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INFEWS Scholars at UT Austin

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Meet Our INFEWS Scholars

Sarah Alverson
M.S. / Ph.D Student

Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering

Advisor:  Sergio Castellanos

Area of Impact: equitable energy transitions

Research: modeling pollutant dispersion to create an equity lens for clean energy modeling.

Sarah is researching pollutant dispersion modeling to identify exposed communities and create an equity tool for electric grid decarbonization planning. She is also interning with Austin Water where she works on wastewater utility planning and coordinating with Project Connect, Austin's light rail project. She received her Bachelors in Environmental Engineering from UT Austin and enjoys biking around the city and taking her dogs on walks.

Danielle Angert
M.S. Student

Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering

Advisor: Mary Jo Kirisits

Area of Impact: drinking water; public health

Research: microbial water quality within drinking water distribution systems

Danielle is studying microbial water quality within drinking water distribution systems across the US. She particularly focuses on the relationship within Legionella pneumophila, an opportunistic human pathogen, and free-living amoebae. Danielle earned her BS in Environmental and Ecological Engineering with a Spanish minor from Purdue University in 2021.

Raul Barbosa
Ph.D. Student

Materials Science and Engineering

Advisor: Brian Korgel

Area of Impact: water treatment

Research: novel membranes for desalination and improved filtration process

Raul is researching the incorporation of inorganic materials such as silicon nanowires into polymeric membranes to improve their filtration mechanisms. He hopes this research can contribute to solving current water filtration problems. He earned his BBA in Accounting, BS in Mechanical Engineering, and MS in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley.

Tim Blount
M.S. Student

Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering

Advisor: Charles Werth

Area of Impact: water treatment

Research: groundwater pollution mediation, environmental chemistry

Tim is evaluating field-screening techniques and modeling approaches for quantifying natural degradation of trichloroethylene (TCE), a common industrial contaminant in groundwater aquifers. His research aims to provide regulators and engineers with accessible methods for predicting the rate of contaminant attenuation in natural systems.He received a B.S. in Civil and Environmental Engineering from University of Maryland, and previously worked as an environmental consultant providing environmental site assessment and remediation services.

Carolyn Brady
Ph.D. Student

Chemistry Department

Advisor: Simon Humphrey, Charles Werth

Area of Impact: water remediation

Research: catalytic water treatment

A PhD student in the Chemistry Department, Carolyn’s focuses on bimetallic nanoalloys with a variety of applications, focusing on water remediation. She grew up in Northern California and received her B.S. in Chemistry from the University of California at Santa Cruz. Outside of the lab, she enjoys mushroom foraging and playing Dungeons and Dragons..

Carolyn Cooper
Ph.D. Student

Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering

Advisors: Lynn Katz, Frank Seibert

Area of Impact: water treatment

Research: produced water treatment for varied reuse

Carolyn is protecting human health by investigating drinking water treatment processes to improve small water treatment systems. She received a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from Rice University.

Sara Davila
M.S. Student

Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering

Advisors: Paola Passalacqua, Lina Sela

Area of Impact: water resources

Research: dam construction impacts on river-floodplain processes, decision-making tools for stakeholders in agricultural industry

Sara uses hydrodynamic modeling techniques to understand how the Lower Rio Grande floodplain interacted with the Rio Grande River before and after flood control and hydroelectric dams were constructed. She hopes that through the understanding of these processes, appropriate and reliable decision making tools for vulnerable communities can be developed. Sara received her BS in Civil Engineering at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV). When not coding up numerical models, she an avid birdwatcher. She also likes to read non-fiction books and enjoys listening to classical music.

Sophie De Respino
Ph.D. Student

Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering

Advisor: Manish Kumar

Area of Impact: water treatment

Research: sustainable water filtration

Sophie received her B.S. in Environmental Engineering from the University of Alabama and is interested in sustainable water filtration using natural fibers and plant-based proteins. Her research focuses on combining antimicrobial proteins from Moringa oleifera seeds with fibers like cotton and Ceiba pentandra (kapok) for disinfection and oil/water separations.

Maria-Elena Giner
Ph.D. Graduate

LBJ School of Public Affairs

Advisor: David Eaton

Area of Impact: municipal infrastructure, public policy

Research: water, energy and local food opportunities along the Texas border

Maria-Elena is focusing on the impact of first time water and wastewater infrastructure on health in rural Texas border communities.  

Daniel Graf
M.S. Student

Energy and Earth Resources

Advisor: Michael Young

Area of Impact: energy transition, natural resource management

Research: environmental impacts of energy transition, life cycle assessment

Dan is currently studying the tradeoffs between climate change mitigation, environmental stewardship, and the development of reliable and affordable electricity. He hopes to contribute to the creation of information and tools that encourage innovation and adoption, and inform decision-makers. Before coming to UT Austin, Dan received B.S. degrees in geological engineering and geology & geophysics from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and worked on water resources issues both at home and abroad. In his free time, he enjoys going to concerts, cooking, and exploring the great outdoors.

