Angela Karina Montano Herazo is a Chemical Engineering Master’s Student at the University of Puerto Rico Mayaguez Campus, and is currently pursuing a research project under PREM. Angela enjoys playing chess, reading romantic books, listening to music, watching horror movies and going out to eat with her family and friends.
Angela was born and raised in Barranquitas Colombia where she completed her Bachelor’s degree in Chemical Engineering at the Atlantic University. During this period in her life, she was motivated to form part of different experiences that would enrich her academic and personal life. Angela’s first research experience was when she joined the Microalgae’s, Applied Physical-chemistry and Environmental Studies research group. Her work was oriented towards the bioremediation of dyes and heavy metals in water. Her project was entitled the Evaluation of the use of the microalgae Chlorella sp. in the lair motion of caffeine. During this experience, Angela was able to acquire high scientific skills and experience in this field.
Angela also participated in the Caribbean Chemical Congress and at the V International Agro-alimentary Symposium. She also presented a poster at the II International Seminar of Environmental Sciences and was a speaker at the XI Congress of Phycology of Latin America and the Caribbean. One of Angela’s biggest accomplishments was the publication of her first Scientific article titled Bioremediation of Cephalexin with Nonliving Chlorella sp., Biomass after Lipid Extraction. The article was published in February 2018 in the Bioresource Technology magazine of the Elsevier publishing house and has an impact factor of 5.651.
Once Angela completed her bachelor’s degree in, she was told about the Chemical Engineering program at the University of Puerto Rico Mayaguez Campus and decided to apply. Angela was admitted in August 2018, and she began looking at the different research opportunities within her field of interest, which is how she met Dr. Nelson Cardona Martínez, director of IRT 2. Since January 2019, Angela has been a part of Dr. Cardona’s research group and is currently working on catalytic nanomaterials, focused on the development of a catalyst post-synthesis method to prevent the formation of extra framework metal oxides in the preparation of Lewis catalysts to produce AHAs from sugars. Angela joined PREM because she also wanted to participate and different events where she can interact with the younger audience and motivate them into pursuing careers in STEM.
She feels fortunate to be able to work in the nanostructured catalytic materials laboratory. She mentioned that her coworkers are very nice people and that she has the tools to carry out my research work. She also added that her advisor is always ready to clarify my doubts and provides positive feedback.
Angela is a passionate and talented student, whose goal is to help others through her research and to learn from other projects and experiences.
