William Borkan

I grew up in Kinłání (Flagstaff), Arizona in the ponderosa pine forest at the base of Dookʼoʼoosłííd (Mt. Humphreys). During my undergraduate program at the University of Denver I worked as a field archaeologist in the Great Plains, the Pacific Northwest, and the southwest United States. Upon completing my Bachelor’s of Arts in 2013, I worked for 3 years mostly in Wyoming and 3 more years in California. It was through my work as an archaeologist monitoring remediation of Chrome-6 on the Colorado River that I became interested in studying heavy metal contamination which is so prevalent in the soil and groundwater of Northern Arizona. I retired from my job in the fall of 2019 to pursue a graduate degree in Soil and Water Science in Cuk ṣon (Tucson). I just completed that degree this semester and now have a Master’s of Science from the Department of Environmental Science at the University of Arizona (2023). During my degree program, I worked in the Contaminant Transport Lab with Dr. Mark Brusseau and Asma El Ouni, studying uranium transport through fractured rock cores as well as transport and fate of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). I was also part of Dr. Karletta Chief’s NSF Indigenous Food, Energy, Water Security, and Sovereignty (Indige-FEWSS) Traineeship from 2021-2022, where I studied the food-energy-water nexus and taught some of that knowledge to tribal college students at Diné College. As part of my traineeship I participated in a 10 week internship with the Navajo Nation EPA Superfund Program in 2021, studying the persisting contamination of abandoned uranium mines on the Navajo Nation. I aspire to use the skills gained through my graduate education and work experiences to expand my science communication and outreach abilities in the Integrated Environmental Science and Health Risk Laboratory with Dr. Mónica Ramírez-Andreotta. In my free time I enjoy spending time with my partner and our animals, as well as biking, trail running, cooking, and skiing/snowboarding when I have time and the snow is good.