Our Team

Our strength is our people 🙂

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Recent graduates:

• Amanda Karam (PhD) – Photosynthetic Bioreactors
• From: Raleigh, NC
• BS Env. Science, UNC Chapel Hill
• MS Env. Engineering, NC State University
  
• Yi-Chun Lai (PhD) – Microalgae Harvesting
• From: Taoyuan, China
• BS Env. Science, National Tsing Hua University
• Fun fact: I was on my college badminton team in undergrad.
  
• Savanna Smith (PhD) – Microbial Community Assembly of Anaerobic Systems
• From: Kealakekua, HI and Rockport, TX
• BS Civil Engineering, Univ. of Texas at Austin
• Fun fact: My family used to have a herd of woollies sheep to keep the pasture vegetation in control.
  
• Jenny Ding (PhD student, Main Adviser: Dr. Doug Call) – Volatile Fatty Acids from Anaerobic Degradation
• From: Chengdu, China
• BS Env. Engineering, Jiangnan University
• MS Env. Engineering, University of Arizona
• Fun fact: I have synesthesia so I see colors and textures for numbers and words.
  
• Emma Guertin (MS ENE) – Anaerobic Food Waste Degradation
• From: Hubbardston, MA
• BS Civil Engineering, University of Massachussetts, Amherst
• Fun fact: I love to run, hike, and recently started Krav Maga lessons.
  
• Seraphim Falterman (MS ENE) – Thermal Hydrolysis and Anaerobic Co-Digestion
• From: Richmond, VA
• BS Integrated Science and Technology, James Madison University
• Fun fact: I love to ride my bike and used to love taking long trips.
  
• Monica Matekenye (MS student) – Biomass Conversion in Malawi
• From: Lilongwe, Malawi
• BS Civil Engineering, University of Malawi
• Fun fact: I speak three languages yet I can’t speak my tribal language.
  
• Alvin Mutongi (UG student) – Techno-Economic Analysis of Anaerobic Co-Digestion
• From: Charlotte, NC
• BS Civil Engineering (Junior) NC State University
  
• Abel Getachew (HS Researcher, NC School of Science and Mathematics) – Greywater Treatment
• Walt Beckham (Research Technician) – Hygienic and Effective Pit Emptying
• Jocelyn Tsai (MS) Project Coordinator, Hygienic and Pit Emptying, Global WaSH Cluster Support
• From: St. Louis, MO
• BA Biology, Washington University in St. Louis
• MEM Water Resources Management, Duke University
• Fun fact: I play very large drums.
  
• Amanda Mattingly (MS Env. Engineering) – Efficacy of Bioaugmentation of Full-Scale Aerated Stabilization Lagoons
• Currently, Research Engineer at NCASI
• From: Boston, MA
• BS Environmental Engineering, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute)
• Fun fact: I used to be really into swing dancing.
  
• Anthony Young (MS Environmental Engineering) – Tertiary Partial Denitrification-Annamox (PdNA) Filters for Sustainable Nitrogen Removal
• Currently, Engineer at Hazen and Sawyer
• From: Raleigh, NC
• BS Environmental Engineering, NC State University
• Fun fact: I used to be a cheerleader at NC State.
  
