Eucharia Oluchi Nwaichi is a Nigerian environmental biochemist,

soil scientist Soil science is the study of soil as a natural resource on the surface of the Earth including soil formation, classification and mapping; physical, chemical, biological, and fertility properties of soils; and these properties in relation to the ...

and

toxicologist Toxicology is a scientific discipline, overlapping with biology, chemistry, pharmacology, and medicine, that involves the study of the adverse effects of chemical substances on living organisms and the practice of diagnosing and treating ex ...

. Her research interest focus on

waste management Waste management or waste disposal includes the processes and actions required to manage waste from its inception to its final disposal. This includes the collection, transport, treatment and disposal of waste, together with monitori ...

, pollution prevention and

phytoremediation Phytoremediation technologies use living plants to clean up soil, air and water contaminated with hazardous contaminants. It is defined as "the use of green plants and the associated microorganisms, along with proper soil amendments and agronomi ...

, which involves the treatment of environmental problems (

bioremediation Bioremediation broadly refers to any process wherein a biological system (typically bacteria, microalgae, fungi, and plants), living or dead, is employed for removing environmental pollutants from air, water, soil, flue gasses, industrial effluent ...

) through the use of local plants that mitigate the environmental problem without the need to excavate the contaminant material and dispose of it elsewhere. She is an expert in elimination of

toxic heavy metal A toxic heavy metal is any relatively dense metal or metalloid that is noted for its potential toxicity, especially in environmental contexts. The term has particular application to cadmium, mercury and lead, all of which appear in the World ...

such as

cadmium Cadmium is a chemical element with the symbol Cd and atomic number 48. This soft, silvery-white metal is chemically similar to the two other stable metals in group 12, zinc and mercury. Like zinc, it demonstrates oxidation state +2 in most of ...

copper Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu (from la, cuprum) and atomic number 29. It is a soft, malleable, and ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. A freshly exposed surface of pure copper has a pinkish ...

, mercury,

lead Lead is a chemical element with the Symbol (chemistry), symbol Pb (from the Latin ) and atomic number 82. It is a heavy metals, heavy metal that is density, denser than most common materials. Lead is Mohs scale of mineral hardness#Intermediate ...

and arsenic from

contaminated soil Soil contamination, soil pollution, or land pollution as a part of land degradation is caused by the presence of xenobiotic (human-made) chemicals or other alteration in the natural soil environment. It is typically caused by industrial activity ...

Education and career

She holds a B.Sc., an M.Sc. and a Ph.D. in

Biochemistry Biochemistry or biological chemistry is the study of chemical processes within and relating to living organisms. A sub-discipline of both chemistry and biology, biochemistry may be divided into three fields: structural biology, enzymology ...

all from the

University of Port Harcourt The University of Port Harcourt is located in Choba in Port Harcourt, Rivers state, Nigeria. It was established in 1975 as University College, Port Harcourt and was given university status in 1977. The University of Port Harcourt was ranke ...

where she later became a senior lecturer. Before she joined the services of the University of Port Harcourt, she worked at

Shell Oil Company Shell USA, Inc. (formerly Shell Oil Company, Inc.) is the United States-based wholly owned subsidiary of Shell plc, a UK-based transnational corporation "oil major" which is amongst the largest oil companies in the world. Approximately 18,000 ...

for one year (2009 - 2010). She was made an international fellow at the 2013 L’Oréal-UNESCO Awards in Physical Sciences. She is a member of several academic organizations, such as the Organization for Women in Science for the Developing World,

American Chemical Society The American Chemical Society (ACS) is a scientific society based in the United States that supports scientific inquiry in the field of chemistry. Founded in 1876 at New York University, the ACS currently has more than 155,000 members at all ...

, International Society For Environmental Technology
International Phytotechnology Society
Society for Functional Foods and Bioactive Compounds and the

Nigerian Institute of Management The Nigerian Institute of Management (NIM) is a non-profit institution that defines the required skills and standards for professional managers, and offers courses leading to diplomas in Management. History The Nigerian Management Group was for ...

. In 2022 she was awarded the

John Maddox Prize The John Maddox Prize is an international prize administered by Sense about Science in partnership with ''Nature''. One or two individuals are recognised annually by the Prize for their work promoting sound science and evidence despite hostility. ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nwaichi, Eucharia Oluchi Living people Nigerian educational theorists People from Abia State Nigerian women academics Nigerian women scientists Nigerian women chemists 21st-century women scientists Nigerian biochemists Igbo academics Igbo scientists University of Port Harcourt alumni Academic staff of the University of Port Harcourt L'Oréal-UNESCO Awards for Women in Science fellows Year of birth missing (living people) Igbo people