Maria Amaya
Faculty Mentor
Landon Marston
Assistant Professor
Research Areas/Interests
Sustainable Systems, Human-Water Interactions, Integrative Modeling
How long have you been in your postdoctoral position at Virginia Tech?
Began in August 2022
Briefly describe the research project you are working on as a postdoctoral associate at Virginia Tech. What is the problem you are addressing? What is the expected impact of your work?
During the Fall 2022 semester, I served as Instructor of Record for an undergraduate research course entitled "Investigating the feedback between urban development and water scarcity". I also mentored several undergraduate students who were conducting an independent research project within the Marston Research Group and helped them develop skills necessary to write an original research paper with intent to publish.
In January 2023, I began working on a research project funded by the United States Geological Survey entitled "Understanding the drivers of interbasin water transfers to identify and mitigate future conflict". My responsibilities for this project include integrating a rural system within an agent-based modeling framework to understand how socio-economic conditions and regulations shape water conflicts related to water transfer. From these projects, we will identify the feedbacks that exist between human and water systems and can offer policy recommendations to effectively address water scarcity issues in the Western United States.
Why did you choose to pursue postdoctoral training at Virginia Tech?
I received my doctorate in Civil Engineering, with a focus on Environmental and Water Resources, from Virginia Tech in May 2022. I became passionate about my topic of research and enjoyed the community that I had built during my years living in Blacksburg. Thus, when I was given the opportunity to remain at Virginia Tech to pursue postdoctoral training and expand my research into different aspects of human-water interactions, I was glad to accept the offer.
What are your career goals?
My future interests are broad in the field of water use and environmental responsbility towards sustainable development. Within this context, past and current research as stimulated my interest in promoting multidisciplinary collaborations for future research in analyzing alternative pathways to sustainable development and addressing strategic questions about the future.
My ultimate research objective is to identify pathways for addressing issues of water use and contamination while also supporting economic growth to achieve sustainable development.
I am also interested in teaching courses related to water resources and environmental curriculum as well as systems sustainability and resilience.
I think it is important for engineering students to cultivate skills necessary for interdisciplinary collaboration and sustainable development, which are topics of growing importance in industry, government, and academia. Thus, I am currently interested in a future career in academia and obtaining a tenure-track faculty position.
How do you see the resources available to postdoctoral associates at Virginia Tech generally and via this program specifically being helpful to your career and professional development?
There are several skills I hope to build over this year-long program, including writing, networking, presentation, and teaching skills. Attending grant writing workshops organized by the program will better prepare me to successfully apply for grants and fellowships, which are a crucial part of academic research. Participating in social and networking experiences will also give me the opportunity to build professional networks with individuals conducting research related to my own.
I plan to use the professional development funds that come with participation in this program to travel to other universities to give guest lectures and presentations at seminars. These experiences will allow me to enhance my skilsl as a presenter and make connections with facutly at other institutions, expnaind my professional network.
Finally, while participating in the program, I plan to also develop skills necessary for treaching, such as developing courses and understanding how to engage students, which will allow me to be an effective educator in the future. I believe that cultivating these skills will make me a competitive candidate for faculty positions.