Violaine Desgens-Martin

Year Admitted
2016

Year Graduated
2023

Research Areas
Marine biology; aquatic toxicology; fate, transport, and effects of pharmaceuticals and personal care products in marine environments.

Faculty Advisor
Arturo Keller

Committee
Patricia Holden, Scott Jasechko

Dissertation Title & Abstract

Assessing Ecological Risks of Pharmaceuticals and Personal Care Products in Central and Southern California Aquatic Environments using Modeling

Pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs) and per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are compounds found in the environment due to their release from various sources such as wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs). Continued monitoring of their environmental loads and ecotoxicity risks is warranted, especially for novel compounds for which there is little to no environmental or ecotoxicity data available. This was done in this dissertation using a predictive fate and transport modeling tool, ChemFate, in combination with the analytical results from freshwater samples collected downstream from Southern and Central California WWTPs in order to contribute data on the environmental concentrations, factors driving PFAS and PPCP loads to WWTPs, and assess ecological risks to exposed aquatic organisms.

Education
MS, Biology California State University, Long Beach
BS, Biomedical Sciences, Université de Montréal