40 Under 40 Recognition Program

The American Academy of Environmental Engineers and Scientists is proud to introduce the AAEES 40 Under 40 Recognition Program.

This program was introduced to recognize talented individuals who have, either personally or as part of a team, been responsible for helping to advance the fields of Environmental Science or Environmental Engineering in a demonstrable way within the last 12 months. A nominee must be under 40 at the end of the calendar year in which they are nominated.

Winners are chosen by a panel of past recipients who weigh equally business successes and civic/philanthropic activities.

Click here for the full criteria and nomination forms.

2025 Recipients

Ahmed Abdelmoneim, BVMS, MSc, PhD, DABT
Assistant Professor
Department of Comparative Biomedical Sciences
Louisiana Animal Disease Diagnostic Laboratory
Louisiana State University

Dr. Abdelmoneim is an Assistant Professor at Louisiana State University’s School of Veterinary Medicine, where he teaches veterinary toxicology, oversees the Toxicology section at the Louisiana Animal Disease Diagnostic Laboratory (LADDL), and leads a research group investigating neuroendocrine changes and associated disorders resulting from developmental exposure to environmental contaminants. He obtained his BVMS from Assiut University, Egypt, in 2007, followed by a master’s degree in Ecotoxicology from the University of Poitiers, France, in 2011, and a doctorate in Aquatic and Environmental Toxicology from Purdue University in 2016. He further honed his expertise through two postdoctoral fellowships in environmental toxicology at Cornell University from 2017 to 2020.

Ariel J. Atkinson, Ph.D.
Project Manager - Applied Water Quality Research
Southern Nevada Water Authority

Dr. Ariel Atkinson is a Project Manager for the Applied Water Quality Research team at the Southern Nevada Water Authority (SNWA). Ariel works with engineers, postdocs, and students on needs-driven research in support of SNWA and Las Vegas Valley Water District’s treatment facilities, distribution system, and groundwater wells. She also leads (as PI or co-PI) a number of funded (WRF, USBR, and WaterStart) research projects on Legionella, UV-LED, DAF, and ozone nanobubbles. Her groundbreaking Legionella occurrence and treatment research led to the implementation of the first municipal-scale UV-LED reactor in the America's and securing ~$9M to fund the equipping of up to 28 wells with UV-LEDs and restoring appx 120 MGD of capacity. Ariel also volunteers on the Executive Committee and Board for the International Ozone Association (IOA-PAG), chairs the IOA-PAG's technical program committee, serves as a Project Advisory Committee member on WRF projects, and is an Associate Editor for AWWA Water Science.

Prior to SNWA, Ariel received her bachelor's degree in chemistry from Appalachian State University, working with Dr. Carol Babyak on soil characterization. She worked in air quality monitoring at Eastern Research Group for a few years, before pursuing her PhD in Environmental Engineering from UNC Chapel Hill and working with Dr. Orlando Coronell on the development of anti-biofouling membranes. Ariel also did a postdoc with Dr. Paul Westerhoff, P.E. at the NSF Nanosystems Engineering Research Center for Nanotechnology Enabled Water Treatment at Arizona State University.

Adaline M. Buerck, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor and Director of the Cecil Day Family Center for International Groundwater Innovation
Mercer University

Dr. Adaline Buerck is an assistant professor of environmental and civil engineering and the director of the Cecil Day Family Center for International Groundwater Innovation at Mercer University. Dr. Buerck joined Mercer University in the Fall 2022. Before joining Mercer, Dr. Buerck was at the University of South Florida where she completed her Ph.D. in Civil Engineering and a Graduate Certificate in Social Marketing and Social Change. 

Dr. Buerck’s research focuses on international development, culturally appropriate water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) technologies, heavy metal exposure, and the link between engineering, public health, and behavior change. She has brought this passion for international development into her role of directing the Engineering for Development minor at Mercer University and has helped lead multiple undergraduate service-learning/research trips through Mercers Mercer On Mission (MOM) program to Belize, Dominican Republic, and Guyana. 

She is a member of multiple professional organizations such as the Georgia Association of Water Professionals (GAWP), American Chemical Society (ACS), and American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE) where she is currently the vice-chair of the civil and environmental engineering division for the south east section.  She also helped establish the first student chapter of the American Water Works Association (AWWA) in the state of Georgia and serves as their faculty advisor. 

Joe Charbonnet, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Iowa State University

Dr. Joe Charbonnet is an assistant professor of environmental engineering at Iowa State University. Charbonnet’s research focuses on two of the most pressing topics of environmental engineering today: PFAS contamination and water reuse. Charbonnet is a leader in the fields of PFAS identification and forensics. Proposed only two years ago (in an award-winning perspective in Environmental Science & Technology Letters) Charbonnet’s scale for communicating PFAS identities has already become the gold standard for reporting the results of nontargeted PFAS analysis. His research tracking the sources of PFAS contamination has been extensively cited and has made Charbonnet a sought-after presenter on PFAS forensics. His work on engineered geomedia for stormwater recycling bridges the divide between fundamental science and applied systems unlocking hundreds of new acre-feet of water each year.

Charbonnet particularly excels as an educator. He has taught the principles of environmental engineering and water chemistry to rapt audiences in the auditoriums of Iowa State University and UC Berkeley, all the way to middle school classrooms and even inside the walls of San Quentin State Prison. His teaching and mentoring have contributed to the development of new PhDs and professors across the US. As relatively new assistant professor himself, he has already graduated two members of his research group into careers in the public sector and private consulting.

Outside of academia, Charbonnet is a husband to the best environmental engineer he knows, and the father of two of the most efficient producers of biosolids in the country.

Jiannan (Nick) Chen, Ph.D., A.M. ASCE
Assistant Professor
Department of Civil, Environmental, and Construction Engineering
University of Central Florida

Dr. Jiannan (Nick) Chen is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Civil, Environmental, and Construction Engineering at the University of Central Florida (UCF). He earned his Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin–Madison in 2015, where he received the Norman Severson Award for Outstanding Graduate Students. Following his Ph.D., Dr. Chen worked as a Postdoctoral Associate at the University of Virginia before joining UCF in 2020.

