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Let’s inspire our communities and educate them on the diverse environmental issues leaders in environmental engineering/science are doing! WIESE is a space for Women+ In STEM to share the issues they face in the industry, the solutions they make, the roadblocks they push through, and what they learning to teach society to keep the environment clean! Enjoy!
Copyright: © Saranya Anantapantula
Adriana Bankston is a Senior Fellow in Civic Science & Public Policy with Sigma Xi, where she leads a project that examines science policy engagement at the state level and determines the skills, knowledge, and resources required by scientists to successfully influence public policy. Prior to this role, Adriana was a Principal Legislative Analyst at the University of California Office of Federal Governmental Relations, where she served as an advocate for the university with Congress, the Administration and federal agencies. Previously, Adriana was a Policy & Advocacy Fellow at the Society for Neuroscience. She is also currently CEO & Managing Publisher of the Journal of Science Policy & Governance, a Fellow with Advancing Research Impact in Society (ARIS), and a Biomedical Workforce & Policy Research Investigator at the STEM Advocacy Institute (SAi). In recognition of her contributions to the field, Adriana was named among the Top 20 in 2022 Advocacy practitioners by the Advocacy Association, and awarded the inaugural 2022 ARIS Emerging Broader Impacts Leader Award. Adriana earned her Ph.D. in Biochemistry, Cell and Developmental Biology from Emory University.
Danielle Becker-Polinski is currently a Ph.D. student in Dr. Hollie M. Putnam's Eco-Physiology and Environmental Epigenetics of Marine Invertebrates Lab at the University of Rhode Island. Danielle is broadly interested in the ecophysiology within coral reef ecosystems and how global climate change and genomic processes influence coral population dynamics for generations to come.
Her fascination and curiosity with the underwater world, especially coral reef ecosystems, developed into an innate passion for research-based science. To preserve these invaluable ecosystems, She believes we must bridge the gap between education, conservation, and research to convey the significance of coral reef ecosystems to the public.
Danielle's passion for coral reefs is entwined with her interest in conservation and environmental justice initiatives that understand the importance of supporting STEM education and furthering policy agendas for the future of oceanic ecosystems.
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Dr. Lydia Jahl is a science and policy associate at the Green Science Policy Institute. There, she collaborates with other scientists, businesses, and policymakers to reduce the use of harmful chemicals in everyday products. Dr. Jahl is a chemist by training, receiving a BS in Chemistry from Harvey Mudd College and a PhD in Chemistry from Carnegie Mellon University. Her research journey began in atmospheric chemistry, studying fog water in the Los Angeles area and the Po Valley in Italy. After a brief stint working as a research chemist at a large winery, Jahl returned to atmospheric chemistry and completed a dissertation on the atmospheric processing of biomass burning emissions. While this fundamental research is important, Dr. Jahl wanted her work to more directly improve environmental health on a shorter timescale. So, she joined the Green Science Policy Institute to work on challenging issues that directly impact both human and environmental health. Her current focus is on phasing out unnecessary uses of flame retardant chemicals and PFAS.
Dr. Nevárez-Moorillón has been a full-time professor at the School of Chemical Sciences, Autonomous University of Chihuahua, Mexico, for the last 37 years. She graduated as a bacteriological chemist from the Autonomous University of Chihuahua. She completed her Ph.D. in Biology from the University of North Texas studying the bioremediation of soil contaminated with hydrocarbons, under the supervision of Dr. Gerard Roland Vela. She is a member of the National Outstanding Researchers System of Mexico (Level II) and has been granted the National Award on Food Science and Technology. She is also a regular member of the Mexican Academy of Sciences Her research interests include environmental microbiology, as well as predictive microbiology applied to food systems, the role of lactic acid bacteria in traditional fermented foods, and the antimicrobial properties of spices, such as clove and oregano. Under her supervision, more than 50 undergraduate students, more than 50 master's and 15 doctoral students have completed their degrees. Dr. Nevarez-Moorillón is a member of the Institute of Food Technologists, the Society for Applied Microbiology (UK) and the American Society for Microbiology and has served as Vice-President and President for the Mexican Association of Food Sciences and the Mexican Association for Food Protection. During the last 25 years, Dr. Nevárez-Moorillón has published more than 100 research articles, 25 book chapters and has reviewed manuscripts and research proposals for research publishers and international organizations. She is also part of the Reviewer Board of Polymers, Membranes, and Molecules (MDPI), Associate Editor in Frontiers in Sustainable Food Processing, and Academic Editor in PlosOne.
Sandy Castellano has a B.S. Earth Sciences with a Concentration in Environmental Science (graduated 2018) and an M.S. Sustainability Science (anticipated graduation Dec 2022). Currently, Castellano is a graduate student at Montclair State University and working as a teaching assistant leading two labs classes for introduction level geology. Castellano is a Latina in STEM and proudly represents Ecuador. Her family immigrated to the United States, and Castellano is proud to have had the opportunity to grow up in this country and be able to seek out and pursue her dreams of being a scientist. She recently completed a summer internship in Cameroon that was funded by the National Science Foundation- IRES focused on geochemistry analysis of an urbanized estuary located in Douala, Cameroon. Castellano is also presenting her research at this year’s GSA conference in Denver.
