Expertise:
Environmental Toxicology, X-ray Absorption Spectroscopy, Urban Soils, Toxic Metals, Water Quality, Soil Chemistry, Soil Science, Soil Fertility, Environmental ScienceMiranda Aiken is a soil biogeochemist whose research explores how toxic metals move through urban soils and pose risks to human health and the environment. She studies the mineral, chemical, and biological factors that control when and how these metals are released from soil into water sources used for drinking water and agriculture. Her work also examines how these processes are shaped by human activity and global climate change, with a focus on understanding long-term environmental impacts.
Her current research projects also includes studies on the large-scale prevalence of manganese in California drinking water systems and how biogeochemical controls on trace metal contamination of groundwater can help improve water quality during aquifer recharge.
Aiken is also investigating how the spatial distribution of arsenic in mine tailings impacts future bioaccessibility. Using advanced X-ray imaging techniques, her team can pinpoint where arsenic is located within individual soil particles, which influences how easily it can become available to the human body or the environment. This information helps predict both short- and long-term risks from exposure to contaminated soils and supports efforts to prioritize site cleanup.
Through her research on soil contamination she can comment on what chemicals might be found in soils after a wildfire burns in or adjacent to urban areas and developing an understanding of how impacted soils might be remediated.
Recent Grants and Fellowships:
- Agricultural Research Institute Seed Grant Letter, “Understanding the mobility of redox-sensitive contaminants in small-scale agricultural groundwater recharge basins: Pilot study at the Spadra Farm,” $10,000, (Invited to apply as of Spring 2025)
- Chapman University Schmid College of Science and Technology, Grand Challenges Initiative Postdoctoral Fellow $20,000 (2022-2024)
- Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Lightsource User Proposal S-XV-ST-6721, “Accelerated natural weathering effects on arsenic speciation and bioaccessibility in contaminated mine tailings, 70 8-hour shifts for X-ray absorption spectroscopic analysis,” (2022-2024)
- Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Lightsource User Proposal S-XV-ST-6319, “Characterizing Mn(II) attenuation mechanisms in the subsurface through sorption to iron oxide and clay mineral surfaces, 65 8-hour shifts for X-ray absorption spectroscopic analysis,” (2022-2024)
- Co-Principal Investigator, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, U54 Health Disparities Research Center FIRST Grant, “Could replenishing California’s groundwater adversely affect water quality and disadvantaged communities?” $30,000 (2021-2022)
- Co-Principal Investigator, Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Lightsource User Proposal 5273, “Vanadium dynamics in the presence of partially passivated manganese oxides. 73 8-hour shifts for X-ray absorption spectroscopic analysis,” (2020-2022)
- Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Lightsource User Proposal 5594, “Geogenic iron, manganese, and arsenic dynamics in flood managed aquifer recharge basins, 65 8- hour shifts for X-ray absorption spectroscopic analysis,” (2020- 2022)
Interviews:
- “Sulfate enhances the adsorption and retention of Cu(II) and Zn(II) to dispersed and aggregated iron oxyhydroxide nanoparticles,” Applied Geochemistry, 2024 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apgeochem.2024.105929
- With M. Abernathy, I. Lee, M. V. Schaefer and S.C. Ying, “Inhibition of chromium (III) oxidation through manganese (IV) oxide passivation and iron (II) abiotic reduction at soil redox interfaces,” ACS Earth and Space, 2023 http://doi.org/10.1021/acsearthspacechem.3c00141
- With G. Goldsmith, H. Camarillo-Abad, K. Diki, D. Gardner, M. Stipcic and J. Espeleta, “Overcoming the Barriers to Teaching Teamwork to Undergraduates in STEM,” In Review at CBE Life Sciences Education, 2023
- With M. Ramachandran, C. Pace, K. Schwabe, H. Ajami, B. Link and S.C. Ying, “Disparities in drinking water manganese concentrations in domestic wells and community water systems in the Central Valley, CA, USA.” Environmental Science & Technology, 2022 https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.2c08548
- With S.C. Ying, “Small community water systems have the highest prevalence of Mn in drinking water in California, USA,” Environmental Science & Technology Water, 2022 https://doi.org/10.1021/acsestwater.3c00007
- With M.V. Schaefer, M. Plaganas, M. Abernathy, A. Garniwan, I. Lee and S.C. Ying, “Manganese, arsenic, and carbonate interactions in model oxic groundwater systems,” Environmental Science & Technology, 2020 https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.0c02084
Education:
B.S., Environmental Science Toxicology, University of California, Riverside
Ph.D. Environmental Toxicology, University of California, Riverside