Dr. Stephanie Spahr
Junior Research Group Leader - Aquatic Environmental Chemistry
Universität Tübingen
Zentrum für Angewandte Geowissenschaften (ZAG)
Schnarrenbergstr. 94-96
72076 Tübingen
Office: Room 4U21
Phone: +49-(0)7071-29-73124
Email: stephanie.spahr @uni-tuebingen.de
Main Research Areas
- Trace organic contaminants and metals in wastewater, stormwater, and drinking water: Occurrence, source identification, and elimination technologies
- Water treatment with carbonaceous adsorbents: Unraveling removal processes of organic contaminants using stable isotope analysis
- Chemical oxidation processes in water treatment: Elucidation of contaminant transformations
- Urban green infrastructure: Geomedia amendments for enhanced urban stormwater purification
Current group
Scientific Career
Since 2019 | Junior Research Group Leader, University of Tübingen, GermanyAquatic Environmental Chemistry |
2016 - 2019 | Postdoctoral Researcher, Stanford University, USADepartment of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Research Center for Re-Inventing the Nation’s Urban Water Infrastructure (ReNUWIt) |
2012 - 2016 | PhD in Environmental Chemistry Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne (EPFL), SwitzerlandDepartment of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Laboratory for Water Quality and Treatment & Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology (Eawag, Switzerland), Department of Environmental Chemistry Thesis: Formation of N -nitrosodimethylamine during water disinfection with chloramine: Insights into reaction mechanisms from isotope fractionation analyses. Advisors: Prof. Urs von Gunten, PD Dr. Thomas Hofstetter |
2010 - 2012 | Master of Science in Geoecology, University of Tübingen, GermanyThesis: Carbon and nitrogen isotope analysis of benzotriazoles (conducted for 8 months at Eawag, Switzerland) |
2007 - 2010 | Bachelor of Science in Geoecology / Ecosystem management University of Tübingen, GermanyThesis: Influence of AQDS on redox reactions in goethite-Fe(II) systems. |
Honors and Awards
2020 | Selected fellow in the Postdoc Academy for Transformational Leadership 2020-2022 (Robert Bosch Stiftung) |
2020 | Selected fellow in the Athene Program for early female career researchers at the University of Tübingen |
2019 | Selected participant in the Rising Environmental Leaders Program, Woods Institute for the Environment, Stanford University (CA, USA) |
2017 | Selected participant in the Civil and Environmental Engineering Rising Stars Workshop at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MA, USA) |
2014 | American Chemical Society (ACS) Certificate of Merit for outstanding first platform presentation (CA, USA) |
Teaching
- Hydrogeochemical Modeling
- Aquatic & Environmental Chemistry II - Lab Course
- Environmental Organic Isotope Chemistry
Peer-Reviewed Publications
Spahr, S., Teixido, M., Sedlak, D. L., Luthy, R. G. Hydrophilic trace organic contaminants in urban stormwater: Occurrence, toxicological relevance, and the need to enhance green stormwater infrastructure. Environmental Science: Water Research and Technology, 2020, 6, 15-44. |
Ashoori., N., Teixido, M., Spahr, S., LeFevre, G. H., Sedlak, D. L., Luthy, R. G. Evaluation of pilot-scale biochar-amended woodchip bioreactors to remove nitrate, metals, and trace organic contaminants from urban stormwater runoff. Water Research, 2019, 154, 1-11. |
Spahr, S., von Gunten, U., Hofstetter, T. B. Carbon, hydrogen, and nitrogen isotope fractionation trends in N-nitrosodimethylamine reflect the formation pathway during chloramination of tertiary amines. Environmental Science and Technology, 2017, 51 (22), 13170-13179. |
Spahr, S., Cirpka, O. A., von Gunten, U., Hofstetter, T. B. Formation of N-nitrosodimethylamine during chloramination of secondary and tertiary amines: Role of molecular oxygen and radical intermediates. Environmental Science and Technology, 2017, 51 (1), 280-290. |
Spahr, S., Bolotin, J., Schleucher, J., Ehlers, I., von Gunten, U., Hofstetter, T. B. Compound-specific carbon, nitrogen, and hydrogen isotope analysis of N-nitrosodimethylamine in aqueous solutions. Analytical Chemistry, 2015, 87(5), 2916-2924. |
Hofstetter, T. B., Bolotin, J., Pati, S. G., Skarpeli-Liati, M., Spahr, S., Wijker, R. S. Isotope effects as new proxies for organic pollutant transformation. CHIMIA International Journal for Chemistry, 2014, 68(11), 788-792. |
Huntscha, S., Hofstetter, T. B., Schymanski, E. L., Spahr, S., Hollender, J. Biotransformation of benzotriazoles: Insights from transformation product identification and compound-specific isotope analysis. Environmental Science and Technology. 2014, 48(8), 4435-4443. |
Spahr, S., Huntscha, S., Bolotin, J., Maier, M. P., Elsner, M., Hollender, J., Hofstetter, T. B. Compound-specific isotope analysis of benzotriazole and its derivatives. Analytical and Bioanalytical Chemistry. 2013, 405(9), 2843-2856. |