Being back at ASU with the NEWT REU program for the second summer in a row has been so much fun. Everyone has been so welcoming and patient while I learn the ropes of Dr. Sergi’s lab. I have my own desk in the office and the lab! (Which might not sound like a big deal, but it is to me).

As I don’t have a lot of experience with electrocatalysis, I was nervous to start but Gabriel has made everything to easy to understand. This is the first time I can say that I am not afraid to mess up because I have good communication with my mentor and I can bother him with questions all day.

Nitrate is one of the top 10 water violations in the U.S because of the use of fertilizers used to grow crops. The imbalance of nitrogen generates a problem, in this case a high nitrate concentration in water. My project this summer is to recover ammonia from nitrate using electrocatalysis and try to grow lettuce with it.  The benefit of this approach is to benefit to this approach is that we will not produce sludge not further water contamination. In addition we can incorporate renewable energy to use these kinds of electrochemical systems.