Ariadne Piperakis: Lakes, Labcoats and a Love of Learning

By Manhah Ahmed

Ariadne Piperakis is a University of ��ݮ��Ƶ alum (BSc ‘23) who explored her multifaceted interests during her undergrad through her Bachelor of Science in Science and Business with a Biology Specialization and a double minor in Technical Writing and Earth Science.��

Sampling Interests through Co-op

Ari’s unique choice of minors during her undergraduate degree resulted as an amalgamation of differentiating herself professionally and a journey of progressive self-discovery.��

“A lot of Science and Business students can feel intimidated to break into the lab space and having something like a Technical Writing Minor to differentiate from other Science students can be a very powerful tool.”

Thus, Ari’s first two co-op placements were at the WSIB Innovation Lab working in Communications and Engagement. It wasn’t until after having completed her third co-op term as an Environmental Research Assistant at SiREM that Ari added Earth Science as a second minor. Following this, Ari’s last co-op term was as a Research Assistant at Health Canada.��

“Working at the SiREM Lab was my first introduction into hands-on mining research and being at Health Canada ultimately gave me the confidence to design and conduct experiments.”

During her time at ��ݮ��Ƶ, Ari also worked as an Undergraduate Research Assistant under the Department of Earth and Enviornmental Sciences with the Ecohydrology Research Group.��

I always knew it was going to be ��ݮ��Ƶ, with both my parents being Faculty of Science alums and my interest in co-op, ��ݮ��Ƶ Science was the clear choice.

ARIADNE PIPERAKIS

A Tectonic Transition from Science and Business to just Science

“There are, in my head, two types of students in our program, there’s the ones who lean into the science side and use business knowledge to support solving science-based questions at and there are those who take the frameworks of science and leverage them in business-focused contexts.”

Ari describes herself as the former, having nurtured a lifelong interest in the sciences and ways to use business tools to make science more accessible, efficient, and relevant in various aspects of our lives. To Ari, the economics, marketing, and accounting course requirements in her degree served as an opportunity to ruminate on how various business elements intertwined into the logistics of a life in STEM. Regardless of context, her true interest in remediation and scientific study called to her in every setting.��

“The bigger transition for me was my first co-op at a lab, going from taking labs to working in one really accelerated my growth and now I find myself feeling really at home in a lab. In hindsight, that was a difficult step to take in undergrad but a really formative one.”

I feel really lucky; all my co-ops were good experiences that gave me a wide range of skills and a lot of independence which is a really important skill to have in an environment like grad school.

ARIADNE PIPERAKIS

Ariadne Piperakis poses with Cobalt, the Faculty of Science mascot.

Sedimentary Solutions and Site Studies

Currently Ari has taken the experience and passion she nurtured during her time at ��ݮ��Ƶ to a Master of Applied Sciences at the University of Toronto within their Department of Civil and Mineral Engineering. The program is a research-based Masters which is comprised of coursework and research projects at the . Ari’s research is based primarily in Northern Alberta and involves mining reclamation; an area of study that investigates sustainable storage of oil sands wastes and byproducts.��

She is exploring her research using a combination of field-collected data and laboratory analyses that investigate sulfur speciation, oxygen depletion, and redox reactive nitrogen species.��

A Legacy and Lookahead of Remediation

When prompted about her interest in earth sciences, Ari pinpoints her mother, a ��ݮ��Ƶ alum, as the source of her curiosity. She describes her upbringing and surroundings being dotted with individuals working in remediation and earth sciences.��

“It's a growing industry; we are continually learning about more contamination issues and seeing an increased demand for reclamation.”

Given that mining is a significant consumer of freshwater, Ari sees the future of the industry being in upscaling operations whilst remaining wary of preserving water as an expensive resource.��

Something that really drew me to my master's program was the incorporation of field work, I had the opportunity to go to Northern Alberta, stay on site and get samples and gain hands-on experience.

ARIADNE PIPERAKIS

Mining and Motivations

As Ari moves through her career, change is the primary catalyst of personal growth and inspiration to her. She describes this moment in scientific research as a pivotal time to consider transformational pathways for individuals to explore and enter. Ari believes there is always an opportunity to be seized, in every industry.��

With regards to the future, she envisions a life in finding applications of research in real world implications.��

“Being closer to industry could look like entering consulting or policy. In ten years', time I would like to have felt like I have impacted the environment in a positive way.”