Dr. Chen’s research focuses on landfill containment systems, life-cycle assessment of waste management, waste geotechnics, and recycling programs and education. He has published over 40 peer-reviewed journal articles, and his Pollutant Fate and Transport Processes and Geochemistry Laboratory has secured over $1 million in funding from sources, including the Consortium for Risk Evaluation with Stakeholder Participation (CRESP), EPRI, Hinkley Center for Solid and Hazardous Waste, FDOT, PNNL, NSF, DOE, NIH, and industry partners.

Dr. Chen serves as an Associate Editor for the Journal of the Air & Waste Management Association (A&WMA) and as Scholarship Chair and Board Member of the A&WMA Florida Section. He was recognized as a top reviewer for the journal of Waste Management (Elsevier) in both 2018 and 2023. Actively involved in education and workforce development, Dr. Chen is currently serving as the faculty advisor for the CRESP Early-Career Program and the ASCE UCF Student Chapter.

Alex Ho Shing Chik, Ph.D., P.Eng.
Technical Lead and Program Manager
Ontario Clean Water Agency

Dr. Alex Ho Shing Chik is a Technical Lead and Program Manager at the Ontario Clean Water Agency and holds an appointment as Adjunct Professor at the University of Guelph (Canada). With diverse experiences spanning academia, consulting, and public service, Dr. Chik is an environmental engineer specializing in water and wastewater quality, treatment processes, and the advancement of quality assurance frameworks to deliver reliable data for public health and environmental protection.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Dr. Chik led Canada’s first inter-laboratory study of SARS-CoV-2 in wastewater and built on this work by pioneering an innovative quality assurance/quality control (QAQC) framework. This includes developing the first ISO 17043:2013 accredited Proficiency Testing program of its kind and leading the creation of LabStats.ca, a platform enhancing QAQC evaluations to improve environmental monitoring practices leveraging biomolecular tools.

Dr. Chik earned his PhD (cum laude) jointly from Utrecht University, Vienna University of Technology, and the University of Waterloo. He also holds a Master of Environmental Studies (Planning) and an Honours Bachelor of Applied Sciences from the University of Waterloo. His work has been recognized with honours such as the American Water Works Association Academic Achievement Award, and he is appointed to the Royal Society of Canada Expert Panel on Wastewater Surveillance. Motivated by his children and a deep commitment to global health and environmental stewardship, Dr. Chik is dedicated to advancing One Health initiatives to protect future generations.

Rebecca Ciez, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Mechanical Engineering & Environmental and Ecological Engineering
Purdue University

Dr. Rebecca Ciez is an Assistant Professor in Mechanical Engineering and Environmental and Ecological Engineering at Purdue University. Prior to Purdue, she was a postdoctoral researcher at the Columbia Electrochemical Energy Center and the Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment at Princeton University. Her research combines methods from engineering, quantitative policy analysis, and economics to consider the economic and environmental impacts of energy systems and technologies. She applies these methods to energy technologies that are part of the electrification and decarbonization transition, including battery energy storage systems, residential and industrial heat pumps, hydrogen electrolysis, steel electrification, and direct air capture. Nonprofits, national laboratories, and academic institutions have sought Dr. Ciez’s contributions to policy framing: she has participated in energy transition policy workshops hosted by the Clean Air Task Force, NREL, and University of Calgary’s Net Zero Electricity Research Initiative. Her lab’s research has been supported by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, US Department of Energy, Purdue’s Center for High Performance Buildings, and NSF.

Dr. Ciez’s work has been published in journals including ACS Energy Letters, Joule, and Nature Sustainability, and has been covered by publications including Science Magazine, Wired, The Wall Street Journal, and IEEE Spectrum. She holds a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from Columbia University and a Ph.D. in Engineering and Public Policy from Carnegie Mellon University.

Sherri Cook, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
University of Colorado Boulder

Dr. Sherri Cook is an Associate Professor at the University of Colorado Boulder. She received her BS from Virginia Tech and her MSE and PhD from the University of Michigan. Dr. Cook is focused on improving our understanding of and ability to generate sustainable solutions, especially to help overcome global shortfalls in reliable access to safe water and sanitation. Her research and teaching focus on generating a foundation of data, understanding, and tools to help transform treatment of, and access to, high quality water and sanitation without incurring unacceptable risks to human health, financial stability, and the environment.

She developed three novel courses focused on teaching sustainability principles to undergraduate, graduate, and non-engineering students. Her research thrusts are: (1) Charting pathways for sustainable water and waste management systems by applying sustainability assessment methodologies to existing and novel technologies to enable sustainable water treatment technology development and implementation; she conceptualized and evaluated a new treatment system, which removes micropollutants from wastewaters using biochar generated from wastewater solids, and a landfill circular economy system, which treats landfill gas and leachate using biochar generated from diverted organic waste. (2) Advancing sustainability-based evaluations and engineering decisions by developing new methods and decision frameworks to promote universal and sustained sanitation; she created a formal framework for including social considerations and local context in design and implementation processes for sanitation, PFAS, and drinking water systems. (3) Advancing environmental biotechnology applications to enable sustainable civil infrastructure; she co-founded a company that produces zero-carbon bio-cement.

Timothy D'Agostino, P.E., ENV SP
Project Manager
P.W. Grosser Consulting

Timothy D’Agostino, P.E., ENV SP, is a project manager at P.W. Grosser Consulting. He is experienced in the design of drinking water wells, treatment systems, and storage and distribution systems. Tim’s career has provided many opportunities to make meaningful contributions to water quality, availability, and system reliability. Notable projects include constructing various water treatment systems to ensure clean drinking water is available for the public and developing water management plans for hospitals.

