Monika Aprianti Popang is pursuing a master’s degree in civil and environmental engineering at Colorado State University, in Fort Collins, Colorado specializing in geo-environmental engineering. Her research revolves around environmental containment systems in which she analyzes the hydraulic conductivity performance and compatibility of geosynthetic clay liners against contaminants.

She holds a bachelor’s in engineering from Gadjah Mada University, and has done research related to disaster management, disaster risk reduction, and soil mechanics during her research assistantship after graduation in 2014.