Emma Lopez (Environmental Engineering)

Emma Lopez (Environmental Engineering) About DOE Fellow Emma Lopez left the program to focus on her studies full-time as an undergraduate student. She graduated from Florida International University in the Fall of 2010 with Environmental Engineering and a minor in Earth science. After she left DOE, she worked at the Dean’s office in the College of Engineering and Computing from the Fall of 2009 until Spring of 2010 where she helped in different projects including a building a solar house. Her goal is to work for an organization that works on projects in less developed countries dealing with water resources or other environmental issues affecting the health and sanitation of the inhabitants of those countries. Emma is now living in Tampa pursing her PhD at the University of South Florida. She is currently a graduate research assistant at the Center for Reinventing Aging Infrastructure for Nutrient Management.

Accomplishments as DOE Fellow:
Ms. Emma Lopez worked on a project to support the Oak Ridge Reservation’s mercury remediation strategies. The proposed scope of work for 2009-2010 focuses on utilizing the integrated ground and surface water models of the White Oak Creek Watershed (WOC) and the area surrounding Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) buildings 4501 and 4505 in Tennessee which were developed in 2007-2008. The models will be used to simulate the environmental impacts of various remediation scenarios and the potential risks for increased contamination during D&D activities (especially in the vicinity of Buildings 4501 and 4505). The objective was to analyze the mercury cycle in the environment and to determine the fate and transport of contamination within the watersheds or the contaminated site. The model of the WOC watershed will be used to provide simulations of Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) which has been recommended by the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation regarding Oak Ridge streams. Ms. Lopez processed and analyzed available hydrologic and mercury concentration data to better understand the boundary conditions of the model. She provides insight for the use of TMDLs at the ORNL site by using different programs to graph the available data.