Tim holds a bachelor’s degree and master’s degree and from the University of Delaware. His drinking water experience ranges from municipal, commercial, and even residential water systems. In addition to drinking water work, Tim has performed analysis, design, inspection, or construction services for sites ranging from sewage treatment plants, hospitals, freight terminals, and airports.

Tim’s efforts focus on improving infrastructure, and he has worked on various projects to advance public health, welfare, and safety. These projects include installation of new water mains, lead service line replacements, and advanced water treatment plants for emerging contaminants detected in groundwater supplies.

Outside the office, Tim’s serves on various local, regional, and national committees for professional organizations including the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) and the American Water Works Association (AWWA) and is a practitioner advisor for a local college. His contributions and service to nonprofits, schools, and mentorship programs have helped advance the industry and mentor the next generation of engineers.

Jeseth Delgado Vela, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Duke University

Dr. Jeseth Delgado Vela is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Duke University. She integrates molecular tools and modeling to understand how microbial community interactions and dynamics affect engineered water treatment systems. Dr. Delgado Vela earned a Ph.D. and M.S. in Environmental Engineering and M.S. at the University of Michigan, and a B.S. in Civil Engineering from the University of Texas at Austin. She was a recipient of the Ford Foundation Dissertation Award, was named an Early Career Research Fellow by the Gulf Research Program, and was awarded an NSF CAREER Award.

Sarah Fakhreddine, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Civil and Environmental Engineering
Carnegie Mellon University

Dr. Sarah Fakhreddine is an Assistant Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Carnegie Mellon University. Dr. Fakhreddine’s research focuses on developing water management solutions that holistically address issues of water quantity and quality. She investigates fundamental hydrologic and biogeochemical processes that control the fate and transport of contaminants and nutrients in complex systems, including highly developed watersheds. Her work applies laboratory, numerical modeling, and field-based approaches to translate the fundamental processes into actionable engineering approaches that protect water quality for human and ecosystem health.

Dr. Fakhreddine’s previous work has developed strategies to protect water quality during managed aquifer recharge (MAR), an increasingly used freshwater enhancement strategy. Her findings elucidated fundamental processes controlling the mobilization of naturally occurring metals during MAR. In addition to peer-reviewed publications, her projects have produced guidance documents and support tools for water managers and regulators. Currently, her team is conducting a large-scale analysis of potential opportunities and limitations to MAR, including water quality impacts, across principal aquifers of the United States. This national assessment is part of a ~$2M United States Environmental Protection Agency funded project.

Dr. Fakhreddine received her Ph.D. in Environmental Earth System Science and M.S. in Environmental Engineering and Science from Stanford University. She completed a postdoctoral fellowship in the Sustainable Water Resources group and the University of Texas at Austin and served as a fellow in the Climate Resilient Water Systems group at the Environmental Defense Fund.

Bezawit Getachew, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Rice University

Alex Gorzalski, Ph.D., P.E., PO
Founder
One Water Engineering

Dr. Gorzalski is the founder of One Water Engineering, an environmental consulting firm focused on water treatment. He assists water systems, technology companies, and universities with developing and testing new treatment technologies at bench and pilot scale. One Water Engineering also operates laboratory facilities for evaluating commercial and novel sorbents for the removal of micropollutants, including PFAS.

Prior to founding One Water Engineering, Dr. Gorzalski worked for a large water utility serving Washington, DC and a national consulting firm in California and North Carolina. His water utility work focused on capital project delivery and operations, where he managed a 120 MGD water treatment plant. As a consulting engineer, he served as his firm’s national co-lead for emergency preparedness and designed water treatment plants, including serving as the engineer of record for the design of PFAS treatment facilities.

Dr. Gorzalski graduated with a B.S. in Civil Engineering from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Environmental Engineering from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He is a licensed engineer in four states and a certified water treatment plant operator.

Sarah-Jane Haig, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor, Civil and Environmental Engineering
School of Public Health
University of Pittsburgh

Dr. Sarah Haig is an Assistant Professor in Civil and Environmental Engineering, with a secondary appointment in the School of Public Health at the University of Pittsburgh. Dr. Haig received her PhD in Civil Engineering and MSci. in Microbiology from the University of Glasgow in Scotland. After concluding her Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Microbiology of the Built Environment fellowship and a Dow Sustainability postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Michigan she joined the faculty at the University of Pittsburgh in September 2018.

Dr. Haig’s research group studies microbial exposures in the built environment. Operating at the intersection of engineering, environmental microbiology, environmental chemistry, and public health her group assesses and mitigates health risks associated with pathogens transmitted within the built environment, with a specific focus on drinking water systems. Since 2018, her interdisciplinary program—funded by agencies like HUD, EPA, NSF (including a 2024 CAREER award) have tackled issues in building plumbing, water treatment, indoor air quality, and microbial risk assessment. Using a combination of traditional microbiological techniques, modern molecular methods, and multivariate statistical analyses her team advances knowledge, develops solutions, and informs strategies to improve indoor environments to safeguard public and environmental health.

Andrea Hicks, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
University of Wisconsin-Madison

Dr. Andrea Hicks is an Associate Professor in Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She completed her PhD and postdoctoral studies at the University of Illinois at Chicago in Civil Engineering and at the Institute for Environmental Science and Policy. She earned her MS from Clemson University in Environmental Engineering, and her BS from Michigan Technological University, also in Environmental Engineering. 

Dr. Hicks’s research focuses on the environmental impacts and sustainability implications of emerging technologies. She applies tools such as life cycle assessment, technoeconomic assessment, optimization, and agent-based modeling to explore emerging technologies, spanning the range from engineered nanomaterials to emerging modes of transportation. She is also interested in the role of human behavior and how people use new and emerging technologies and how the adoption of those technologies shifts behavior. She enjoys working in the area of emerging technologies because that is where the most degrees of freedom exist in design and deployment. Dr. Hicks holds the Nosbusch Associate Professorship which is focused on improving engineering education, and the Hanson Family Fellowship which allows her to pursue high risk high reward sustainability research. Beyond her faculty role, Dr. Hicks serves as the Director of Sustainability Education and Research through the Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. 

