Mariah Dorner grew up in Hugo, MN and completed her bachelor’s degree in biochemistry and molecular biology from the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire. Mariah received her Ph.D. from the department of Civil, Environmental, and Geo-Engineering (CEGE) at the University of Minnesota. She is working at the Twin Cities Metropolitan Council as an engineer in their research and development group. She will be doing R&D work to support the wastewater treatment systems in the Twin Cities metro area.

As a research assistant in the Behrens lab, Mariah investigated the effect of biochar on nutrient removal and contaminant degradation processes in activated sludge systems. Biochar is a carbonaceous solid produced by thermal decomposition of organic biomass under low oxygen conditions and has gained a lot of attention because of its sorptive and electron-shuttling properties that can enhance microbial transformation processes. Mariah’s experiments involve the operation of bench-scale sequencing batch reactors amended with biochar, chemical analyses of water quality parameters, and the structural and functional characterization of microbial communities. While her current focus is on evaluating the effects of biochar on microbial nutrient removal in wastewater bioreactors, she plans to expand her work to elucidate the effects of biochar on the degradation and fate of contaminants of emerging concern that enter our wastewater treatment systems The ARCS scholarship allowed Mariah to obtain additional resources to help advance her research, including, textbooks, workshops, conferences, and statistical software.

Mariah stayed active in her department by organizing a social group, Science Journal Club, for department graduate students and post-docs. She also served as Graduate Diversity Coordinator (GDC) in the CEGE department. In her role as GDC, she published a monthly newsletter, attends workshops, and organized events to foster inclusivity and diversity among students and faculty in the department. Mariah spends her precious free time playing ultimate frisbee, gardening, and tinkering with old bicycles.