Sergi Molins Rafa
Biography
Dr. Sergi Molins is a staff scientist in the Earth and Environmental Sciences at Berkeley Lab with extensive experience in the field of reactive transport modeling. He uses reactive transport models for applications in natural and engineered systems with a focus on elucidating how the interplay between physical and biogeochemical processes affects the formation of effective reaction rates at a wide range of spatial scales. At the pore scale, he seeks to improve our understanding of the role of transport limitations on reaction rates and on the evolution of physically and mineralogically heterogeneous porous media. In terrestrial environments, he investigates the role of the mass transfer processes across the surface-subsurface interface in the aggregate hydrological and biogeochemical response of catchments. Model development is an integral part of his work, having contributed to the several reactive transport codes in his career including MIN3P, CrunchFlow, Chombo-Crunch, and Amanzi-ATS.
Research Interests
Pore-scale modeling of reactive surfaces, Multiscale and multiphysics coupling approaches, Microbially-mediated reactions
Education
- Ph.D., University of British Columbia, 2007
- Civil Engineer, Technical University of Catalonia, 2001
Experience
- Staff Scientist, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, 2020-Present
- Research Scientist, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, 2013-2020
- Postdoctoral Fellow, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, 2008-2013
- Teaching & Research Assistant, University of British Columbia, 2002-2007
- Research Assistant, Technical Univ. of Catalonia & CSIC-Earth Sci. Inst. ‘Jaume Almera’, 2001-2002
Awards
- R&D100 Award for Amanzi-ATS, 2020
- R&D100 Award for CrunchFlow, 2017
- Winner, Life at the Frontiers of Energy Research Video Contest for Carbon in Underland, DOE, 2011
- SPOT Recognition Award, LBNL, 2011
Affiliations and Scholarly Service
- Member, American Geophysical Union, Geochemical Society, Interpore, American Chemical Society
- Associate Editor, Water Resources Research (2017-present)
- Reviewer, Transp. Porous Med., ACS ES&T Water, ACS Space and Earth Chemistry, Appl. Geochem., Acc. Chem. Res., Int. J. Greenh. Gas Control, J. Petrol. Sci. Engin., Water Resour. Res., Environ. Sci. Technol., Am. J. Sci., Waste Manage., J. Hydrol., Hydrol. Earth System Sci., J. Contamin. Hydrol., J. Environ. Qual., Adv. Water Resour., Geochim. Cosmochim. A., Comp. Geosci., Int. J. Heat Mass Transf., Geophys. Res. Lett., Environ. Engin. Sci., J. Geophys. Res.: Biogeosci.
- Reviewer, Biological and Environmental Research Program (DOE Office of Science), Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (The Netherlands), Agence Nationale de la Recherche (France), ACS Petroleum Research Fund, Technical University of Munich (Germany)
- Convener, CMWR, AGU Fall Meeting, Interpore Conference, ACS Spring Meeting