Her work has been recognized with an NSF CAREER award, a Fulbright U.S. Scholar Award to Ireland, and won the Laudise Medal from the International Society for Industrial Ecology for her outstanding achievement in industrial ecology.

Ling Nathanael Jin, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Departments of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Health Technology and Informatics
The Hong Kong Polytechnic University

Dr. Ling Nathanael Jin is an Assistant Professor at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, holding a joint appointment in the Departments of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Health Technology and Informatics. He leads the Health and Environment Advancement Lab (HEAL), focusing on interdisciplinary research that integrates environmental chemistry, toxicology, and microbiology. His work addresses critical global challenges, including air pollution and human health, and marine pollution and wildlife health.

Dr. Jin's research on toxic components of airborne fine particulate matter and microbial risks of plastic pollution has garnered significant attention, leading to multiple invitations from Nature for his team to contribute insights on these pressing issues. His studies on marine toxicants affecting the health of green turtles and dugongs in the Great Barrier Reef and Chinese White Dolphins in Hong Kong, inform local conservation strategies. He has received several Best Paper and Most Popular Paper Awards from leading journals in recognition of his pioneering discoveries.

Beyond research, Dr. Jin actively mentors the next generation of environmental scientists and engineers, fostering their professional and personal development, which has led to numerous prestigious awards for his students and postdocs. He engages in various editorial initiatives to connect established and emerging scholars, stimulating knowledge dissemination and global debates on critical environmental issues. Through his leadership and mentorship, Dr. Jin is dedicated to advancing the integrated goals of One Sustainable Health.

Dr. Jin wishes to thank his mentors, collaborators, family, and especially his HEALers for supporting HEAL’s mission in research and outreach.

Ashley Kent, PE
Principal Water Engineer
Arcadis US, Inc.

Ashley Kent is a Principal Water Engineer for Arcadis U.S., Inc. in Austin, TX. She has a B.S. in Civil Engineering and a M.S. in Environmental and Water Resources Engineering from the University of Texas at Austin. Her Master’s Thesis focused on better understanding and optimizing biological drinking water treatment.

Ashley supports water systems across the country in optimizing their drinking water quality and treatment from watershed protection through distribution system optimization. Her work has included water conservation, community outreach and education, and regulatory support. She is Arcadis’ One Water Practice lead and the Discipline Lead for Biological Drinking Water Treatment. She has been the Principal Investigator on multiple Water Research Foundation projects related to biological treatment and emerging contaminants. She was also one of the U.S. Water Alliance 2023 Rising Professionals (Mentoring Connections program).

Ashley has been an active volunteer both in local AWWA chapter leadership roles as well as national AWWA committees. She is the past-Chair of the AWWA Biological Drinking Water Treatment Committee and is co-leading development of a new Biological Treatment Manual of Practice (M80). She recently received the AWWA Golden Spigot Award in 2021 and AWWA’s Top 5 under 35 Award in 2022.

Ashley also continues to give back and support future and current college students by volunteering with the Terry Foundation, which is the scholarship program that supported her through her undergraduate degree.

Outside of work, Ashley enjoys going to parks and reading baby science and engineering books with her ten-month old daughter, Emberly.

Hanyang Li, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Civil, Construction, and Environmental Engineering
San Diego State University

Dr. Hanyang Li is currently an assistant professor of environmental engineering at San Diego State University. She has been recognized for her groundbreaking scientific contributions to aerosol and air quality research and her commitment to environmental justice. Her graduate and post-doctorate training spans multiple disciplines within engineering, specifically in Civil Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, and Environmental Engineering, providing her with a robust and diverse foundation for her innovative research.

Her innovative research includes developing a state-of-the-art toxic metal aerosol analyzer, significantly enhancing the capabilities of low-cost sensors in environmental monitoring. She has also improved climate models through advanced machine learning algorithms, contributing to a better understanding of particle light absorption. Dr. Li actively works with underserved communities, training them to use low-cost air sensors and developing user-friendly data analytical tools to interpret air quality data, demonstrating her dedication to addressing environmental justice issues. As an assistant professor at San Diego State University, she has created an inclusive and supportive learning environment for students from diverse backgrounds, developed and taught courses emphasizing interdisciplinary knowledge, data analysis, and hands-on learning, and mentored female students and those from underrepresented groups. She has secured multiple research grants from federal and state agencies as well as industry, leading projects that span laboratory experiments, field observations, and computational analysis. Dr. Li’s collaborative spirit and interdisciplinary approach have positioned her as a leader in advancing air quality monitoring and climate science.

Lu Liu, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Iowa State University

Dr. Lu Liu is an Assistant Professor in the Civil, Construction, and Environmental Engineering Department at Iowa State University. She received her PhD in Civil Engineering from the University of Maryland and an MS in Environmental Science from the University of Oklahoma. Her research focuses on the impact of climate change on water resources and adaptations in the water sector. Meeting the demand for water, energy, and food amidst changing environmental and socioeconomic conditions is a central challenge of the 21st century. Her research group aims to facilitate sustainable water resource planning through robust decision-making tool development and active science-policy integration across three research thrust areas: 1) water-energy-climate nexus; 2) urban water sustainability and resilience; and 3) equity and justice in the water sector.

Dr. Liu has secured competitive funding from various sources, including the National Science Foundation, the Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S. Geological Survey, and other private and public entities. This funding supports her research agenda and contributes to developing the next generation of scholars in the field. To date, Dr. Liu’s team has published 28 papers in prestigious journals, with an H-index of 17.