Greg Hendrickson
Ph.D. Student

Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering

Advisor: Lina Sela

Area of Impact: optimization in energy-water systems

Research: desalination management

Greg is analyzing the tradeoffs between off-grid energy sources for groundwater extraction in agricultural irrigation. He is also exploring the ways in which water sourced from desalination plants can be utilized to meet requirements from energy and agricultural sectors while ensuring the clean, drinkable water continues to flow during extreme conditions. He received his B.S. in Civil Engineering from Oklahoma State University. In his free time, Greg enjoys cooking and reading.

 

Brielle Hohne
Ph.D. Student

Chemical Engineering

Advisors: Keith Keitz, Manish Kumar

Areas of Impact: biotechnology, membranes

Research: sustainable water filters

Brielle is studying seed proteins from the Moringa tree to develop locally sourced, low-cost, sustainable water filters in equatorial regions where clean water is lacking. She earned a BS in Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering from Cornell University.

CV - Brielle Hohne

Erick Jones
Ph.D. Graduate

Operations Research and Industrial Engineering

Advisor: Benjamin Leibowicz

Area of Impact: energy, water, transportation, infrastructure

Research: sustainable urban design

Erick is discovering how to build and operate affordable, sustainable and innovative communities in urban and rural environments. 

CV - Erick Jones

Kade Kearney
M.S. / Ph.D. Student

Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering

Advisor: Charles Werth

Area of Impact: water treatment

Research: groundwater pollution remediation, environmental reactive transport

Kade is quantifying the impact of naturally occurring reactions that reduce concentrations of chlorinated solvents, a persistent contaminant, in groundwater aquifers. He hopes to contribute to models that seek to estimate time to cleanup for many of the aquifers impacted by chlorinated solvents. Before coming to UT Austin, Kade received his B.S in Environmental Engineering from the University of Minnesota and worked as an engineer cleaning oil-contaminated aquifers throughout the country. Outside of lab, Kade enjoys paddle boarding on Lake Austin and hanging out with his fellow graduate students.

Michaela LaPatin
Ph.D. Student

Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering

Advisor: Kasey Faust

Area of Impact: sociotechnical systems

Research: water utility access in remote communities

Michaela earned a BS in civil engineering and a Bachelor of Management from Bucknell University. She then worked in construction management for about five years, where she gained hands-on experience managing multi-family, commercial, and industrial projects. Michaela is deeply interested in the intersection of social systems and the built environment and is committed to conducting research that centers equity and justice in communities.

Kuan-Lin Lee
Ph.D. Student

Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering

Advisor: Charles Werth

Area of Impact: water treatment, drinking water treatment

Research: reactor design for drinking water treatment

Kuan-Lin devotes himself to seeking solutions to minimize the pollution on the environment and to benefit both the environment and human health. He earned BS and MS in environmental engineering from National Cheng Kung University, focusing on air pollutants control and air quality modeling. He is currently working with the Werth Group on electrocatalytic treatment for nitrate reduction in drinking water and designing a novel reactor for the water treatment.

Samantha Lee
M.S. Student

Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering

Advisors:  Zoltan Nagy, Junfeng Jiao

Sam's career ambition is to improve mobility so that it is efficient, equitable and sustainable.She is currently pursuing a Master's in Civil Engineering for Sustainable Systems, focusing on transportation systems.

Le Lu
Ph.D. Graduate

Operations Research and Industrial Engineering

Advisor: Benjamin Leibowicz

Area of Impact: operations research, infrastructure resilience

Research: energy systems modeling, network optimization, infrastructure resilience

Le (Helen) is interested in applying energy systems modeling techniques and operations research methodologies to study the decarbonization policies and infrastructure resilience under disasters. She received the M.S. in Operations Research from Georgia Tech and B.Eng. in Systems Engineering and Engineering Management from The Chinese University of Hong Kong.

Rachel Moglen
Ph.D. Student

Operations Research and Industrial Engineering

Advisors: Benjamin Leibowicz, Lina Sela

Area of Impact: sustainability, operations research

Research: optimizing the design and operation of integrated, distributed energy and water systems

Rachel is advancing sustainable infrastructure systems that will achieve better energy and environmental performance and improve the food, energy, water nexus.

