The Current Team

Principal Investigator

Positions held

• Assistant Professor, Department of Environmental Health and Engineering (July 2023-Present)

• Postdoctoral researcher, Joint BioEnergy Institute, Lawrence Berkeley National Lab (Jan 2021-June 2023)

Education

• Ph.D. in Environmental Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan

• MS in Molecular Biosciences and Bioengineering, University of Hawaii, Honolulu, Hawaii

• B. Tech in Biotechnology, Kathmandu University, Nepal

Fun Fact

I enjoy reading books, drawing, and hiking!

Dr. Shilva Shrestha

Nuhu Mujaheed

PhD Student

Nuhu is a PhD student in Shrestha lab, passionate about making clean and affordable energy accessible while protecting the environment. His research focuses on converting organic waste into biofuels and biochemicals using advanced biotechnologies. This approach not only tackles waste management but also offers sustainable alternatives to fossil fuels, benefiting the economy and reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

Education

• Master's Degree of Science, Environmental Engineering & Technology: Ghent University, Belgium

• Bachelor's Degree of Engineering, Water Resrouces and Environmental Engineering: Ahmadu Bello University, Nigeria

Research Interests

• Medium chain carboxylic production via chain elongation technology

• Bioreactor optimization

• Computational modeling

Fun Fact

I can speak Hausa, Jarawa, and English! I've visited the Netherlands, Belgium, Czech Republic, France, Slovakia, Germany, Austria, Egypt, Spain, Greece, Poland, Italy, UAE, Turkey, and Hungary!

Xuejiao is curious about advanced techniques in the environmental engineering field. Her Ph.D. research mainly focuses on using the carboxylate platform to recover resources from carbon-rich waste streams via microbial chain elongation.

Education

• Master's Degree of Science: University of Tuebingen, Germany

• Bachelor's Degree of Engineering: DaLian University of Technology, China

Research Interests

• Resource recovery via chain elongation

• Biochemical methane potential and anaerobic toxicity assay by co-substrate digestion

• Degradation of DEET in wastewater

Fun Fact

I have a terrible sense of direction!

Xuejiao Lyu

PhD Student

Yitao Zong

Yitao Zong is a master's student in Geography and Environmental Engineering. His interest lies in utilizing microorganisms to degrade environmental pollutants and reduce carbon emissions. His research focuses on designing microaeration bioreactor and bioplastics.

Master's Student

Education

• Bachelor's Degree of Art: University of California, San Diego, Scripps Institution of Oceanography.

Research Interests

• Carbon cycle emission management.

• Microbial-mediated pollutant degradation.

• Microaeration-based bioengineered system.

Fun Fact

Pet lover. I have many cats and an Alaskan Malamute!

Niki Zouzoulas

Undergraduate Student

Niki is a sophomore student studying Molecular & Cellular Biology and Environmental Science.

Research Interests

• Application of synthetic microbial consortia towards environmental remediation and resource recovery.

Fun Fact

I love snorkeling!

Juny Lee

Undergraduate Student

Juny is a 2nd year undergraduate student studying Environmental Engineering and minoring in Psychology.

Research Interests

• Bioenergy

• Wastewater treatment

Fun Fact

I am an avid movie fan!

Charles Zhao

Undergraduate Student

Tianxing Zhao is a 3rd year undergrad majoring in Environmental Science. He's interested in ecological interactions in aquatic environments and integrative methods to solve environmental issues from chemical and biological approaches.

Research Interests

• Application of bioreactors in environments

• Aquatic organism interactions and chemistry

Fun Fact

I've been an aquarium tank builder for 4 years and have built 8 fish tanks!

Christopher J.H. Evans

Undergraduate Student

Chris is a 1st year freshman studying Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering and Computer Science. He’s interested in sustainable bioengineering to combat the climate crisis. He assists in the analysis of the bottom-up microbial consortia and optimization of the top-down bioreactors.

Research Interests

• Transcriptomics of synthetic microbiomes

• Persistence dynamics of HIV in people living with HIV in remission

Fun Fact

I love photography and I have my wall covered with my color-coded photos.

Koraly Roca-Avilés

Undergraduate Student

Koraly Roca-Avilés is a 3rd year undergraduate majoring in Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering. She is interested in streamlining sustainable energy solutions by developing methods to increase their overall effectiveness.

Research Interests

• Repurposing waste into renewable energy sources

• Applications of tissue engineering and 3D bioprinting

Fun Fact

I love art, music and composing original songs!

Alumni

Marisa Tomas

Former Master's Student

Former Undergraduate Student

Adalee Lynch

Former Undergraduate Student

Sunny Li

Former Undergraduate Student

Yurui Zhang