About Aria
Aria is an Assistant Professor of Biology at Whitworth University in Spokane, WA, where she leads the Duncan Environmental Lab. Her current research focuses on how wildfire smoke affects the biogeochemistry of orchard soils and plants, using apple orchards in the Inland Northwest as a model system.
Before joining Whitworth, she was a postdoctoral researcher at the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ) in Leipzig, Germany, in Dr. Muehe's Plant Biogeochemistry lab, where she studied how climate change may affect the transfer of metals from soil to carrots. She earned her PhD in Earth System Science at the Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability in Dr. Fendorf's Soil and Environmental Biogeochemistry lab. Her doctoral research focused on testing water management to protect rice production from the coupled stressors of soil arsenic contamination and climate change. Previously, she worked on modeling aquifer recharge using MODFLOW & FloPy as a Fulbright research fellow at the Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands. She wants to address societal needs with her research & enjoys being part of solutions for food and water security.
She is originally from Oregon & loves backpacking, rafting, rock climbing, traveling, & all-around adventuring. She also gardens quite a bit & enjoys growing thyme, sunflowers, & heirloom tomatoes. She plays French Horn & firmly believes it is the most beautiful instrument in the world.
