SIERRA, Reyes: Ph.D., Wageningen University, The Netherlands, 1990.

Dr. Sierra joined The University of Arizona in 2001. Prior to that she was an associate professor at the Department of Environmental Sciences, Division of Forest Products, Wageningen University (1993-2000) as well as assistant professor at the Department of Environmental Engineering, International Institute for Infrastructural, Hydraulic and Environmental Engineering in Delft, The Netherlands (1990-1992). She is a recent recipient of a NSF Advance Award.

Dr. Sierra has 16 years of research experience in the area of environmental biotechnology. Her professional interests include: microbially catalyzed transformation of metals and hazardous organic pollutants, bioremediation, biological treatment of industrial wastewaters, and biotechnology for environmental benign manufacturing.

Her current research includes:

• Microbial mobilization and biotransformation of arsenic in municipal landfills.
• Agricultural chemicals as a major non-point source of arsenic: microbial transformation of organic arsenicals.
• Application of sulfate-reducing bacteria for the biomineralization of heavy metals.
• Biological removal of Cu in wastewaters from semiconductor manufacturing: part of this work is supported by the NSF/SRC sponsored (Engineering Research Center for Environmentally Benign Semiconductor Manufacturing).
• Hydrogen sulfide as the main electron donor for denitrification of petroleum refinery effluents: A novel approach for simultaneous removal of S, N and C.

Currently, she is developing the web site for knowledge transfer “Anaerobic granular sludge bed reactors for sustainable development”.

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