Dr. Cristina Marcillo
PHD FELLOW ALUMNI | Global Change Center
Senior Analyst Regulatory Reporting, BP
VT Alumni March 2020, Biological Systems Engineering
Advisor: Dr. Leigh-Anne Krometis
cemarcillo@gmail.com
Cristina is currently a Senior Analyst for Regulatory Reporting with British Petroleum (BP). She previously held the position of Interdisciplinary Scientist / Environmental Engineer at the US Environmental Protection Agency.
Cristina has always been interested in understanding the natural world around her. She first learned of environmental engineering from her high school science teachers at Boston Latin School, who expressed the importance of using science and engineering to benefit society.
In the spring 2016, Cristina graduated with a B.S. in Environmental Engineering from Saint Francis University. While there, she researched the co-treatment of acid mine drainage with municipal wastewater in central PA and Potosí, Bolivia, a promising method to treat both waste streams. As an REU student at Clarkson University, she has also investigated the persistence of pesticides in Adirondack lake sediments.
In August 2016, Cristina joined the Department of Biological Systems Engineering as a PhD student under Dr. Leigh-Anne Krometis. Her research identified drinking water challenges distinct between urban and rural regions of the US to quantify community contaminant exposure, under the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA). This study used geospatial tools, with Virginia as a pilot state, to identify at-risk communities and water systems for subsequent public health intervention. In the second part of her research, US drinking water legislation was contrasted with developing nation water policy in Guatemala. Increased resource extraction in rural Guatemala has led to national concern over contaminated drinking water sources. While Guatemala has set drinking water standards for a number of hazardous contaminants, policy enforcement and community-right-to-know provisions are significantly limited. A pilot study in San Rafael Las Flores, Guatemala sets baseline water quality data for households served by public drinking water systems and recommends policy improvements from lessons learned through the US SDWA. Cristina successfully defended her dissertation in March of 2021.
Cristina was also highly involved with outreach programs that promote diversity in engineering and engage young students in engineering problem solving. As a past graduate assistant with VT’s Center for the Enhancement of Engineering, she worked with the NSF-funded Network for Engineering Transfer Students program, which provides multiple forms of support to low income and underrepresented minority community college students to transfer to Virginia Tech College of Engineering. She was also the graduate student adviser for the Pre-College Initiative program within the National Society of Black Engineers, where underrepresented minority high school students travel to Virginia Tech to explore various engineering discipline through a day of hands-on activities and networking with faculty and students. She also volunteered with VT’s Partnering with Educators and Engineers in Rural Schools program in the Engineering Education department, which develops and teaches engineering curricula to middle school students in rural VA to inspire the pursuit of STEM careers.
The ICG IGEP provides PhD students with a unique intellectual focus and training, gaining depth in their specific scientific area of expertise, while simultaneously gaining breadth in the multifaceted realm of global change and the science-policy interface.
When students complete our program, they remain part of our broad community by becoming part of our Global Alumni Network. Our alumni are invited to participate in our graduate seminar courses, provide keynote remarks at our annual graduate research symposium, return to Virginia Tech for GCC gatherings, network with current students regarding career opportunities, and stay connected to each other.
