Trainee Update: Xenia de Gracia Medina
Oct. 31, 2023
Xenia De Gracia Medina is pursuing a PhD in the Department of Environmental Science where she is being mentored by Dr. Jon Chorover and Dr. Bo Guo. She is working in the UA SRC Project 4 studying the contaminant transport of arsenic associated with weathering of mine tailings at historical mines in the western United States.
De Gracia Medina studied Geological and Environmental Engineering in her native Panama, at the Technological University of Panama, where she graduated with honors. In 2020, she came to the UArizona as a Fulbright Alum for an MS in Hydrology. After graduating in May of 2022, she started her PhD in the Department of Environmental Science.
In Spring 2023, De Gracia Medina won first place with her poster at the ENViSion Conference. The title of her poster was: “Discovering the properties of mine tailings from ancient mines”. During the summer of 2023, she worked on studying the mineralogy of different mine tailings using X-ray diffraction, understanding the tailing's water retention capacity, and studying the chemistry of water leaching out from mini columns with mine tailings.
De Gracia Medina is interested in hydrogeochemistry in mining areas and groundwater management in rural areas. She is looking forward to advancing the understanding of these matters through her PhD research.