Alexandria Boehm


Alexandria Boehm is an American scientist whose field of study is civil and environmental engineering. She researches water quality of ocean coastal zones in tandem with finding the best solutions to prevent and clean up these polluted waters. Boehm is a Senior Fellow at Stanford University's Woods Institute for the Environment and an Associate Professor in Stanford University's Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering.

Early life and education

Boehm grew up in Oahu, HI. Growing up, she swam, surfed, and snorkeled at the beaches which helped build her admiration for the ocean. Boehm did not enter her education focused on coastal water quality. Her interest for environmental engineering developed when she returned to her mother's house to see the canal she used to swim in riddled with pollution.
Boehm graduated with honors from California Institute of Technology with a Bachelor's of Science in Engineering and Applied Science in 1996. She earned her Masters of Science from University of California, Irvine in Environmental Engineering in 1997. She went on to earn her PhD from University of California, Irvine in 2000.

Career and research

Boehm is currently an Associate Professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Stanford University. She is also a Senior Fellow at Stanford University's Woods Institute for the Environment. In 2008, she was a general participant in the National Academy of Engineers' Frontiers of Engineering Symposium. The U.S. Frontiers of Engineering Symposium brings together a group of leaders in engineering to interact and share the technology and advances in their different fields. She was selected as a Co-chair panelist for the West Coast Panel for Ocean Acidification and Hypoxia for the states of California, Washington, and the Province of British Columbia and served from 2013–16. This panel gives policy recommendations on ways to lessen the impacts of global climate change in these specific states.
She is recognized for her study of the water quality in ocean coastal zones. She researches the sources and transport of bacteria and nutrients in the water that have negative human health impacts as well as negative impacts on ecosystems. Boehm is honored in her field for using her research to benefit the health of the ecosystem and the human populations that use these coastal ecosystems Her interdisciplinary research focuses on both human impacts and natural actions. Boehm benefits the health of coastal populations and ecosystems by helping direct policy changes to prevent and restore the water in coastal zones.

Awards and honors