LINDA
A. FIGUEROA, Associate Professor
Environmental Science and Engineering Division
1500 Illinois
Colorado School of Mines
Golden, CO 80401
Office: Coolbaugh Hall 248
Phone:303-273-3491
Fax: 303-273-3413 Email:
lfiguero@mines.edu
Education
- B.S., Civil Engineering, University of Southern California
- M.S., Civil Engineering, University of Colorado
- Ph.D., Civil Engineering, University of Colorado
- Professional Civil Engineer, California State # C32997
Teaching
ESGN 504, Water and Wastewater Treatment, Fall 2006
Research Interests: microbially mediated radionuclide and metals removal, biotransformation of nitrogen, application of molecular tools, water and waste treatment.
Microorganisms play an important role in the transformation of chemical compounds in our environment. I am interested in facilitating treatment of water and wastes using microorganisms.
My research at the Colorado School of Mines has focused on microbial mediation removal of radionuclide and metals, waste treatment with an emphasis on nitrogen removal and most recently the application of molecular tools to bioprocesses.
Microorganisms are capable of actively, passively and indirectly affecting the phase of radionuclides and metals in aqueous environments. Characterization of the all three mechanisms and the microbial community is important to the design of treatment systems to remove radionuclides and metal for solution.
Microbial transformations are important to global nitrogen cycling. Biologically mediated nitrification and denitrification processes are widely used to control the discharge of nitrogen from wastewaters. Understanding the effect of operational parameters, wastewater composition and the microbial community is important in efficient removal of nitrogen from wastewaters.
Classical measurements of biomass concentration, such as volatile solids, in wastewater processes fail to identify the functional constituents of the microbial population. Traditional microbiological culturing techniques can select for non-dominant microorganisms and do not yield quantitative information about in-situ microbial number and activity. Molecular techniques are available that can yield information on population density and in-situ activity and can be as specific or broad as needed.
Selected Publications
Microbially Mediated Removal of Radionuclides and Metals
Hemsi, P.S., Shackelford, C.D., and Figueroa, L.A. (2005). Modeling the influence of decomposing organic solids on sulfate reduction rates for iron precipitation. Environmental Science and Technology, 39(9): 3215- 3225.
Logan, M. V., Reardon, K. F., Figueroa, L. A., McLain, J. E. T., and Ahmann, D. (2005) Microbial community activities during establishment, performance, and decline of bench-scale passive treatment systems for mine drainage, Water Research, 39 (18):4537-4551.
Place, D., Claveau, E., and Figueroa, L. "Analysis of Substrate Alterations in Passive Reactive Zones" Proceedings of the 22nd Annual Meeting of American Society of Mining & Reclamation, June 19-24, 2005, Breckenridge, CO. pg 921-934.
Ruhs, A. Figueroa, L. and Wildeman, T. R. "A Study of Metal Toxicity on the Rate-Limiting Step in Anaerobic Passive Treatment Systems" Presentation and paper at the 22nd Annual Meeting of American Society of Mining & Reclamation, June 19-24, 2005, Breckenridge, CO. pg 985-999.
Pruden, A., Hong, H., Inman, L.Y., Logan , M.V., Sans, C., Ahmann, D., Figueroa, L.A. and K. F. Reardon. Microbial Characterization of Sulfate-Reducing Columns Remediating Acid Mine Drainage. American Society for Mining Reclamation (ASMR), June 18-23, 2005, Breckenridge, CO.
Figueroa, L., Abel, R., Holmes, M., Rapp, E. and Bolis, J. (2004) Clear Creek Watershed: Reclamation Success from Innovative Partnerships, Reclamation Matters, Fall 2004, pg 29 - 31.
Figueroa, L., Seyler, J. and Wildeman, T. (2004) Characterization of organic substrates used for anaerobic bioremediation of mining impacted waters, Proceedings of the Mine Water 2004 Conference, Newcastle Upon Tyne, United Kingdom, September 19-23, 2004.
Spear, J.R., L.A. Figueroa, and B.D. Honeyman. 2000. "Modeling Reduction of U(VI) Under Variable Sulfate Concentrations by Sulfate-Reducing Bacteria. Applied and Environmental Microbiology , 66:3711- 3721.
Figueroa, L., J. Spear, B. Honeyman and C. Thual (2000) Metal Removal from Aqueous Waste Streams by Sulfate-Reducing Bacteria Bioreactors, proceeding of the IWKM, Nov 6-8, 2000, Mittweida, Germany.
Spear, J.R. L.A. Figueroa and B.D. Honeyman (1999). Modeling the removal of uranium (VI) from aqueous solutions in the presence of sulfate reducing bacteria. Environ. Sci. Technol., 33:2667-2675.
Lenhart, J.J., Figueroa, L.A., Honeyman, B.D. and Kaneko, D. (1997) Modeling the Adsorption of U(VI) onto Animal Chitin Using Coupled Mass Transfer and Surface Complexation Models. Colloids and Surfaces,120:243-254.
Neserke, G., Figueroa, L. and Cook, N.E. (1994) Zinc Removal in a Pilot-Scale Sulfate Reducing Biofilm Reactor, Proceedings of the 1994 ASCE Environmental Engineering Conference, July 1994, Boulder, CO.
Biotransformation of Nutrients
Noophan, P., Figueroa, L and Munakata-Marr, J, (2004) Nitrite oxidation inhibition by hydroxylamine: experimental and model evaluation Water Science & Technology 50:6:295-304.
Noophan (Lek) Pongsak, Figueroa Linda, and Munakata-Marr Junko. (2004). Nitrite Oxidation Inhibition by Hydroxylamine: (Experimental and Model Evaluation), Proceedings of International Conference on Wastewater Treatment for Nutrient Removal and Reuse (ICWNR 04). January 26-29 2004. Asian Institute Technology Thailand.
Biesterfeld, S., G. Farmer, L. Figueroa, D. Parker and P. Russell (2003)Quantification of Denitrification Potential in Carbonaceous Trickling Filters, Water Research,37/16:4011-4017.
Biesterfeld, S., L. Figueroa, G. Farmer, and P. Russell (2003) “Effect of Alkalinity Type and Concentration on Nitrifying Biofilm Activity” Wat. Env. Res.,75:196-204.
Biesterfeld,L., P. Russell, and L. Figueroa (2003) “Linking Biofilm Structure and Function Through Fluorescent In Situ Hybridization and Evaluation of Nitrification Capacity” Wat. Env. Res., 75:205-215.
Biesterfeld, S. and L.A. Figueroa (2002) Nitrifying Biofilm Development with Time: Activity versus Phylogenetic Composition, Water Environment Research, 74:470-479.
