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Contact information Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory Building 361, Rm 1940 |
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Education
- PhD, Civil Engineering (Environmental), University of California, Los Angeles
- MS, Civil Engineering (Environmental), University of California, Los Angeles
- BS, Environmental Science, University of California, Los Angeles
Research
Nancy Merino started working at LLNL in January 2019 and her research interests encompass geobiology, environmental microbiology, astrobiology, bioinformatics, and microbe-metal interactions. Merino's current projects include (1) the biodegradation of plastic polymers found in rare-earth magnets, (2) microbial impact on actinide mobility in the environment, focusing on an iron-rich freshwater stratified pond, and (3) climate change impacts on terrestrial wetlands.
Previous Research
- Postdoctoral scholar at the Earth-Life Science Institute and University of Southern California: Analysis of the microbial community living in a serpentinite-hosted system using single-cell genomics
- MetaSUB international consortia member: Microbial community analyses of the built environment in Tokyo and Los Angeles
- Ph.D. thesis and internship at DuPont: Biotransformation of polyfluoroalkyl and perfluoroalkyl substances using fungi and bacteria
Selected Honors and Awards
- DARPA BRACE Concrete Assisted by Particles Sealed Under Large-scale Encapsulation (CAPSULE) FY23-FY27
- LDRD LW Microbial Recycling of Plastic Polymer-Bonded Rare-Earth Magnets FY22-FY23
- ELSI Origins Network (EON) Postdoctoral Fellowship 2016–2018
- UCLA Dissertation Year Program Award 2015
- Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) STAR Fellowship 2011–2014