Fiza Mansoor

Education

M.S. in Water Sanitation and Health, U.S.-Pakistan Center for Advanced Studies in Water (USPCAS-W), Mehran University of Engineering and Technology (MUET), Jamshoro, Pakistan – 2020
B.S. in Microbiology, Sindh University, Jamshoro, Pakistan – 2017

Bio

Fiza is a Ph.D. student in Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Utah. Her research focuses on harmful algal blooms (HABs), emphasizing cyanobacteria’s ecological dynamics, toxin production, and biofilm behavior in freshwater systems such as Utah Lake and Zion National Park. She investigates how variations in nutrient availability and environmental stressors trigger the production of cyanotoxins, particularly microcystin (MCY) and anatoxin (ANA), under both planktonic and benthic growth forms. She is also working on cyanobacterial biofilm formation under varying hydrodynamic conditions, exploring how shear rate affects structural development and toxin expression within biofilms. Her work combines field sampling with controlled laboratory experiments. Through the integration of field monitoring, genomic tools, and analytical techniques, her work aims to develop early-warning systems and improve our understanding of how climate change, nutrient runoff, and urbanization drive HAB occurrence. Fiza’s research contributes to developing strategies to safeguard public and environmental health from cyanotoxins.