Environmental Engineering

Dorthe Wildenschild’s research focuses on flow and transport in porous media, with the goal of answering questions related to subsurface water pollution and energy-related storage challenges. Recent work includes optimization of geologic storage of anthropogenic carbon dioxide; colloid facilitated transport of contaminants in groundwater; bioimaging technology development; deep learning approaches for optimal microimaging outcomes; the effect of micro-gravity on biofilm growth; and research in support of more effective groundwater remediation techniques.

Brian Wood's research interests include transport of mass, momentum, and energy in natural and engineered multiscale systems; multiscale analysis of tissues and biological process descriptions in cellular systems, with particular applications to organ modeling and modeling of cancer biology.

Lewis Semprini’s research focuses on biological processes for the treatment of hazardous wastes, and on the fate and transport of organic contaminants in the environment. He specializes in field, laboratory, and modeling studies of both aerobic and anaerobic processes for treating chlorinated solvents, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and emerging contaminants. His research efforts over the past 30 years have aimed at integrating the results of field, laboratory, and modeling studies to effectively apply bioremediation technologies for the cleanup of contaminated sites.

Tyler Radniecki’s research interests include sustainable biological wastewater treatment processes, stormwater treatment by green infrastructure and wastewater-based epidemiology. Of particular interest is understanding how to shape the microbiomes in these systems and how microbiome shape affects treatment performance. Additional interests include using wastewater microbiomes to predict disease burdens in a community.

Tala Navab-Daneshmand’s research interests include fate of pathogenic and antibiotic-resistant bacteria from wastewater systems to environmental reservoirs, identifying the microbial communities' structure and function in engineered and environmental systems, and design of engineered solutions to reduce the associated human health risks.

Jeff Nason’s research interests and expertise are in the area of water quality and treatment, with specific focus on particulate contaminants, physical and chemical processes, and aquatic chemistry. Recent work has focused on the fate and transport of engineered nanomaterials and micro/nanoplastics in aquatic systems and the role of natural organic matter in controlling the chemical speciation and treatment of heavy metals in stormwater and wastewater.