[CE_GRAD] CEGE NEWS - On behalf of Allison MacKay

Fri Apr 23 13:10:38 EDT 2021

[cid:178f092ecb97f0f88cf1]
APRIL 2021

GRANTS AND AWARDS

  *   Dora De Melo, undergraduate CEGE student, has been awarded an NSF Graduate Research Fellowship to pursue a Ph.D. Ms. De Melo is pursuing undergraduate honors research distinction with Prof. Jeffrey M. Bielicki, with a thesis on the effect of the 45Q Federal Tax Credit on the deployment of sedimentary basin CO2-driven geothermal utilization to produce geothermal energy while isolating CO2 from the atmosphere.

  *   "Keeping cyanobacteria intact during water treatment" - new grant from Ohio Water Development Authority. Allison McKay will investigate how much shear is required to break open cyanobacteria and release harmful toxins during drinking water treatment. There is no standard technique to assess the fragility of cyanobacteria cells in reservoirs. This work will help plant operators to know what thresholds for mixing shear are safe to keep cells intact and how those thresholds may be influenced by certain treatment steps, such as exposing cells to chemical treatments. "I was intrigued by the concept of a threshold shear stress acting on toxin-containing cells but it didn't fit with an earlier proposal," Prof. MacKay said. "The timing on funding now is great because it aligns well with the chemical engineering background of Dane Elliott, a new student in my group."

  *   Ethan Kubatko's proposal submission to NASA's Research Opportunities in Space and Earth Sciences (ROSES) 2020 call has been selected for funding. The project, entitled "Improving Storm Surge Estimation Using CYGNSS-Derived Parametric Storm Wind Fields," will explore the use of wind data obtained from NASA's Cyclone Global Navigation Satellite System (CYGNSS) in storm surge modeling. Storm surges associated with hurricanes routinely cause coastal flooding that results in loss of life, severe infrastructure damage, and massive economic disruption. Computational storm surge models can help in the design of measures to mitigate these types of losses. This project aims to improve the predictive capability of storm surge simulations through the use of NASA's cyclone wind data.

  *   Tarunjit Butalia has been awarded a grant by the U.S. Department of Energy to research and promote the high-volume beneficial use of harvested coal combustion residues in reclamation of abandoned surface coal mine sites. The DOE will provide approximately $1 million dollars in funding for the two-year project, which includes a full-scale demonstration project to be implemented in Ohio. Collaborators include CEGE's Jason Cheng and Abdollah Shafieezadeh.

  *   Andre Carrel received a five-year Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) award from the National Science Foundation(NSF). The $655,000 grant will support How Transportation User Experiences Shape Future Behavior: Learning from the Past, research on urban travel behavior with the goal of incorporating a richer understanding of behavioral dynamics and long-term lifestyle shifts in traveler choice models.

HONORS AND PRIZES

  *   Daniel Ma was awarded the 1st Place Prize in the Global Water Institute's "The Ripple Effect" Photo Contest. The winning submission, titled "Changing Phase", captured a half-frozen Antrim Lake, which evoked a sense of change, fluidity, and the need for dealing with opposition as we continuously strive for positive change in our world. The photo contest sought entries that highlighted the importance of how our individual actions contribute to a greater cause in the world and in our environment. "We should be reminded, as engineers, of our responsibility to be good stewards and seek the common good of all," Daniel said. "I enjoyed the opportunity to take a step away from research and classes and do something creative. I'm reminded to appreciate nature and keep myeyes open to see the beautiful creation around me."

  *   Zanna Leciejewski, a senior environmental engineering major, was awarded first prize in the Environment and Climate Sciences category during the 2021 Denman Undergraduate Research Forum. Ms. Leciejewski's presentation, Comparison of Microcystin-LR Degradation by UV222 and UV254 via ELISA, UPLC-PDA, and LC-HRMS, focused on comparing the degradation of microcystin-LR (MC-LR), a toxin, by two different ultraviolet (UV) wavelengths, at 254 nm (a wavelength currently used for water treatment and disinfection) and 222 nm (a novel treatment wavelength that shows the ability to degrade viruses and proteins). Zanna is a member of Prof. Natalie Hull's Water Treatment Engineering And Microbiome Research Group (Water TEAM).

PUBLICATIONS AND CONFERENCE PAPERS

  *   "Solvent Choice Influences Final Toxicity Results in Thamnocephalus platyurus Bioassay when Exposed to Microcystin -LR", paper by Allison MacKay's former ESGP doctoral advisee, Carissa Hipsher, accepted by journal Toxicon. This work highlighted several experimental artifacts that can cause inaccurate measures of chemical toxicity using this common bioassay: (i) chemical toxicity is overestimated through the use of solvents with high T. platyurus toxicity, and (ii) chemical toxicity is underestimated with uptake of chemicals to the test vial materials. A new measure of microcystin-LR toxicity is presented.

OUTREACH

        *   Prof. Gil Bohrer will help build a diverse, future generation of scientists through an NSF funded Research Experience for Teacher (RET) and three High School Students (RAHSS)
project. The teacher and students team from Franklinton High School won paid internships to conduct summer research in Prairie Oaks Metropark, and provide data for a project by
Prof. Bohrer and collaborators at Kent State University (led by Prof. David Ward).

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