Luana de Brito Anton Postdoctoral fellow

I am an environmental chemist investigating how sunlight transforms organic contaminants in aquatic environments. I grew up in the Amazon region of Brazil, near the largest river in the world, which inspired my commitment to water quality and environmental sustainability—challenges I've pursued through my academic career so far.

I earned my B.S. in Chemical Engineering from the Federal University of Amazonas (Brazil), my M.Eng. in Chemical Engineering from the National Graduate School of Chemistry in Montpellier (France), and my Ph.D. in Environmental Engineering from New York University (USA).

My doctoral research focused on pesticide photodegradation in water—understanding how these chemicals break down under sunlight in water. I developed methods to measure degradation parameters for multiple pesticides, identified how different reactive species contribute to transformation, and developed a predictive models to assess the photodegradation rates of pesticides in diverse aquatic systems.

Now as a postdoc at ACES, I'm now investigating dissolved organic matter composition in Swedish waters influences photochemical contaminant transformation. My aim is developing reliable frameworks that translate controlled laboratory experiments into predictions for diverse real-world conditions—work that supports both environmental risk assessment and advances toward more sustainable chemical design.

Research interests:

• Sunlight-driven transformation of contaminants in natural and engineered water systems
• Dissolved organic matter chemistry and photoreactivity
• Predictive modeling for environmental fate assessment
• Advanced analytical methods for degradation studies
• Water treatment optimization for trace organic contaminants