Dr. Erika Espinosa-Ortiz is a research assistant professor in the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering and the Center for Biofilm Engineering at Montana State University (MSU). As a professional in environmental engineering and technology, her work has been devoted to developing alternative biological treatments, particularly fungal-based systems, for the remediation of polluted environmental matrice. Her research interests focus on Fungal-based technologies for water, wastewater and soil remediation, biodeterioration of building materials due to multi-domain biofilm formation and biomineralization processes applied to the medical field (e.g. formation of kidney stones induced by urinary tract infections)