Dr. Lena Q. Ma earned her B.S. degree from Shenyang Agricultural University of P.R. China, and her M.S. and Ph.D. degrees from Colorado State University. She has been working in the Soil and Water Science Department at the University of Florida for the past 9 years, currently as an Associate Professor. Her research focuses on biogeochemistry of trace metals emphasizing soil contamination and remediation, especially phytoremediation. She pioneered the in situ remediation technology of phosphate-induced lead immobilization in soils. Her research group has recently discovered the first known arsenic hyperaccumulating plant, Chinese Brake fern (Pteris vittata), which is published in Nature. She served as Division Chair of S-11 Soils and Environment Quality and an Associate Editor for J. Environ. Qual. of American Society of Soil Science. She recently received the Discovery 2001 Award sponsored jointly by Royal Geographical Society and Discovery Networks Europe and is also the recipient of 2001 Gamma Sigma Delta Junior Faculty Award at University of Florida.

Email address: lqma@ufl.edu