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Ileana Callejas

Photo of Ileana Callejas

Address:

4800 Oak Grove Drive

Pasadena, CA 91109

Curriculum Vitae:

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Member of:

Water & Ecosystems

NASA Postdoctoral Researcher

Biography

Dr. Ileana Callejas earned her PhD in Environmental Engineering from UCLA, where she also obtained her MS in Environmental and Water Resources Engineering and her BS in Environmental Science with a minor in environmental engineering. Before joining JPL, she taught biology courses at Biola University and Mount Saint Mary’s University. She uses satellite remote sensing for coastal water quality monitoring, particularly in Belize. In this capacity, she has collaborated with institutions such as the Belize Coastal Zone Management Authority & Institute, and the Belize Wildlife Conservation Society. She is a first-generation Latina, born and raised in Los Angeles, California.

Education

  1. PhD, Environmental Engineering, University of California, Los Angeles
  2. MS, Environmental & Water Resources Engineering, University of California, Los Angeles
  3. BS, Environmental Science (Minor: Environmental Engineering), University of California, Los Angeles

Professional Experience

  • NASA Postdoctoral Program Fellow, Water & Ecosystems, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (2024-Present)
  • Assistant Professor, Biological Sciences, Biola University (2023-Present)
  • Adjunct Professor, Biological Sciences, Mount Saint Mary’s University (2022-2023)
  • Graduate Student Researcher, Civil & Environmental Engineering (2018-2023)

Community Service

  • Peer Review:
    • Frontiers in Remote Sensing
    • Journal of Hazardous Materials
  • Mentorship & Diversity:
    • UCLA Center for Diverse Leadership in Science K-12 Outreach Team
    • Women in Engineering @ UCLA Leadership Academy
    • Youth Education and Empowerment in STEM (YEE STEM)
    • Great Minds in STEM
    • UCLA Center for Excellence in Engineering and Diversity
    • Idaho Science and Aerospace Scholars (ISAS): NASA Program for Idaho high school students

Research Interests

  • Aquatic remote sensing
  • Water quality
  • Environmental microbiology

Selected Publications

  1. Maniyar, C. B., Rudresh, M., Callejas, I. A., Osborn, K., Lee, C. M., Jay, J., et al. (2023). Spatio-Temporal Dynamics of Total Suspended Sediments in the Belize Coastal Lagoon. Remote Sens. 2023, Vol. 15, Page 5625 15, 5625. doi:10.3390/RS15235625.
  2. Callejas, I. A., Huang, L., Cira, M., Croze, B., Lee, C. M., Cason, T., et al. (2023). Use of Google Earth Engine for Teaching Coding and Monitoring of Environmental Change: A Case Study among STEM and Non-STEM Students. Sustainability, 15, 1–13. doi:10.3390/SU151511995.
  3. Callejas, I. A., Osborn, K., Lee, C. M., Mishra, D. R., Gomez, N. A., Carrias, A., et al. (2022). A GEE Toolkit for water quality monitoring from 2002-2022 in support of SDG 14 and coral health in Marine Protected Areas in Belize. Front. Remote Sens., 1–13. doi:10.3389/frsen.2022.1020184.
  4. Callejas, I. (2022). Monitoring coastal water quality with satellite data. Nature Reviews Earth & Environment, 3(September), 556. doi:10.1038/s43017-022-00337-1.
  5. Martín-Arias, V., Evans, C., Griffin, R., Cherrington, E. A., Lee, C. M., Mishra, D. R., Gomez, N. A., Rosado, A., Callejas, I. A., Jay, J. A., & Rosado, S. (2022). Modeled Impacts of LULC and Climate Change Predictions on the Hydrologic Regime in Belize. Frontiers in Environmental Science, 10(April), 1–16. doi:10.3389/fenvs.2022.848085.
  6. Alves, R. J. E., Callejas, I. A., Marschmann, G. L., Mooshammer, M., Singh, H. W., Whitney, B., Torn, M. S., & Brodie, E. L. (2021). Kinetic Properties of Microbial Exoenzymes Vary With Soil Depth but Have Similar Temperature Sensitivities Through the Soil Profile. Frontiers in Microbiology, 12(November), 1–23.doi:10.3389/fmicb.2021.735282.
  7. Callejas, I. A., Lee, C. M., Mishra, D. R., Felgate, S. L., Evans, C., Carrias, A., Rosado, A., Griffin, R., Cherrington, E. A., Ayad, M., Rudresh, M., Page, B. P., & Jay, J. A. (2021). Effect of COVID-19 Anthropause on Water Clarity in the Belize Coastal Lagoon. Frontiers in Marine Science, 8, 490. doi:10.3389/FMARS.2021.648522.
  8. Cira, M., Echeverria-Palencia, C. M., Callejas, I., Jimenez, K., Herrera, R., Hung, W.-C., Colima, N., Schmidt, A., & Jay, J. A. (2021). Commercially available garden products as important sources of antibiotic resistance genes—a survey. Environmental Science and Pollution Research, 1–8. doi:10.1007/s11356-021-13333-7.