Deborah Berhanu brings an extensive background in environmental research and education from her previous work as associate researcher with the American Museum of Natural History, and as a research assistant at the Natural History Museum and Imperial College in London. She came to FIT from Kingsborough Community College, where she served on the Chemistry faculty since 2013. She holds a Ph.D. in Inorganic Chemistry from the University of Manchester, United Kingdom, and a Bachelor of Science from the Université Claude Bernard Lyon I in France.