Rate My Professor Talitha Santini

Talitha Santini is an Adjunct Associate Professor in the School of Agriculture and Environment at the University of Western Australia. She earned her PhD in Soil Science and BA/BSc in Environmental Science from the University of Western Australia. Dr. Santini joined UWA as a Senior Lecturer in August 2018, following positions as Senior Lecturer in Environmental Sciences and Management at the University of Queensland (2016-2018), Lecturer at the Centre for Mined Land Rehabilitation, University of Queensland (2013-2016), and Postdoctoral Research Fellow at McMaster University, Canada (2012-2013). She previously held an Adjunct Senior Research Fellow position at the University of Queensland.

Her research centers on soil formation and weathering, geochemistry, mineralogy, and microbiology, examining interactions between abiotic and biotic processes that drive soil development and global biogeochemical cycles in natural and anthropogenic systems such as mine wastes and tailings. Key focuses include rehabilitation of mine sites and tailings storage facilities, management of soils impacted by mining activities, and extreme soils like acid sulfate soils and salinized farmlands. As Director of the UWA Mining Innovation Network, she leads multidisciplinary efforts in environmental management for the mining industry. Dr. Santini has authored highly cited publications, including 'Microbially-driven strategies for bioremediation of bauxite residue' (2015, Journal of Hazardous Materials, 174 citations), 'Understanding the impacts of mining on ecosystem services through a systematic review' (2021, The Extractive Industries and Society, 135 citations), 'Spontaneous vegetation encroachment upon bauxite residue (red mud) as an indicator and facilitator of in situ remediation processes' (2013, Environmental Science & Technology, 107 citations), and 'Alkaline tailings as novel soil forming substrates: reframing perspectives on mining and refining wastes' (2016, Hydrometallurgy, 92 citations). In 2018, she won the UWA Faculty of Science Rising Stars prize. She serves on the University Research Committee, University Research Entities Committee, and UWA CZO Steering Committee, and guest lectures in SCIE1500 Science, Society and Data Analysis and ENVT5005 Waste and the Circular Economy.