• Alumni
• Postdocs and Visiting Professors
• Ling Wang (Postdoc, University of Chicago) – Microbial community analysis
• Xia He (Prof., Guilin Univ., China) – Processes in Sewer Systems
• Nathan Alcantara (MS, visiting student) – Microbial communities in pitcher plants
• Abdul Haq (MS, visiting student) – Microbial communities in anaerobic digestion of Jatropha
• Peihong Shen (Prof., Guanxi Univ., China) – Startup of Anaerobic Reactors
• Pascal Saikaly (currently Asst. Professor, King Abdullah Univ. of Science and Technology)
• Kristin Hicks (currently with Central Carolina Colleges)
• Shaohui Zhang (currently Assoc. Professor, Wuhan University of Technology)
• PhD students
• In Chio Lou (Ph.D. 2006, currently Assistant Professor, University of Macau) – Analysis of the Factors in the Competition between Filaments and Floc-formers in Activated Sludge
• Cesar Mota (Ph.D. 2006, currently Professor Adjunto, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais) – Microbial Ecology of Intermittently Aerated Reactors Treating Swine Wastewater: Molecular Approaches for Identifying Key Nitrogen-Removing Bacteria
• Bryan Staley (Ph.D. 2009, currently President of Environmental Research and Education Foundation) – Evaluation of Factors Affecting the Initiation of Methanogenesis in Solid Waste
• Xia He (Ph.D. 2012, currently Assistant Professor, Guilin University, China) –Fats, Oils, and Grease (FOG) Deposit Formation: Characterization of Grease Interceptors and Elucidation of Formation Mechanisms
• Ling Wang (Ph.D. 2018, currently Postdoc, University of Chicago) – Influencing the anaerobic microbiome through substrate selection and overloading stresses to achieve high-performance co-digestion of grease interceptor waste
• Joe Weaver (Ph.D. 2021, currently NSF Postdoc Fellow, Newcastle University, UK) – From Floc to Reactor Scales: A Multi-Faceted Investigation Integrating Microbial Ecological Experiments and Computational Modeling to Understand Aerobic Wastewater Systems
• MS Students
• Julia E. Keith (Dec. 2002) – Molecular Characterization of Microbial Populations in Full-Scale Activated Sludge Plants and Bioaugmentation Sites
• Jiangying Liao (May 2003) –Quantifying Activated Sludge Bulking-Causing Filaments using Molecular Methods
• Jon C. Williams (Dec. 2004) – Initial Investigations of Aerobic Granulation in an Annular Gap Bioreactor
• Gamze Gulez (May 2005) – Effects of Carbon and Inoculum Sources on the Growth of Filamentous Bacteria in Activated Sludge
• Matthew B. Skidmore (Dec. 2005) – Predicting and Improving the Dewaterability of Waste Activated Sludge Through Moisture Distribution Analysis
• Vivi L. Nguyen (Aug. 2007) – Quantifying In Situ Growth Rates of Filaments and Floc-formers using Real-time PCR
• Lauren Wellborn (May 2009) – Assessment of Water and Sanitation in Philippine Villages
• Mariann Z. Vazques-Pineiro (Aug. 2010) – Performance of an Onsite Wastewater Treatment System and Analysis of the Microbial Populations in the Wastewater
• Rossana Prevost  (Dec. 2010) – Aerosolization and Quantification of Surrogate Biological Warfare Agents under Simulated Landfill Conditions
• Bahareh Karami (May 2012) – Effect of Shear Variability on Formation of Aerobic Granules
• Ling Wang (July 2012) – Anaerobic Co-Digestion of Thickened Waste Activated Sludge with Grease Interceptor Waste
• Kara N. Kopf (December 2012) – Quantification of Denitrification nosZ Genes in Activated Sludge
• F. Jim Hurley (January 2013) –  Effects of Kenaf on Activated Sludge Performance and Microbiology
• M. Jason Ho (January 2013) – Linking Community Structure and Function Using Novel Sequential mRNA Fluorescence Hybridization and Flow Cytometry
• Jory Wahlen (May 2013) – Using Molecular Microbial Data for Microbial Risk Assessment of Graywater Reuse
• Elvin Hossein (August 2013) – Resilience of Bioreactors for Anaerobic Energy Production
• Dominic Libera (December 2013) – Simulation of Vomiting as a Mechanism for Spread of Norovirus
• Amanda Karam (December 2016) – Development of Microspheres for Assessing Light Exposure in PSBRs
• Jacqueline Yeh (May 2018) – Effect of varying hydrodynamic shear and extracellular polymeric substances on aerobic granulation
• Giovanna Portiolli (August 2019) – Collection of Fecal Sludge and Anaerobic Treatment of Household Wastes
• Eric Polli (August 2019) – Mainstream Deammonification of Municipal Wastewater
• Anthony Young (May 2021) -Tertiary Partial Denitrification-Anammox (PdNA) Filters for Sustainable Nitrogen Removal: Pilot Scale Filter Results
• Amanda Mattingly (June 2021) – The Efficacy of Continuous Bioaugmentation in Full-Scale Pulp and Paper Industry Aerated Stabilization Basins
• MCE/MENE Reports Directed
• Walt Fletcher (Dec. 2002) – Modeling the Competition between Filaments and Floc Formers in Activated Sludge
• JuChun Hsieh (Dec. 2005) – Floc Development in Couette Bioreactors
• Laurissa Hoyle (May 2006) – Investigating Steam Application for Reducing Foaming in Activated Sludge Systems
