Laboratories
ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING LABORATORY – LIA-USFQ
Office: Maxwell, M-005, USFQ
Phone: (+593 2) 297-1700 ext. 1217 o 1270
E-mail: liausfq@usfq.edu.ec
Approach
To develop scientific research projects on prevention, treatment, and control of pollution. Additionally, the LIA-USFQ provides the highest quality services to the external community in environmental samples' physical-chemical analysis. It also advises private and public companies, NGOs, and international organizations on environmental issues. The Environmental Engineering Lab works in the following research lines:
- Freshwater
- Treatment of domestic and industrial effluents
- Bioremediation
- Biofuels
- Innovation and Sustainability
Projects
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The LIA-USFQ has carried out several research projects together with foreign universities such as the University of Arizona, USA; University of North Carolina, Chapel-Hill, USA; University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, USA; Queen's University, Canada; the Institute of Hydrology of the University of Freibur, Germany; and the French Institute for Research for Development, IRD-France.
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The Lia-USFQ has developed several advisory and consulting projects, and has worked with the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), Water National Secretariat, (Secretaria Nacional del Agua- SENAGUA), Ministry of the Environment and Water (MAE), National Electricity Council (CONELEC), Municipal Water and Sewerage Company, Riobamba (EP-EMAPAR) among others.
Publications
| Year | Title | Authors | Document |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | Governance Mechanisms and Barriers for Achieving Water Quality Improvements in Galapagos. | Cristina Mateus, Melanie Valencia, Kara DiFrancesco, Valeria Ochoa-Herrera, Todd Gartner and Diego Quiroga | Download |
| 2020 | New Ecuadorian records of the eyeless banjo catfish Micromyzon akamai (Siluriformes: Aspredinidae) expand the species range and reveal intraspecific morphological variation | Junior Chuctaya, Andrea C. Encalada, Karla S. Barragán, Maria L. Torres, Karla E. Rojas, Valeria Ochoa-Herrera, Tiago P. Carvalho | Download |
| 2020 | Determination of the Microbial and Chemical Loads in Rivers from the Quito Capital Province of Ecuador (Pichincha)—A Preliminary Analysis of Microbial and Chemical Quality of the Main Rivers | Pamela Borja-Serrano, Valeria Ochoa-Herrera, Laurence Maurice, Gabriela Morales, Cristian Quilumbaqui, Eduardo Tejera, António Machado | Download |
| 2020 | Heavy metal assessment in drinking waters of Ecuador: Quito, Ibarra and Guayaquil | Isabel Cipriani-Avila ; Jon Molinero ; Eliza Jara-Negrete ; Miren Barrado ; César Arcos ; Santiago Mafla ; Fernando Custode ; Gissela Vilaña ; Natalia Carpintero ; Valeria Ochoa-Herrera | Download |
| 2020 | The challenge of achieving safely managed drinking water supply on San Cristobal island, Galápagos | AM Grube, JR Stewart, V Ochoa-Herrera | Download |
| 2019 | Copper effect in sulfate removal using a fixed bed reactor | Cynthia Denisse Loreto Munoz, Maria Teresa Certucha Barragan, Francisco Javier Almendariz Tapia, Valeria Ochoa-Herrera, Onofre Monge Amaya | Download |
| 2019 | Actualización de la huella de carbono de la Universidad San Francisco de Quito para el año 2015 | Salazar, F., Valencia, M., Velasco, A., & Ochoa-Herrera, V. de L. | Download |
| 2019 | An Integrated Approach for Evaluating Water Quality between 2007-2015 in Santa Cruz Island in the Galapagos Archipelago. | Cristina Mateus, Christian A. Guerrero, Galo Quezada, Daniel Lara and Valeria Ochoa-Herrera | Download |
| 2019 | An integrative approach to identify the impacts of multiple metal contamination sources on the Eastern Andean foothills of the Ecuadorian Amazonia | Mariana Vellosa Capparelli, Gabriel Massaine Moulatlet, Denis Moledo de Souza Abessa, Oscar Lucas-Solis, Bryan Rosero, Emily Galarza, Damian Tuba, Natalia Carpintero, Valeria Ochoa-Herrera, Isabel Cipriani-Avila | Download |