CV - Rachel Moglen

 

Mathieu Medina
M.S./ Ph.D. Student

Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering

Advisors: Navid Saleh, Mary Jo Kirisits

Area of Impact: water quality and climate change

Research: permafrost response to global warming and impact on water quality in select Native Alaskan communities

Mathieu earned a BS in Chemical Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he researched nanoparticle synthesis for novel therapeutics and bioprocess computational simulation. Transitioning to Environmental Engineering at UT Austin, he will intertwine his passions for community building and social change through people-centered science in partnership with marginalized communities. Mathieu's current project investigates the effects of climate change on permafrost - the research team hopes to understand what is released from permafrost as it thaws and the corresponding impact on water quality for Native Alaskans.

 

Lauren Nalley
M.S. Graduate

Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering

Advisor: Lynn Katz

Area of Impact: water treatment

Research: characterization of polymer membrane adsorption and fouling

Lauren is a researcher at the Center for Materials for Water and Energy Systems who is developing membrane technology to treat water from energy systems to reduce industrial pollution and enable water reuse.

 

Emma Palmer
Ph.D. Student

Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering

Advisors: Charles Werth

Area of Impact: water treatment

Research: groundwater pollution remediation, redox-active bacteria

Emma is studying the roles that dissimilatory metal-reducing bacteria (DMBR) play in the reduction of iron at water-sediment interfaces. She is investigating the production and regulation of extracellular electron shuttles in DMBR metabolism and the potential for subsequent pollutant degradation.

 

Tulasi Ravindran
Ph.D. Student

Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering

Advisor: Lynn Katz

Area of Impact: water treatment

Research: resource recovery

Tulasi is currently researching the recovery of Selenium as a resource from biological treatment of selenium laden wastewater. She graduated from BITS Pilani KK Birla, Goa Campus in India with a double major in chemistry and chemical engineering and received her masters degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of Connecticut.

Michael Solomentsev
Ph.D. Student

Electrical and Computer Engineering

Advisor: Alex Hanson

Area of Impact: power electronics

Research: renewable energy system, microgrid grid

Michael is working with UT’s Power Electronics Research Group to accelerate renewable energy adoption through projects that support energy storage and a distributed grid. He earned a BS in Electrical and Computer Engineering from Cornell University. In his free time he enjoys climbing and cooking.

Ben Stacy
Ph.D. Student

Chemical Engineering

Advisor: Brian Korgel

Area of Impact: nanomaterials

Research: silicon nanocrystals

Ben is a third-year graduate researcher who is working with silicon nanocrystals, a photoactive material with environmental and biological compatibility. He is currently working with the Korgel group on silicon nanocrystal passivation and gelation to expand the functionality of the silicon nanocrystals. He received his B.S. in chemical engineering from the University of Kentucky. 

Miriam Tariq
Ph.D. Student

Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering

Advisor: Kasey Faust

Area of Impact: sustainable systems

Research: sustainable implementation of decentralized water treatment systems

Miriam received her B.S. in Civil and Environmental Engineering from Louisiana State University and her M.S. in Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering from UT Austin. Her current research project focuses on increasing the legitimacy of decentralized water treatment systems in developing communities. She is interested in the intersection of environmental engineering and public policy.

Jacob Troutman
Ph.D. Student

Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering

Advisor: Charles Werth

Area of Impact: novel materials for water treatment

Research: catalytic treatment of nitrate with ammonia recovery

Jacob is a graduate researcher at the Center for Water and Environment who is addressing pollutants in drinking water and investigating novel ways to manage agricultural wastes for resource recovery. He grew up in a small town in North Carolina and received a B.S. in both Chemistry and Mathematics from Wingate University. In May 2019, he received his Master’s in Civil Engineering while working with Dr. Charlie Werth and Dr. Simon Humphrey in the UT Chemistry Department.

Chenxu Yan
Ph.D. Student

Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering

Advisor: Charles Werth

Area of Impact: water treatment, drinking water treatment

Research: electrocatalytic treatment of nitrate

Chenxu is improving negative environmental impacts of agricultural runoff on surface and groundwater using a promising water treatment technology. He has BS in Environmental Sciences from Nanjing University and MS in Geography and Environmental Engineering from Johns Hopkins University. He is currently working with Dr. Charles Werth on reactor design for coupled electrolytic hydrogen production and nitrate removal from drinking water.

Qianru Zhu
Ph.D. Graduate

Operations Research and Industrial Engineering

Advisor: Benjamin Leibowicz

Area of Impact: decarbonization, resilience, techno-economic assessment

Research: operations models in climate change mitigation and adaptation strategies at diverse scales

In Qianru’s dissertation, she analyzed climate change mitigation and adaptation strategies at diverse scales by applying optimization, risk analysis, and techno-economic modeling frameworks. Qianru graduated in May 2021 with her Ph.D. and now works in the Energy Systems and Climate Analysis Group at the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI), where she supports research on integrated planning and capacity expansion modeling. She earned a BS in Mathematics and a BS in Economics from Penn State.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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