Pia earned a Bachelor of Science in Environmental Science and a Bachelor of Arts in Public Policy from The University of Chicago. She furthered her education at UCLA, where she obtained a Master of Science in Environmental and Water Resources Engineering and a PhD in Civil Engineering. Her doctoral research focused on optimizing interactions between microorganisms and functional surfaces for applications in biological wastewater treatment, as well as the remediation of emerging contaminants such as 1,4-dioxane, chlorinated volatile organic compounds, and PFAS.
Before joining GSI, Pia worked as a Research Soil Scientist at the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Agricultural Research Service. There, she specialized in designing and operating biochar-based pilot systems for the remediation of PFAS in recycled water.