Dr. Liu is deeply committed to making a difference in academia and beyond. She serves on the editorial board for flagship journals and is the Vice Chair of the AEESP Membership & Demographics Committee, where she contributes to enhancing the cross-institution junior faculty mentoring program. Due to her ongoing scholarly contributions to environmental issues and her sustained impact on local communities, she was honored as one of the 30 Champions of the Environment by the Iowa Environmental Council.

Xitong Liu, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
George Washington University

Xitong Liu is an assistant professor in the Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering at the George Washington University.  He obtained his B.S. and M.S. degrees from Nanjing University. He obtained his Ph.D. degree from Johns Hopkins University and received postdoctoral training at Carnegie Mellon University. He is a recipient of the George Washington University OVPR Early Career Award, DOE Geothermal Lithium Extraction Prize Award, the Inaugural ACS ES&T Engineering Best Paper Award, ACS PRF Doctoral New Investigator Award, and the C. Ellen Gonter Environmental Chemistry Award.

His research has been published in journals including Environmental Science & Technology, Nature Communications, and Journal of Membrane Science. His research has been supported by NSF, SERDP, USDA, and ACS.  His research group studies environmentally relevant interfacial phenomena and aims to develop durable, selective, and cost-effective separation technologies for water purification and recovery of critical materials. 

His current research interests include 1) elucidating fouling and scaling phenomena for water desalination membranes; 2) applying colloidal amendments for groundwater remediation; and 3) developing selective separation technologies for direct lithium extraction from water streams.

Paniteja Madala, LEED GA
Water/Wastewater Engineer
AECOM

Paniteja Madala is an accomplished Water/Wastewater Engineer at AECOM, a leading global consulting firm. With dual master’s degrees in Construction & Facilities Engineering (UNC Charlotte, USA) and Environmental Engineering & Management (JNTUK, India), along with a bachelor's degree in Civil Engineering (JNTUK, India), he has dedicated over six years to advancing sustainable water infrastructure across the United States, India, and the UK. His expertise includes water and wastewater treatment facility design, water conveyance, Stormwater and sewer infrastructure, vendor management, Revit/BIM modeling, and sustainable engineering solutions.

At AECOM and previously at L&T Construction, Paniteja has contributed to significant projects, including major water and wastewater treatment plant expansions, lift station designs, and preliminary engineering reports. He has played a key role in municipal water infrastructure projects and has been responsible for managing the design aspects of multiple projects across India.

Beyond his professional work, Paniteja is actively involved in industry leadership and global water initiatives. He is a member of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), the American Water Works Association (AWWA), the Water Environment Federation (WEF), ASTM International, and IEEE. He serves as Vice President of his local ASCE Young Members Forum (YMF) branch and is a voting member of AWWA and ASTM International standards committees, contributing to the development of key industry guidelines. Additionally, he is co-authoring technical materials, including book chapters, fact sheets, and white papers with WEF, influencing global water policies and publishing independent research articles in Environmental field.

Cresten Mansfeldt, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Department of Civil, Environmental, and Architectural Engineering
University of Colorado Boulder

Dr. Cresten Mansfeldt is an Assistant Professor at the University of Colorado Boulder in the Department of Civil, Environmental, and Architectural Engineering and the Environmental Engineering Program, where he has been a faculty member since 2019. Dr. Mansfeldt earned his PhD at Cornell University, following his undergraduate studies at the University of Minnesota. He further refined his expertise during a postdoctoral fellowship in the Environmental Chemistry Group at Eawag, the Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology. His research is driven by the dynamic interplay between natural and built environments, with a particular focus on water reuse, the built environment microbiome, and the impacts of natural disasters like wildfires on urban systems. His past research projects include monitoring SARS-CoV-2 in campus wastewater, evaluating the risks associated with synthetic biology products, and exploring the bioethics of emerging biological innovations in environmental engineering. His current research projects explore the impacts of contaminants resulting from wildland-urban interface, tracking synthetic biology products in the environment, and strengthening our understanding of direct and de facto water reuse.

As an educator, Dr. Mansfeldt teaches courses on material flows, from carbon and energy cycling by microorganisms to waste material management in urban infrastructure. He is deeply committed to equipping the next generation of environmental engineers with the skills to address complex global challenges. Inspired by the interconnectedness of natural and engineered systems, Dr. Mansfeldt's work exemplifies a forward-thinking approach to solving environmental issues, ensuring sustainable and resilient urban environments in the face of a changing world.

Emmanuel Obeng-Gyasi, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Environmental Health and Safety
North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University

Dr. Emmanuel Obeng-Gyasi is an exposure scientist and environmental epidemiologist whose research explores the impact of environmental exposures on human health, with a particular focus on the exposome—the totality of environmental influences over an individual's lifetime. His interdisciplinary approach integrates statistics, epidemiology, molecular biology, and analytical chemistry to investigate the health effects of environmental pollutants, including multi-pollutant mixtures (such as metals and per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS)) as well as the role of persistent infections in shaping health outcomes.

An emerging researcher in Environmental Health Data Science, Dr. Obeng-Gyasi applies advanced statistical methods to assess chemical mixtures and their interactions with social determinants of health. His work highlights variations in environmental exposures, particularly among marginalized communities, and examines the intersection of stress arousal and toxicant exposure. As part of a team, he has developed a soil lead risk map for Greensboro, North Carolina, using Bayesian network modeling.

Since 2023, his lab has led (as PI) efforts securing approximately $2 million in funding from organizations such as the NSF, NIH, and CMS, among others. His current projects include investigating the link between environmental pollutants and critical health outcomes, assessing the social, economic, and behavioral contexts of environmental exposures, and evaluating the heavy metals exposome in a mid-sized city. He has published 70 peer-reviewed journal articles.

Committed to mentorship and scientific collaboration, Dr. Obeng-Gyasi’s work seeks to inform public health policies and interventions aimed at reducing the negative health effects of environmental exposures. 