| 2019 | Validating anthropogenic threat maps as a tool for assessing river ecological integrity in Andean-Amazon basins. PEERJ 7. | Lessmann, J., M. J. Troya, A. S. Flecker, W. C. Funk, J. M. Guayasamin, V. Ochoa-Herrera, N. L. Poff, E. Suarez, and A. C. Encalada. | Download |
| 2019 | Drinking water quality in areas impacted by oil activities in Ecuador: Associated health risks and social perception of human exposure | Laurence Maurice, Fausto López, Sylvia Becerra, Hala Jamhoury, Karyn Le Menach, Marie-Hélène Dévier, Hélène Budzinski, Jonathan Prunier, Guilhem Juteau-Martineau, Valeria Ochoa-Herrera, Diego Quiroga, Eva Schreck | Download |
| 2019 | Construcción y operación de una cámara anaeróbica de bajo costo para la siembra y el cultivo de bacterias sulfato reductoras | Aracely Zambrano-Romero, Nelson Herrera-Moreno, Gabriel Trueba, Reyes Sierra-Álvarez, Antonio León-Reyes, Valeria Ochoa-Herrera | Download |
| 2018 | Towards a Sustainable Energy-Efficient Future at Universities, Universidad San Francisco de Quito Case Study, Phase I | Melanie Valencia, Sofia Villacreses, Diego S Benítez, Alexandra Velasco, Valeria Ochoa-Herrera | Download |
| 2018 | Wastewater treatment for nutrient removal with Ecuadorian native microalgae | MB Benítez, P Champagne, A Ramos, AF Torres, V Ochoa-Herrera | Download |
| 2018 | Understanding the limits of assessing sustainability at Universidad San Francisco de Quito, Ecuador while reporting for a North American system | Velasco, A., Valencia, M., Morrow, S. and Ochoa-Herrera, V. | Download |
| 2018 | Changes in microbial composition during the removal of copper and zinc in a bioreactor with a limestone pre-column system | María Aracely Zambrano | Download |
| 2018 | Calidad de los rios y salud de los ecosistemas acuaticos en la Amazonia= Qualité des rivières et et santé des écosystèmes aquatiques en Amazonie | Laurence Maurice, J Mena, C Moreno, J Prunier, L Laffont, V Ochoa-Herrera, AC Encalada | Download |
| 2018 | El agua superficial y el agua de consume: riesgos para salud= L'eau de surface et l'eau de consomation: quels risques pour la santé des populations riveraines? | Laurence Maurice, Lopez F., Jamourhy H., Le Menach K., Devier M.H., Budzinski H., Ochoa-Herrera V., Schreck E. | Download |
| 2018 | Estimation of Landfill Methane Generation from Solid Waste Management Options in the Galapagos Islands | Rodny Peñafiel, Lucila Pesántez, Valeria Ochoa-Herrera | Download |
| 2017 | Distribution, contents and health risk assessment of metal(loid)s in small-scale farms in the Ecuadorian Amazon: an insight into oil activities impacts | Barraza, F., Maurice, L., Uzu, G., Becerra, S., Lopez, F., Ochoa-Herrera, V., Ruales, J. and Schreck, E. | Download |
| 2016 | Microbial toxicity and biodegradability of perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) and shorter chain perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) | Ochoa-Herrera, V.,Field, J.A., Luna-Velasco, A. and Sierra-Alvarez, R. | Download |
| 2015 | Analysis of major cations in bottom sediments from oil impacted rivers in the Ecuadorian Amazon | Pérez, C. G., Maurice, L., Ochoa-Herrera, V., López, F., Egas, D. A., Lagane, C. and Besson, P. | Download |
| 2015 | Electronic waste recycling campaign at Universidad San Francisco de Quito, Ecuador | Dalgo, D. Ochoa-Herrera, V., Pérez, G., Parra, R., Peñafiel, R., Sáenz, M. and Velasco, A. | Download |
| 2015 | Methane gas generation from palm oil mill effluent in experimental biodigesters | Garzon, P. Ochoa-Herrera, V. and Peñafiel, R. | Download |
| 2014 | Anaerobic digestion of fruit and vegetable wastes from Tumbaco's central market in Ecuador in semi-batch bioreactors – laboratory scale | Castelo, P., Peñafiel, R. and Ochoa-Herrera, V. | Download |
| 2014 | Sustainable algal growth in bench-scale reactors for biodiesel production in Ecuador | Ochoa-Herrera, V.,Ruiz, G., Dávila, A. G., Dischinger, S. and Peñafiel, R. | Download |
