From August 24 to September 15, 2026, Raquel Ruiz Araujo, a graduate student in the Master’s Program in Applied Biosciences with a concentration in Biodiscovery at the Faculty of Life Sciences (FLS-ESPOL), completed a research internship at the School of Resource and Environmental Management (REM), within the Faculty of Environment at Simon Fraser University (SFU) in Burnaby, Canada.
The research agenda was carried out under the academic supervision and mentorship of Juan José Álava, Ph.D., alongside the technical direction of Samuel Piña Hodges, Ph.D., in the laboratory of Frank Gobas, Ph.D., who attended the final project defense. Throughout this period, the early-career researcher trained in cutting-edge analytical protocols for the extraction and quantitative determination of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS)—persistent emerging environmental contaminants colloquially known as "forever chemicals."
The analytical assays were conducted on seawater samples collected during an Antarctic expedition. As an integral component of her stay, Ruiz delivered a technical presentation outlining the expedition's scope, sharing insights into the field campaign and the in situ sampling methodologies deployed to recover the polar environmental matrices.
This international experience strengthens specialized technical expertise in tracking anthropogenic pollutants within vulnerable polar ecosystems, fostering strategic scientific partnerships and knowledge exchange between international research consortia and the ESPOL academic community.
