Karanikola Wins Early Career Scholars Award

The University of Arizona Office of the Provost selected three engineering faculty members for university-wide awards, which recognize excellence in research, teaching and outreach. One of the recipients is CHEE assistant professor Vicky Karanikola, who won an Early Career Scholars Award for her work in water purification research.

Karanikola earned her MS and PhD degrees in environmental engineering at the UA, and has researched water purification, particularly in the context of indigenous nations. 

The Early Career Scholars Award recognizes faculty who are at the forefront of their disciplines and making significant contributions to the priorities laid out in the university’s strategic plan.

Some of her current projects in the newly formed Karanikola Optimization Research for Environmental Sustainability Laboratory, or KORES Lab, focus on using novel materials to remove contaminants like per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS, and ammonia from drinking water. She’s also collaborating with the university’s Indigenous Food, Energy and Water Security and Sovereignty initiative, or Indige-FEWSS. The program aims to address challenges faced by indigenous communities, and Karanikola’s project is focused on waste stream management of water contaminated with uranium.

Much of Karanikola’s previous work involved indigenous communities as well. Since 2012, she has been working with Engineers Without Borders, an organization that partners with disadvantaged communities to help them meet their basic human needs. She's served as the vice president of the Mountain Region steering committee for the organization since 2016.

“It feels really good when your interests and passions are aligned with the university’s ideas and strategic plan,” she said. “It’s an honor to be a part of that larger mission and to be recognized for it.”