Dr. Anita Thapalia

Global Technical Advisor
ExxonMobil Environmental and Property Solutions Company

Anita Thapalia joined ExxonMobil in February 2023 as a Global Technical Advisor and the Emerging Contaminant Focus Area Lead with over 14 years of experience in the oil and gas and environmental industries. She is from Kathmandu, Nepal, where she completed her Bachelor and Master degrees and then moved to the US to pursue a PhD in Geological Sciences from The University of Texas at El Paso. Anita is a licensed professional geologist in Wyoming and Texas with a broad research background in geochemistry, isotope fingerprinting, groundwater hydrogeology, contaminant transport, subsurface analysis, and site assessments. Anita’s post-doctoral research at the Colorado School of Mines was on PFAS remediation. She also worked as a Research Geochemist with the US Geological Survey and Research Associate at Texas Department of Transportation. Anita’s previous job roles included a geologist in the operations and science team at Ovintiv (Encana Corporation), environmental investigator in Texas Commission on Environmental Quality’s waste section, project geologist at Ensolum LLC, and intern at ExxonMobil during her PhD program.