RENEW Director: Diana Aga

Dr. Diana Aga obtained her B.S. in Agricultural Chemistry degree from the University of the Philippines, Los Baños, and her Ph.D. degree in Analytical Chemistry at the University of Kansas.  She did her postdoctoral training at the Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology (EAWAG), Switzerland, and at the U.S. Geological Survey, Water Resources Division. Dr. Aga joined the UB faculty in August 2002. She is recipient of the following prestigious awards: ACS Fellow,  ACS AGRO Fellow, ACS Jacob F. Schoellkopf Medal, Alexander von Humboldt Fellowship, two Fulbright Fellowships, SETAC Menzie Environmental Education Award, National Science Foundation CAREER award, UB Excellence in Graduate Student Mentoring Award, SUNY Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Scholarship and Creative Activities, and the Philippine-American Academy of Science and Engineers (PAASE) Koh Lectureship Award in Science.

Dr. Aga’s current research involves investigating the fate and transport of contaminants in the environment, such as persistent organic pollutants, pesticides, pharmaceuticals, endocrine disrupting chemicals, and engineered nanomaterials. She is involved in the global monitoring of antibiotics in wastewater treatment plants and receiving waters, in an effort to combat antibiotic resistance in the environment. She also investigates the bioaccumulation and effects of chemical contaminants in humans, fish, and wildlife.  She is an expert in developing trace analytical methods for organic and heavy metal contaminants in complex environmental matrices based on chromatography and mass spectrometry (MS), including non-target analysis and MS-based metabolomics and exposomics using gas chromatography (GC) or liquid chromatography (LC) with high resolution MS. Her research includes evaluating the efficiencies of various advanced biological, physical, and chemical treatment processes in removing pharmaceuticals, antimicrobials, and antibiotic resistance genes in wastewater treatment plants, and in agroecosystems.