• Hyunsuk Hong (May 2009) – Aerobic Granulation using Couette-Taylor Bioreactors for Simultaneous Organic Carbon and Nitrogen Removal
• Tracey Sisco (May 2015) – Testing Pit Emptying Mixers
• Aditi Murthy (May 2015) – Microbiological Analysis of Full-Scale WWTP Startup
• Qian Wang (post MS) – Aerobic Granulation
• Catherine MacMillan (May 2016) – Photosynthetic Bioreactors
• Brita Mjos (May 2017) – Fertilizer from Urine
• Eunyoung Lee (Dec. 2017) – Anaerobic Degradation of Food Waste
• Samiron Dutta (August 2019) – Modeling of Anammox Filters
• Pradnya Latkar (December 2020)  – Fuzzy set QCA of Community Toilet Blocks in Mumbai, India
• Undergraduates (last 5 years)
• Zach Bennett (BS ENE, Fall 2020 -)
• Project: WWTP COVID19 Surveillance Sample Collection
• Laura Gomez (BS BE, Fall 2020)
• Project: WWTP COVID19 Surveillance Sample Collection
• Daniel Cockson (BS IE, Fall 2020 – )
• Project: WWTP COVID19 Surveillance Sample Collection
• Jeremy Lowe (BS ENE, Fall 2020 – )
• Project: WWTP COVID19 Surveillance Sample Collection
• Victoria Ponthier (BS ENE, Fall 2020 – )
• Project: WWTP COVID19 Surveillance Sample Collection
• Emma Bolden (BS ENE, Fall 2020)
• Project: WWTP COVID19 Surveillance Sample Collection
• Alvin Mutongi (BS Civil Engineering, Summer 2020)
• Project: RISE – Techno-economic analysis of anaerobic co-digestion of FOG wastes
• Robert Mones (HS Senior, NC School of Science and Math, Summer 2019 – Fall 2019)
• Project: Drone for Water Quality Sampling
• Annelise Gummere (B.S. Environmental Eng., Summer-Fall 2019)
• Project: Filaments in activated sludge
• Yashira Valentin Feliciano (Summer 2019, RISE Program)
• Project: DNA analysis of Malawi pit samples
• *Haley Zamorano (B.S. Environmental Eng., Spring-Fall 2019 – )
• Project: Design of composting toilet
• Sydney Allen (B.S. Environmental Eng., Fall 2018- Summer 2019)
• Project: Support for anaerobic experiments
• Luke Solari (B.S. Civil Engineering, Fall 2018- Summer 2019)
• Project: Hydrodynamic cavitation for dewatering sludge
• Hannah Cruz (HS Student, NC School of Science and Mathematics, Summer 2018-Fall 2018)
• Project: Modeling transport of fecal sludge
• Maggie Thompson (B.S. Civil Engineering, Summer 2018)
• Project: Hydrodynamic cavitation for fecal sludge
• Maddy Hanton (B.S. Environmental Eng., Michigan State Univ., Summer 2018, RISE Program)
• Project: DNA extraction from PPE and activated sludge
• Sandra Un-Jan (B.S. Environmental Eng., Florida Gulf Coast Univ., Summer 2018, RISE Program)
• Project: Anaerobic respirometry of various waste feedstocks
• Maren Deal (B.S. Environmental Engineering, Spring 2018-Summer 2018)
• Project: Support of mainstream deammonification project at Neuse River WRF
• Samantha Pace (B. S. Industrial Design, Spring 2018- 2018
• Elizabeth Wallner (B.S. Environmental Engineering, Spring 2018- 2019
• Syond Chand (B.S. Environmental Engineering, Spring 2018)
• Lauren Tuttle (B.S. Environmental Engineering, Fall 2016- 2017)
• Adrianna Dacres (B.S. Environmental Science, Claflin Univ, Summer 2017, RISE Program) Project: DNA extraction from textiles
• Austin Burke (B.S. Environmental Engineering, Spring 2017- Fall 2017 ) Project: Support for Granulation Experiment
• Naile Segule (B.S. Biomedical Engineering, Park Scholar, Fall 2016- Spring 2017) Project: DNA extraction from textiles
• Sophia Holmes (HS Student, NCSSM, Summer 2016-Feb. 2017) Project: Effect of bioaugmentation on anaerobic lipid degradation
• Garrett Early (B.S. Physics, Summer 2016 – Fall 2016) Project: CFD of low-flush toilets
• Jiawen Liu (B.S. ENE, Summer 2016- Summer 2017) Project: Microsphere experiments for assessing light in PSBRs; Modeling of pit emptying in Malawi
• Jing Wu (B. S. ENE, Summer 2016- Spring 2017) Project: Operation of Algal Photobioreactors
• Mathew Jacob (HS Student, RTHS, Summer 2016) Project: Effect of bicarbonate on algal growth media
• Shannon Hurtado-Reyes (B. S. Environmental Engineering, Belmont College, SC, Summer 2016, under RISE Program) Project: Set up of anaerobic respirometer
• *Sierra Schupp (B. S. ENE, Spring 2016- Fall 2016) Project: Operation of anaerobic reactors
• *Jackie Yeh (B. S. ENE, Spring 2015 –Spring 2016) Project: Optimizing start-up of anaerobic reactors
• Risa Sayre (B.S. Env. Science, Fall 2014-Summer 2016) Project: Treatment of Ascaris eggs in onsite sanitation systems
• *Andrew Norris (B.S. CE, Fall 2015) Project: Aerobic and anaerobic reactors
• *Melissa Hyland (B.S. CE, Fall 2015- Spring 2016) Project: Aerobic granulation reactors
• Andrew Klappenbach (HS student, Research Triangle HS, Summer 2015) Project: Growth kinetics of Dunaliella sp.
• Yash Sedani (HS Student, Enloe High School, Summer 2015) Project: DNA extraction from clothing
• Dyon Vega (B.S. ENE, Fall 2014- Spring 2015) Project: Fate and transport of Ebola virus in human waste
• Mackenzie Blum (B.S. ENE, Fall 2014- Spring 2015) Project: Quantitative microbial risk assessment of onsite sanitation systems
• Shreyan Sen (PBS, Fall 2014- Spring 2015) Project: Microbial analysis of Illumina sequencing results for pit latrines