Sabrina Volponi

Anthropogenic activities introduce a wide range of contaminants into surface and groundwater environments, and the fate of these contaminants is often difficult to predict and control. This difficulty stems in part from the physical, chemical and biological complexity of these environments, complexity that also creates opportunities for contaminants to be removed naturally. Dr. Volponi’s research focuses on characterizing the processes that drive contaminant retention and processing within the environment, enabling the development of better predictive risk models and engineering strategies to maximize natural contaminant removal. Her research investigates the riverbed as a biogeochemical hotspot, reaction delays due to mixing limitations, the capacity of soils to filter transported micro and nanoparticles, and the fate and transport of environmental genetic material.