Stephanie Spahr

Stephanie Spahr is a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Stanford University under the supervision of Professor Richard Luthy. Her research focuses on the fate and removal of trace organic contaminants such as pesticides, pharmaceuticals, and industrial chemicals in natural aquatic systems and engineered water treatment schemes. Within the NSF Engineering Research Center for Re-Inventing the Nation's Urban Water Infrastructure (ReNUWIt) and in close collaboration with UC Berkeley and the City and County of Los Angeles, she is currently investigating novel biochar-based stormwater purification systems for enhanced removal of heavy metals and trace organic contaminants from urban stormwater for safe aquifer recharge. Her research combines laboratory experiments with field work in Southern California with the goal to translate research findings into practice.

In 2016, Stephanie received her PhD in Environmental Chemistry from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne (EPFL). The research for her PhD and Master's thesis was conducted at the Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology (Eawag), where she explored the use of compound-specific isotope analysis to elucidate formation mechanisms of toxic disinfection by-products (N-nitrosamines) during water chloramination and investigate sources and biotransformation of the corrosion inhibitor benzotriazole. Stephanie obtained her Bachelor's and Master's degree in Geoecology at the Eberhard Karls University of Tubingen in Germany.