Will Peterson, PE, ENV SP
West Water Strategy and Growth Lead
AECOM

Will Peterson is the Strategy and Growth Lead for AECOM’s US West Water business. In this role, he supports clients across the western United States in addressing long-term water challenges through integrated, forward-looking solutions. Will is committed to working alongside partners to anticipate change, unlock opportunities, and deliver outcomes that serve both communities and ecosystems.

Since 2018, Will has served as Deputy Project Manager for AECOM’s support of Salt Lake City Department of Public Utilities’ $900M new Water Reclamation Facility. The largest and most complex project in the utility’s history, it plays a critical role in serving the Salt Lake community and protecting the environment—and is on track to achieve Envision Platinum certification, the first of its kind in Utah.

Building on his leadership at AECOM, Will chairs the Water Environment Federation (WEF) ESG Task Force, bringing together leaders across the water sector to celebrate and advance ESG best practices.

As a certified Envision Sustainability Professional and trainer, Will has helped educate municipal employees and engineering consultants on applying the framework. Through this training, Will emphasizes practical integration of sustainability into infrastructure delivery, equipping participants to elevate their projects' environmental and social performance.

Kelsey J. Pieper, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Northeastern University

Dr. Kelsey Pieper is an Assistant Professor in the Civil and Environmental Engineering Department and affiliated faculty in the School of Public Policy and Urban Affairs at Northeastern University. She will be joining the Civil and Environmental Engineering Department at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte this summer. Her overarching vision is to develop knowledge of the underlying drivers of drinking water contamination during routine and emergency conditions to enhance mitigation efforts and outreach strategies. Her research addresses drinking water challenges in communities supplied by private wells and municipal systems.

Dr. Pieper has led multi-institutional, transdisciplinary projects funded by the National Science Foundation, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and National Aeronautics and Space Administration, tackling the complex intersections of environmental exposures, public health, and infrastructure resilience. She actively collaborates with local health departments, community-based organizations, and state agencies to translate her research into actionable solutions. Her work has led to improved guidance for well users, advanced emergency response protocols for water contamination events, and the development of decision support systems to assist health departments in decision making during disasters. She was named a Gulf Research Program Early Career Fellow by the National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine. She received her Ph.D. in Biological Systems Engineering and M.S. in Civil Engineering at Virginia Tech, and B.S. in Mechanical Engineering at Binghamton University. 

Brett Poulin, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Department of Environmental Toxicology
University of California, Davis

Dr. Brett Poulin is an Assistant Professor in the department of Environmental Toxicology at the University of California, Davis. He received B.S. degrees in Environmental Chemistry and Molecular Biology (2008) from the University of California Santa Cruz and an M.S. (2013) and Ph.D. (2016) in Environmental Engineering from the University of Colorado Boulder. After completing his graduate work, Dr. Poulin was a science lead for 4 years at the U.S. Geological Survey.

He joined the faculty of University of California, Davis in the Fall of 2020. The mission of his research is to advance the understanding of the chemistry and toxicology of trace metal contaminants in both man-made and natural environments. A portion of his research program focuses on the neurotoxic element mercury, a contaminant transported atmospherically over regional and global distances that impacts wildlife and humans worldwide. This research aids in guiding the remediation and management of reservoirs and wetlands, assessing climate-change effects on mercury cycling (e.g., permafrost thaw, sea-level rise), and understanding how organisms detoxify mercury. His group has active research in the Arctic investigating climate-driven releases of metals from enhanced acid rock drainage. He has been awarded the NSF CAREER Award (2022) and secured >$3M in extramural funding. As an educator, he has developed two new undergraduate courses at the University of California Davis that use modern pedagogical methods to learn about water quality and human and ecosystem health.

Outside of work, Dr. Poulin keeps active with his family (two kids and spouse) and enjoys biking, hiking, camping, and paddling.

Mim Rahimi, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor, Environmental Engineering
Cullen College of Engineering
University of Houston

Dr. Mim Rahimi is an Assistant Professor of Environmental Engineering at the Cullen College of Engineering at the University of Houston (UH), where he also holds an affiliate appointment with the Materials Science and Engineering Program. Before joining UH, Dr. Rahimi was a postdoctoral associate at the Department of Chemical Engineering at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) (2018–2021), working with Prof. Alan Hatton.

Dr. Rahimi earned his Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from Pennsylvania State University in 2017 under the supervision of Prof. Bruce Logan. Dr. Rahimi’s research group at UH focuses on developing electrochemical processes for climate change mitigation, including a wide range of technologies for carbon capture from air, ocean, and point sources. His work has been recognized through the 2024 NSF CAREER Award, the Department of Energy (DOE) National EnergyTech University Prize, and the UH-Chevron Energy Transition Innovation Challenge. Please refer to Dr. Rahimi’s team website to explore more about the research activities: www.TeamRahimi.com.

Yuexiao Shen, Ph.D.
Assistant professor
Texas Tech University

Dr. Shen is an assistant professor in the Civil, Environmental, and Construction Engineering department at Texas Tech University. He obtained his Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from Penn State University in 2016 and worked as a postdoctoral associate at UC Berkeley before joining Texas Tech in 2019. Dr. Shen’s research group focuses on developing efficient separation materials and technologies for contaminant removal and resource recovery in the environment. His current work includes PFAS physical and chemical treatment, groundwater remediation, lithium and critical mineral extraction, and fundamental membrane science, supported by NIH, DoD SERDP, and DoE. He has published more than 50 peer-reviewed journal articles in prestigious journals such as Science, Nature Materials, Nature Chemistry, Nature Nanotechnology, Science Advances, Nature Communications, Joule, and PNAS.

Dr. Shen is also interested in astronomy. He collaborates closely with the Department of Physics at Texas Tech University, participating in outreach and observatory teaching lab activities. He has a personal professional observatory, and his work was featured by NASA’s ‘Astronomy Picture of the Day’ on Nov. 23rd, 2023.

