Former UA SRP Trainee moves to new job, keeps SRP in mind

July 2, 2018

Dr. Aditi Sengupta, former post-doctoral trainee mentored by UA SRP director Dr. Raina Maier has moved to a new position at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in Richland, Washington.

Sengupta says her time as part of the UA SRP taught her many skills she uses today. She says the UA SRP allowed her to learn about Superfund sites. Sengupta had the opportunity to attend the  Superfund Annual meeting last year in Philadelphia and says it was an eye-opener because she really had no idea that there was this niche group of people tackling a challenge that is this important and of this massive scale.

While at the UA, Sengupta received a KC Donnelly Externship Award Supplement from the NIEHS SRP. This award was created in memory of Dr. KC Donnelly, a longtime SRP grantee, and is presented to early investigators, like graduate students or postdocs, to promote transdisciplinary and translational research. It allows these awardees to have “translational/transdisciplinary opportunities and experiences within other SRP-funded centers, government laboratories or other agencies.”

Sengupta spent her KC Donnelly externship at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and worked on developing predictive modeling estimates of microbial functioning and soil stability with Dr. Eoin Brodie from October 2016 to August 2017. Sengupta said of the experience. “We defined some of the microbial functions that are necessary in disturbed soils like mine tailings so we were able progress in terms of what kind of microbial communities we would need to improve a soil’s health.”

Overall, Sengupta says of her UA SRP experience: “I have it in my mind going down further in my professional career, I will try to look for opportunities where I can collaborate or keep in mind that Superfund sites exist and how I can tie that into my new research questions or new collaborations”.

The UA SRP congratulates Sengupta on her new position and looks forward to collaborating with her in the future!