Mélida Gutiérrez holds a Ph.D in geohydrology from the University of Texas at El Paso. Since 1993, she has worked as an instructor for geology, geochemistry and hydrology courses at Missouri State University, in the School of Earth, Environment and Sustainability. Her research interests include environmental geochemistry, water quality, groundwater arsenic and fluoride, and karst areas of Missouri. She has about 100 peer-reviewed publications and 10 book chapters.