Dr. Amrika Deonarine receives 2024-2025 Charles L. Burford Faculty Award by the WCOE Teaching and Service Awards Committee. She has a strong personal commitment to training the next generation of researchers in the environmental sciences. We appreciate all her hard work!

Dr. Amrika Deonarine is an Assistant Professor in Environmental Engineering at Texas Tech University. Dr. Deonarine completed a BS in Civil and Environmental Engineering at Florida International University in Miami, FL, followed by a Ph.D. in Civil and Environmental Engineering at Duke University in Durham, NC, USA. Dr. Deonarine’s research focus is trace element biogeochemistry, and she works on projects which broadly address questions related to trace element biogeochemical cycling and associated risks to drinking water and food sources. Specific topics include understanding mercury speciation and its transformation to methylmercury, arsenic speciation and toxicity in foods, and recovery of critical minerals and rare earth elements from waste streams.