UA SRP Participates in 2014 SME Annual Meeting

Jan. 4, 2014

“Leadership in Uncertain Times” was the theme of the 2014 Society for Mining, Metallurgy and Exploration (SME) Annual Meeting which took place February 23-26, 2014 in Salt Lake City, Utah. The SME is considered the preeminent conference for mining professionals around the world and this year’s meeting had 37 countries represented and a total of 6,722 attendees. The University of Arizona Superfund Research Program (UA SRP) had four members of its team, Carime Koch, Juliana Gil-Loaiza, Linnea Herbertson, and Dr. Julie Nielson, attend to talk about UA SRP research.

Koch presented her work with UA SRP investigator Dr. Karletta Chief, “Mining and environmental education modules for Tribal Colleges.” She noted, “It is really apparent that social and environmental responsibility is becoming important for the mining industry and therefore they need future professionals ready to take on that challenge.” Gil-Loaiza, Herbertson, and Nielson discussed their phytostabilization work with UA SRP Director Dr. Raina Maier in their respective presentations entitled, “Scaling an assisted phytostabilization from the greenhouse to the field at Iron King Mine Humboldt Smelter Superfund Site,” "Metal contaminant immobilization on plant roots during phytostabilization: Are bacteria involved?,” and “Enhanced microbial diversity is critical to successful revegetation of mine tailings and waste rock piles,” respectively. According to Herbertson, “The majority of the attendees were from industry, representing mining and engineering companies, so it was interesting to learn more about that side of things.”

Gil-Loaiza was selected as a 2013-2014 recipient of SME’s Environmental Division Scholarship, an award totaling $2,000. This scholarship is given to students that demonstrate potential within the field of mining and the environment.  Gil-Loaiza received recognition for her award at the SME Environmental Division Luncheon.

Congratulations to these UA SRP women at the cutting edge of science!