CEE major Marina Mautner was honored with UC Education Abroad Program's Undergraduate Research Award for her experiment comparing soil characteristics and pharmaceutical degradation rates in irrigation water in Mexico's Tula Valley.
She was one of four awardees selected from a range of disciplines and study sites around the world. Mautner was selected because her research exemplifies the kind of learning from education abroad that UCEAP seeks to promote.
At the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), Mautner worked with PhD student Juan Dúran Álvarez on the biodegradation of pharmaceuticals in agricultural soils from Tula Valley. While at UNAM she also improved her technical and conversational Spanish as well as expanded her knowledge of engineering problems specific to Mexico, such as the unique soil properties of Mexico City.
CEE Professor Kara Nelson helped Mautner arrange a position in the UNAM environmental engineering laboratory with Director of the UNESCO Division of Water Sciences Engineering Blana Jiménez Cisneros.
See UCEAP Undergraduate Research Award Winners Announced (press release)