| 2014 | Contaminants as habitat disturbers: PAH-driven drift by andean paramo stream insects | Araujo, C.V.M., Moreira-Santos, M., Sousa, J. P., Ochoa-Herrera, V., Encalada, A. C., Ribeiro, R. | Download |
| 2014 | Active avoidance from a crude oil soluble fraction by an Andean paramo copepod | Araujo, C.V.M., Moreira-Santos, M., Sousa, J. P., Ochoa-Herrera, V., Encalada, A. C., Ribeiro, R. | Download |
| 2014 | A baseline analysis of the quality of water resources on San Cristóbal Island, Galápagos | Ochoa-Herrera, V., Eskew, O., Overbey, K., Palermo, F. and Peñafiel, R. | Download |
| 2013 | Effect of the substrate as electron donor during the microbial sulfate reduction and its posible applications in the biological treatment of acid mine drainage | Andrade, V. and Ochoa-Herrera, V. | Download |
| 2013 | On the role of vitamin B-12 in the reductive dehalogenation of perfluorinated persistent organic pollutants: A DFT study | Duenas-Fadic, M. E., Ochoa-Herrera, V., Mendez, M. A., Zambrano, C. H., Torres, F. J. | Download |
| 2013 | Tratamiento físico-químico de los drenajes ácidos de mina con piedra caliza | Ochoa-Herrera, V., Riofrío, L. and Peñafiel, R. | Download |
| 2013 | Remoción de contaminantes de aguas residuales del procesamiento de pieles mediante un reactor de mezcla controlada | Peñafiel, R., Cerón P., Ochoa-Herrera, V. | Download |
| 2011 | Toxicity of copper(II) ions to microorganisms in biological wastewater treatment systems | Ochoa-Herrera, V.,Leon, G., Banihani, Q., Field, J. A. and Sierra-Alvarez, R. | Download |
| 2011 | Developmentof Analytical Methods to Quantify Perfluorooctane Sulfonate and Related Compounds in the Environment | Valeria Ochoa-Herrera, Jim A Field, Reyes Sierra-Alvarez | Download |
| 2010 | Determinación de la Persistencia de Compuestos Perfluorinados en Plantas de Tratamiento de Aguas Residuales Municipales mediante LC-MS/MS | Ochoa-Herrera, V. Field, J.A., y Sierra-Alvarez, R. | Download |
| 2009 | Response to Comment by Sierra Rayne and Kaya Forest on "Ab Initio Study of the Structural, Electronic, and Thermodynamic Properties of Linear Perfluorooctane Sulfonate (PFOS) and its Branched Isomers" | Torres, F.J., Ochoa-Herrera, V., Blowers, P. and Sierra-Alvarez, R. | Download |
| 2009 | Ab initio study of the structural, electronic, vibrational and thermodynamic properties of linear perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) and its branched isomers | Torres, F.J., Ochoa-Herrera, V., Blowers, P. and Sierra-Alvarez, R. | Download |
| 2009 | Toxicity of fluoride to microorganisms in biological wastewater treatment systems | Ochoa-Herrera, V.,Banihani, Q., León , G., Khatri, C., Field, J.A. and Sierra-Alvarez, R. | Download |
| 2008 | Removal of perfluorinated surfactants by sorption onto granular activated carbon, zeolite and sludge | Ochoa-Herrera, V.and Sierra-Alvarez, R. | Download |
| 2008 | Reductive Defluorination of Perfluorooctanesulfonate (PFOS) | Ochoa-Herrera, V., Sierra-Alvarez, R., Somogyi, A., Jacobsen, N., Wysocki, V., Field, J. | Download |
Team work
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- Valeria Ochoa-Herrera, Ph.D., Director
- Eng. Wendy Vernaza, Technical Analyst
- Eng. Natalia Carpintero, Technical Analyst
- Eng. Amanda Michelle López, Instructor
- Eng. Ana Lucía Noboa, Technical Analyst
- MSc. Aracely Zambrano, Responsible for Warehouses, controlled reagents, and hazardous waste
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USFQ 4TH and 5th year students of Environmental Engineering and other Engineering faculties
our vision
The LIA-USFQ Environmental Engineering Lab seeks to be a national benchmark in education and Project development to solve current conflicts on environmental issues.
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OUR MISSION
The Environmental Engineering Lab of the San Francisco de Quito University trains critical thinking professionals to face current environmental problems through research projects under the direction of professors and researchers to strengthen knowledge acquired in science environmental subjects based on the principle of liberal arts.
