Biography

Ayumi is a postdoctoral research fellow in the Energy Geosciences Division at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. She is a broadly trained geochemist and uses lab-, synchrotron/neutron-, and simulation-based techniques. Ayumi is particularly interested in nucleation and growth of crystals and fundamental properties of water at mineral interfaces. Current projects are focused on the use of in situ small-angle X-ray scattering and spectroscopic techniques to examine the growth mechanisms of carbonate minerals and associated uptake of trace elements; the role of surface hydrophilicity in nature and its impact on interfacial reactions; and clay swelling processes linked to its microstructural changes. She is a member of the Living Minerals Lab (PI: Michael Whittaker) and a collaborator in the Chemical Dynamics Lab (PI: Musahid Ahmed).

Ayumi received her MS in Environmental Geosciences from University of Lausanne, Switzerland, and her PhD in Environmental Geochemistry from Grenoble Alpes University, France. Prior to joining LBL, she was a postdoctoral research associate at the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Princeton University, USA.