Dr. Maddie Smith is an Assistant Scientist in the Applied Ocean Physics & Engineering Department at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. Motivated by the loss of sea ice in a rapidly changing climate, her research uses observations and modeling approaches to understand how sea ice interacts with the ocean. Her fieldwork has taken her to the oceans at both ends of the earth, including participation in the summer leg of the year-long MOSAiC expedition. Maddie completed her PhD in Civil & Environmental Engineering at the University of Washington, exploring the role of surface waves and turbulence in the autumn Arctic Ocean. She received her B.A. in Earth & Oceanographic Studies and Environmental Science from Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine, where she first dreamed of exploring the Arctic while learning about the transpolar drift of Fridtjof Nansen.
Dr. Francesca De Domenico is an Assistant Professor in Novel Aircraft Propulsion at the faculty of Aerospace Engineering at TU Delft. She has a passion for flames and sustainability and her research goal is to disruptively change the way in which we power aircrafts, to make them greener and more sustainable. Specifically, she is interested in developing airplane engines which safely and efficiently use hydrogen as green alternative to kerosene-based jet fuels. She obtained her BSc and MSc in Aerospace Engineering (summa cum laude) from the University of Padova (Italy). Subsequently, she obtained her PhD in Engineering at the University of Cambridge, with her research investigating the sound generated by the flames in combustion chambers (thermo-acoustics). Subsequently, she became a Junior Research Fellow in Engineering at Gonville and Caius College (University of Cambridge), where she worked on developing advanced diagnostic tools for flames (laser-based measurement techniques) and for humans (novel sensors for measuring blood pressure). For her research, Francesca was awarded several prices and fellowships, such as the Amelia Earhart Fellowship (for the 30 best female PhD researchers in Aerospace Engineers worldwide), the APS DFD award, the ASME SACTA award, the Acoustics Society Award, and she was invited to speak at national and international conferences. Francesca is also an active STEM ambassador. She enjoys outreach activities with school pupils and she actively contributes to initiative to promote gender-inclusivity in the education system. In her free time, Francesca enjoys all kinds of outdoor sport and activity, especially running, cycling and hiking. She loves travelling around the world, discovering new places, experiencing new cultures, and admiring the amazing beauty of nature.
Phebe Bonilla is a Mexican environmental engineer. She did her undergrad in Puebla, her home city, where she worked for CAISEH, a consultancy company dedicated to doing environmental impact assessments. After finishing her degree, Phebe worked at MAV Integral Engineering and helped design wastewater treatment plants. The following year, she undertook her postgraduate studies at the University of Sheffield, in the UK. After completing her MSc in Environmental and Energy Engineering, she did a PhD in Chemical Engineering, specializing in CO2 capture. She is currently in Denmark, working remotely at Research Retold as a research communicator where she helps researchers to communicate their findings in accessible ways.
Constance Schéré is a PhD candidate at King's College London in the Department of Geography. Her research focusses on the effectiveness of Irish Sea marine protected areas as a sustainable biological conservation tool. Constance has a MSc in Biodiversity, Territory, and Environment (BIOTERRE) from the Sorbonne (Université de Paris 1: Panthéon-Sorbonne, 2017) and a MSc in Environmental Policy from SciencesPo Paris (2013). She completed environmental and research internships at Clean Water Action (2012), Dassault Systèmes (2013-2014), and Harvard University (2014). From 2014 to 2015, she was a sustainability specialist for Sodexo, where she worked in partnership with the Gulf of Maine Research Institute (United States) and the Marine Stewardship Council to promote the sustainable harvest of seafood and marine conservation. She is currently undergoing a doctoral internship with the LPO (French partner of BirdLife International) on the governance, management, and monitoring of the Sept-Îles marine reserve in Brittany, France. In addition to her doctoral research, Constance is part of a number of citizen science projects, including Seasearch and Coastwatch. She is also co-coordinator of Divers Action Group Northern Ireland, which responds to public consultations, proposes new sites for MPA designation, and highlights harmful activities in Northern Irish waters.
Dr. Kang Lan Tee is recognized for her work in directed evolution, protein engineering, adaptive laboratory evolution and sustainable biomanufacturing. Her contributions to the field include new molecular methods, novel promoters, improved enzymes and enhanced microbial strains for sustainable feedstock utilization. In 2019, she was awarded the Global Challenges Research Fellowship to investigate the use of agricultural waste for bioplastic production in collaboration with The National Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology in Thailand. She has authored 30 publications in high-impact journals such as Nucleic Acid Research, Angewandte Chemie and PNAS and authored the first textbook on protein engineering. As an innovator-entrepreneur, she founded SeSaM-Biotech GmbH (2009, Germany) to deliver enzyme solutions to the biotech industry and Evolutor Ltd (2022, UK) to engineer robust industrial strain for biomanufacturing.
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