of research and teaching, for a term of three years (Aug. 24th, 2020). Congratulations, Reyes!
Maggie Tan and Mitchell Miller were two of ten students selected to receive the Roger W. Gallagher Engineering Scholarship. Of the ten awards given, three were from the Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering. Congratulations Maggie and Mitchell!
Christopher I. Olivares, a former PhD student in our research group, has accepted a tenure-track assistant professor position at the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of California-Irvine. He will start in his new position in Spring 2021.