Brief Academic Bio
BSc in Geology | 2014 | Bahir Dar University (Ethiopia) | GPA: 4/4
MSc in Land Resources Engineering | 2017 | Free University of Brussels (Belgium) | Great Distinction
PhD in Earth Sciences | 2023 | University of Granada (Spain) | Cum Laude (Excellent)
Postdoctoral Researcher | March 2023 - June 2023 | University of Granada
Postdoctoral Scholar | July 2023 - Present | Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, California
PhD Thesis
My doctoral research, supervised by Prof. Juan Manuel Garcia-Ruiz, dealt with
mineral precipitation processes and hydrochemical evolution of hypersaline and hyperalkaline soda brines
testing mineral self-assembly in carbonate-rich soda lakes of the East African Rift Valley to learn about the plausibility of mineral self-assembly on alkaline oceans of early Earth
precipitation processes and dynamic diffusions across tubular calcium carbonate mineral membranes synthesized in soda lake water and carbonate solution and their implication to prebiotic chemistry
The scientific findings have been published in 4 peer-reviewed articles and presented at more than 7 scientific conferences and seminars.
During my doctoral study, I was part of the European Research Council-funded PROMETHEUS project led by Prof. García-Ruiz. As a member, I have participated in the scientific expedition to the hyperacidic hydrothermal field of Dallol, Danakil Depression (Ethiopia), and Rio Tinto, an acidic mine drainage site in southwestern Spain. I am also a member of the Dallol Project, a project aimed at monitoring the actively changing Dallol hydrothermal field based on citizen science.
Current Research
My research at Berkeley Lab focuses on the roles of interfacial water in chemical-mechanical processes accompanying rock formation, deformation, and utilization for energy and climate goals. Specifically, I study carbonate minerals' interfacial energy, thermodynamics, and stress-driven dissolution-precipitation processes. I utilize a gas adsorption analyzer (3Flex, Micromertics), calorimeter (CalvetPro, Setaram), and atomic force microscopy (Multimode 8 AFM, Bruker) to explore the interfacial energies of minerals.
Research Interest
I have a broad interest in geosciences research, mainly:
Mineral self-assembly
CO2 removal and mineralization
Carbonate geochemistry
Fluid-CO2-rock interaction
Environmental Geochemistry
My long-term career plan is to serve as a consultant in environmental services, climate, and sustainability sectors.
Skills
I developed skills in experimental crystallization, natural and synthetic materials characterization with powder/synchrotron X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, Raman and Infrared spectroscopies, and geochemical modeling of mineral equilibria with PHREEQC code. I have experience in hydrochemical analyses with titration and UV-VIS spectrophotometer. I have intermediate skills in Python and R programming, specifically applied to statistical data analyses and visualization.