Student Profile

Maia Colyar   "CCS gives me the freedom to find out exactly what my interests are and the flexibility to study what I'm passionate about ."

class of 2012

What CCS Means to Me:

Coming into UCSB I was all over the place in terms of what I wanted to study.  I went through Aquatic Biology, Chemical Engineering, Geography and Hydrology before landing in Chemistry.  CCS gives me the freedom to find out exactly what my interests are and the flexibility to study what I'm passionate about.  This has enabled me to explore hydrology through a minor in Earth Sciences while continuing my chemistry studies.

Future Plans

I hope to apply my knowledge of chemistry in the hydrology field to secure clean water for our future.  I am undecided about graduate school but definitely considering it.  Before settling down in a career I would like to explore the South Pacific either through study abroad or an international internship. 

Awards

Burnham Scholarship for Engineering and Applied Sciences 2008-2012

Current Research

At the Bren School (UCSB) under Dr. Keller:
The lab studies how nanoparticles move through water, soil and sediments.  We do experiments to see if they aggregate, or how quickly they degrade, and how they attach to different surfaces.  Specifically, I have tested the aggregation and dissolution rates of zinc oxide in various conditions.  Right now I am conducting experiments to measure how compact the aggregates of different types of titanium dioxide nanoparticles are and what the equilibrium time is for the adsorption of various organic molecules onto titanium dioxide. 

At the Institute of Hydrochemistry (TUM) under Dr. Baumann:
I had the opportunity to live in Munich for two months during summer 2010.  I ran experiments in a micromodel testing how fluorescent dye and fluorescently labeled colloids behaved at the interface of water and hexadecane.