Dr. Sandra Yazmin Arzate Salgado holds a Bachelor's degree in Chemical Engineering (2011) and a Master's degree in Environmental Engineering (2015) from UNAM, a Master's degree in Chemical Engineering (2017) from the University of Almería (UAL), and a Ph.D. in Biotechnology and Industrial Bioprocesses Applied to Agri-Food Systems and the Environment from UAL's International Doctoral School (2020), along with a Six Sigma and Lean certification from the Technical University of Munich (2019). She serves as Head of the Department of Earth Resources in the Division of Basic Sciences and Engineering at UAM Lerma (2024–present) and holds Level I status in Mexico's National System of Researchers (SNII, 2021–2025; 2026–2030).

She brings extensive higher education teaching experience across UAM (Water Science and Technology Engineering and Natural Sciences and Engineering graduate program), UNAM (Chemical Engineering and Master's in Environmental Engineering), and the University of Almería (Industrial Chemical Engineering, Agricultural Engineering, Chemistry, and Master's in Teacher Training). Her research career has been conducted across UAM, UNAM's Institute of Engineering, and the Solar Energy Research Center (CIESOL, UAL-PSA), supported by research stays at the University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU), ETH Zurich, and Plataforma Solar de Almería (PSA).

She has participated in R&D&i projects on catalytic processes for drinking water purification, wastewater treatment, waste valorization, and energy production. Her scholarly record encompasses 14 peer-reviewed articles (8 in Q1 journals), an h-index of 9 (Web of Science), and over 40 conference presentations. Additionally, she has edited a book, served on the editorial boards of two JCR-indexed journals, reviewed for Elsevier, Springer, and MDPI, and evaluated research group and postdoctoral proposals for CONACYT-SECIHTI, alongside public outreach and organizing international scientific events.