Dr. Manuel Montaño received his undergraduate degree in Chemistry and his PhD in Applied Chemistry from the Colorado School of Mines. His thesis centred on the development of single particle ICP-MS for the analysis of nanoparticles in environmental systems. Following his studies, Manuel worked as a postdoctoral scholar at Duke University, North Carolina, investigating the leaching of polymer additives and plasticizers from nano-enabled polymer composites and the detection of carbon nanotubes in estuarine sediment. His second postdoctoral position at the University of Vienna was in the Department of Environmental Geosciences, developing new single particle ICP-TOF-MS methods for the characterization of naturally occurring nanoparticles in complex systems.

Since 2019 Manuel has worked as an Associate Professor at Western Washington University in the Department of Environmental Sciences. There he taught courses in water quality, environmental toxicology, biostatistical analysis and environmental analytical chemistry. His research interests ranged from investigating microplastics in estuarine environments, the impacts of nanopesticides on wetlands, and the transport of nanoparticulate iron. He joined the London Metallomics Facility (LMF) September 2025 and is working to develop single particle and single cell ICP-MS methodologies to better understand the impacts of metals on cellular and biological systems.