About
- Anita Alexandra Sanchez is currently a PhD student at TU Bergakademie in Freiberg, Germany working on the Adit drainage solute source control project. With a focus on the biogeochemistry aspect of this project, Anita is investigating how organic carbon affects metal mobility in the Reiche Zeche mining site in Freiberg alongside Dr. Maximilian Lau. Ms. Sanchez recently graduated with her masters in Environmental Engineering at Cornell University. As a Cornell Sloan/Colman Diversity fellow, she performed research in the Ecological Engineering Research Laboratory with guidance from Dr. Matthew Reid. Her project focused on the sorption of arsenic species onto an ambersep resin, a thiol-functionalized DOM model, in anaerobic paddy environments through macroscopic and molecular-scale techniques. Anita's research at Cornell is essential for understanding the patterns in Arsenic bioavailability and addressing the global problem of arsenic uptake into rice. As an SDSU undergraduate student and NIH/NIGMS MARC scholar, Anita conducted research in Dr. Natalie Mladenov's Water Innovation and Reuse Laboratory. There she conducted research on utilizing fluorescence spectroscopy as a tracer for detecting contaminants in pre-treated wastewater that was run through ultrafiltration membranes and identifying the role of biofilm formation on these membranes. Her research at SDSU lays the groundwork for water industries to take a greater approach to understanding the changes in dissolved organic matter components that can cause a hindrance in creating safe and reusable water. Anita plans to continue to expand her knowledge in environmental engineering and biogeochemistry by pursuing a post doctoral position in a national laboratory. With the skills and expertise that she attains, Anita hopes to focus her career in academia so that she may share with others her approach to harnessing natural processes in the landscape to eliminate contaminants from water and soil and ensure reliable resources.