Briana Aguila-Ames

Assistant Professor of Chemistry

Bio

Briana Aguila-Ames, Ph.D., is Assistant Professor of Chemistry in the Natural Sciences Division at New College of Florida. She received her B.S. in Chemistry from University of Florida and her Ph.D. in Chemistry from University of South Florida (under Prof. Shengqian Ma), where her research focused on the design and synthesis of functional porous materials for environmental applications such as water purification and resource recovery. She previously served as Assistant Professor at Francis Marion University and as Visiting Assistant Professor at New College of Florida. She has authored more than 50 peer-reviewed publications and holds patents in the field of functional materials. She is committed to undergraduate mentorship, having sponsored multiple senior theses and guided students toward research presentations, co-authored publications, and internships at national laboratories. Her current research focuses on carbon mineralization for permanent CO₂ storage, including collaborative work with scientists at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. She was recognized as an Emerging Investigator by Environmental Science: Nano and received the journal’s 2023 Outstanding Emerging Investigator Series Paper for her work in this area.