ALAMOGORDO, N.M. - The Bureau of Reclamation is pleased to announce the selection of Malynda Aragon Cappelle, Ph.D., as the manager of the Brackish Groundwater National Desalination Research Facility in southern New Mexico. Cappelle will provide more than 20 years of experience focused on water and energy to the facility.
“Malynda brings a variety of experience in the field of water treatment to BGNDRF," said Yuliana Porras-Mendoza, Reclamation’s research coordinator for advanced water treatment. “Malynda’s face is a familiar one at BGNDRF as she has spent many hours utilizing the facility as a client conducting research. We look forward to having her expertise at Reclamation and know it will also be appreciated by current and future BGNDRF clients."
BGNDRF offers researchers from federal and state government agencies, universities, the private sector, and other research organizations a place to perform research testing and collaborate with others. BGNDRF provides access to various types of brackish groundwater to promote research in the areas of concentrate management; renewable energy and desalination hybrids; and in desalination technologies for produced waters and small-scale desalination systems.
Cappelle’s previous work focused on how water treatment technologies can address water and energy security challenges while minimizing consumption and negative impacts on the environment. She has a B.S. and M.S. in chemical engineering, an MBA focused on economics, and a Ph.D. in civil engineering. She spent 10 years at Sandia National Laboratories before being recruited to the University of Texas at El Paso, where her research focused on high recovery desalination processes and improving water treatment processes’ economic and environmental performance. Cappelle has also previously led piloting activities with novel membrane technologies at the Kay Baily Hutchison Desalination Plant in El Paso, Texas.
For more information about BGNDRF and related research projects, visit www.usbr.gov/research/BGNDRF/.
Source: Bureau of Reclamation