Yun Shen, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
George Washington University

Dr. Yun Shen is an assistant professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at George Washington University (GWU). Before joining in GWU, Dr. Shen was an assistant professor in Chemical and Environmental Engineering at University of California, Riverside from 2020 to 2022. She earned her Ph.D. in Environmental Engineering at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 2016. After that, she had her postdoctoral training at University of Michigan from 2016-2019.

Dr. Yun Shen’s research is at the forefront of addressing critical challenges in the nexus of environment and health. She is investigating the transmission and control of environmental pathogens in a variety of environments (i.e., wastewater and drinking water), especially the clusters of pathogens in the complex environments. The outcomes of her research advance the understanding of pathogen health risks and facilitate the sustainable strategies of public health protection. By integrating interdisciplinary approaches, her research demonstrates a unique blend of innovation, dedication, and significant impact. Beyond her research, Dr. Shen is deeply committed to academic service and mentorship. She actively serves in the academic community by participating in conference/workshop organization, serving as a guest editor for journals, and reviewing proposals and journal articles. Moreover, she is passionate about fostering diversity in STEM and inspiring the next generation of environmental engineers in her research and teaching. She has mentored multiple students, including several high school students, from underrepresented groups in their research and independent studies.

Lauren Stadler, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
Civil and Environmental Engineering
Rice University

Lauren Stadler is an Associate Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Rice University. She is an environmental engineer whose research focuses on wastewater-based epidemiology, environmental antibiotic resistance, wastewater and resource recovery, and environmental synthetic biology. Her lab’s research focuses on envisioning wastewater as a source of (1) valuable information on public health and (2) resources that can be recovered. Stadler has been collaborating with the Houston Health Department since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic to develop methods, implement, and operationalize a city-wide wastewater monitoring system that informs public health action. Stadler co-leads the Houston-based CDC National Wastewater Surveillance System Center of Excellence. She was named a “New Engineer to Watch” by the Water Environment Federation, a Gulf Research Program Early Career Fellow by the National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine, and a Johnson & Johnson WiSTEM2D Engineering Scholar, and is an NSF CAREER awardee.

Before joining the faculty at Rice, Dr. Stadler earned her B.S. from Swarthmore College and M.S. and Ph.D. in environmental engineering from the University of Michigan. She was a Fulbright Scholar in New Delhi, India, where she studied nutrient removal from wastewater using algae, and also worked for a startup company that designed algae-based wastewater treatment systems.

Kyle A. Thompson, Ph.D., P.E.
Senior Reuse Technologist
Carollo Engineers

Dr. Kyle Thompson is a Senior Reuse Technologist and National PFAS Lead at Carollo Engineers. As a leading authority on PFAS treatment, Kyle has served as an investigator for three Water Research Foundation projects, which resulted in six peer-reviewed papers and a guidance document for utilities to manage PFAS sources.  His publications on PFAS have won Best Paper of the Year awards in the ES&T:Water and AWWA Science journals. 

Throughout his career, Kyle’s research and engineering innovation have had reverberating impacts in the water industry. Kyle’s research for the National Water Research Institute has been used as part of the basis for the development of landmark Direct Potable Reuse guidelines in Colorado, Florida, and Arizona. Kyle is also part of an industry vanguard pioneering the application of machine learning and artificial intelligence. His work with the National Alliance for Water Innovation is an important new resource to improve water treatment operations and reliability.

Kyle is a gifted technical communicator whose adept use of humor and metaphors makes even the most complex topics accessible to a wide range of audiences. Kyle further contributes to the water community by conducting peer reviews, participating in the AWWA PFAS Technical Advisory Workgroup, WEAT/TACWA PFAS Biosolids Task Force, and supporting emerging scientists and engineers in their careers. Kyle’s work bridges the gap between cutting-edge research and practical applications, making him instrumental in shaping the future of water treatment technology while addressing critical environmental challenges.

Michael Thompson, P.E.
Senior Water Resource Engineer
Delaware River Basin Commission

Michael Thompson is a Senior Water Resource Engineer at the Delaware River Basin Commission (DRBC). His work focuses on sustainable water use planning, hydrology, groundwater and surface water availability modeling, withdrawal data analysis, and water conservation initiatives across the 13,500-square-mile Delaware River Basin. Since joining DRBC in 2018, he has led numerous research projects and authored publications which provide key insight into the region’s water resource management. His recent work related to water loss conservation has received national recognition for advancing water conservation programs. Moving forward his work will continue to focus on the long-term resiliency of water supplies considering planning benchmarks such as a drought of record. Outside of DRBC’s office, he volunteers on national and global workgroups related to water loss conservation. 

Michael graduated from Lafayette College with a B.S. in Civil Engineering (summa cum laude with honors), is a former EPA Greater Research Opportunities Undergraduate Fellow, and Goldwater Scholar. He earned an M.S.C.E. from the University of Notre Dame, and is a licensed professional engineer in Pennsylvania. Prior to joining DRBC he worked as a consulting engineer in the field of environmental remediation for five years prior to joining the DRBC.

Arjun K. Venkatesan, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
New Jersey Institute of Technology

Dr. Arjun Venkatesan is an Associate Professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT). Before joining NJIT, he served as the Associate Director for the New York State Center for Clean Water Technology and as a Research Associate Professor in the School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences at Stony Brook University.

Currently, Dr. Venkatesan directs the Emerging Contaminants Research Laboratory (ECRL) at NJIT. His research group focuses on the occurrence, fate, and treatment of toxic chemicals in the environment, including PFAS, 1,4-dioxane, and pesticides. They also develop innovative analytical and monitoring approaches to assess human and environmental health risks associated with toxic exposures and drug use.

Dr. Venkatesan has secured and managed ~$7 million in external research funding from federal agencies (NSF, US DoD, US DOE, USBR), state governments (NY, NJ), private foundations, and industry partners. His group's work has been featured in prominent media outlets, including National Geographic, PBS programming, and the National Institutes of Health, among others.

He earned a Master’s degree in Environmental Engineering from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, in 2009, and a Ph.D. in Environmental Engineering from Arizona State University in 2013. To date, Dr. Venkatesan has published over 55 peer-reviewed journal articles on topics such as emerging contaminants, wastewater-based epidemiology, and water treatment.

LCDR Michael Wandersee, P.E.
Senior Project Engineer
US Public Health Service
US Fish and Wildlife Service

CDR Michael Wandersee is an engineer in the U.S. Public Health Service (USPHS) providing critical need for underserved and vulnerable populations within the United States. In USPHS, officers are assigned to federal agencies. Since 2018, he has worked with U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service as a Senior Project Engineer to manage public health projects for National Wildlife Refuges and National Fish Hatcheries in eight states that range from visitor centers to hatchery process flows for over 200 facilities. He is the technical lead for any problems occurred with drinking water systems nationally, including the per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances testing for over 700 facilities, treatment selections, and responses. 

From 2012-2018, LCDR Wandersee was assigned to Indian Health Service as a Project Engineer to design and oversee water and wastewater projects at the Rosebud Indian Reservation. He served as the sole technical representative for a remote Native American Tribe, Rosebud Sioux Tribe, to provide critical services to homes and communities that had no water or sewer services. 

LCDR Wandersee has a M.S. in Environmental Engineering from University of New Haven, Professional Engineer licensure from South Dakota, and Contracting Officer Representative Level III. He also Chaired the USPHS Junior Officer Advisory Group that empowers over 2,000 junior officers to become leaders through development, advocating with senior leadership, and increasing resilience within the ranks. He has deployed to six public health disasters and provided critical engineering and logistics to improve recovery efforts.

Yuan Yao, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Industrial Ecology and Sustainable Systems
Sustainable Systems, and Chemical & Environmental Engineering
Yale University

Dr. Yuan Yao is an Associate Professor of Industrial Ecology and Sustainable Systems, and Chemical & Environmental Engineering at Yale University. She received her Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from Northwestern University.

Dr. Yao’s research focuses on understanding the potential environmental impacts of emerging technologies and biomass utilization. She uses interdisciplinary approaches from industrial ecology, sustainable engineering, and machine learning to develop systems analysis tools supporting sustainable engineering and policy decisions. She develops new methods and integrated modeling frameworks to assess, advance, and optimize industrial systems for improved environmental and societal outcomes.

Dr. Yao has authored over 50 peer-reviewed research articles in prestigious journals, such as Science, Nature Chemical Engineering, Nature Sustainability, and Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Dr. Yao received the U.S. National Science Foundation CAREER Award, the 35 Under 35 Award from the American Institute of Chemical Engineers, and the Laudise Medal from the International Society of Industrial Ecology for her outstanding achievement in industrial ecology and multi-scale environmental modeling. She also received the Early Career Award for an exceptional junior Environmental Science and Engineering professorship from the Chinese American Professors in Environmental Engineering and Science.

She has served on the U.S. National Academies' provisional committee analyzing current life cycle assessment methods for low-carbon transportation fuels. Dr. Yao is an Associate Editor at Resources, Conservation & Recycling, a leading journal dedicated to sustainable resource management and conservation.

Jessica Yeager, PE, LSP
Principal
Geosyntec Consultants, Inc.

Jessica Yeager is a Principal at Geosyntec Consultants, Inc. based in Kansas City. With over 15 years of professional experience in environmental engineering, Jessica specializes in remedial design and implementation. She holds a Master of Engineering in Civil and Environmental Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a Bachelor of Science in Environmental Engineering from Harvard College.

Throughout her career, Jessica has designed and implemented various remedial systems, including high-vacuum extraction, enhanced in situ bioremediation, and soil vapor extraction. Her clients include many Fortune 100 companies, and she is a Licensed Site Professional in Massachusetts, allowing her to make site cleanup decisions under the Massachusetts Contingency Plan.

Jessica is deeply involved in industry groups, currently serving as the Vice Chair of the Air & Waste Management Association – Midwest Section. She has organized annual conferences, supported scholarship programs, and contributed to comments on new environmental regulations. Her dedication to promoting STEM education is evident through her involvement with the Society of Women Engineers (SWE) Boston, where she led participation in the annual Cambridge Science Fest for 5 years.

Jessica has received several significant awards, including the Environmental Business Council’s Ascending Leader Award in 2019, and she was named one of Engineering News-Record New England’s Top Young Professionals in 2020. She has also presented at numerous national and regional conferences, sharing her expertise in environmental remediation and brownfields redevelopment.

Jiachen Zhang, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
University of Southern California

Dr. Zhang is an Assistant Professor of Environmental Engineering and Spatial Sciences at the University of Southern California (USC). Her research group investigates the interactions of air quality, climate, and society. Her research group investigates the interactions of air quality, climate, and society, as well as quantify the climate, air quality, health, and equity impacts of engineering and policy solutions.

Dr. Zhang holds a Ph.D. in Environmental Engineering from USC and a B.S. in Atmospheric Sciences from Peking University. During her doctoral and postdoctoral studies, she utilized and enhanced various physics-based computational models to assess the climate and air quality impacts of adopting solar reflective cool surfaces and promoting the adoption of renewable energy. In her previous position as the Manager of the Mobile Source Technology Assessment and Modeling Section at the California Air Resources Board, she led a team of scientists and engineers to develop emission inventories for cars and trucks and inform pioneering policies aimed at promoting zero-emission vehicle adoption and reducing air pollutant emissions from mobile sources.

Dr. Zhang chairs the Entrepreneurship and Innovation Committee of the Chinese-American Engineers and Scientists Association of Southern California and serves as the secretary of the Air & Waste Management Association West Coast Section. She was named by the All America Chinese Youth Federation (AACYF) to the 2022 “Top 30 Under 30,” an annual award for Asian American young aspiring leaders.

Past Recipients 

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