Tori Hoffman
Tori is a PhD student with a focus on microplastics in landfill leachate and anaerobic reactor digestate. Her research is supported by Environmental Research and Education Foundation.
John Kingsley
John is pursuing his PhD degree in Civil Engineering with a focus on improving the operation of advanced oxidation processes. His current work is focused on quenching residual hydrogen peroxide, and his research is supported by US Department of Interior Bureau of Reclamation.
Prior to joining our program, John earned an MS in Analytical Chemistry from Michael Okpara University in Nigeria, focusing his research on the biodisinfection and coagulant properties of plant extracts for water treatment, and an MS from Poznan University of Life Sciences, Poland, where he completed a thesis on biomonitoring pesticides in freshwater ecosystems using mussels. In his professional career he served as a lecturer at Rhema University in Aba, Nigeria.
Chideraa Ndubuisi
Chideraa’s is pursuing a PhD in Infrastructure and Environmental Systems with a particular interest in the intersection of environmental and human health. His work focuses on the fate of microplastics in wastewater solids. He received a student grant from NC Water Resources Research Institute for his project on assessing the difference in microplastic content of primary and secondary solids.
He is pursuing a Master’s degree in Public Health simultaneously with his PhD degree.
Kelsey Sikon
Kelsey is working on a Master’s thesis and her research was supported by Charlotte Water. The goals of the project are to determine the effectiveness of wastewater treatment plants in removing microplastics from the liquid stream and to assess whether commercial laundering facilities are major contributors of microplastics in wastewater influent, in particular fibers.
Fateme Barancheshme
Fateme graduated with her PhD in Civil Engineering in 2020. Her dissertation focused on treatment of algal toxins in drinking water with UV-based advanced oxidation processes. Her research was funded by NC Water Resources Research Institute’s Urban Water Consortium.
She is currently an engineer with Thermo Scientific.
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Amirhossein Rezaei Adaryani
Amirhossein graduated with a PhD in Civil Engineering in 2021 (dissertation title: Emerging Challenges in Landfill Leachate Quality and Ability of Fungal Bioreactors to Address Them). He has a Bachelor’s degree in civil engineering and a Master’s degree in environmental engineering, both from Azad university, Iran. Prior to joining our program, he was working for consulting engineering companies as a process engineer, and also had the opportunity to collaborate with Environment Research Center (ENVRC) at Isfahan University of Medical Sciences as a part-time researcher on various projects.
His research focused on landfill leachate treatment utilizing white-rot fungi (mycoremediation). In 2016, he was awarded EREF scholarship for the project “Biodegradation of Contaminants of Emerging Concern by White-rot Fungi in Municipal Leachate”. Additionally, he investigated the presence of pharmaceuticals and plasticizers in leachate from landfills of different closure status.
Upon graduation he worked at North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality. He is currently a Water Resources Control Engineer with the California State Water Resources Control Board.
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Justine Gleason
M.S. Thesis completed in 2016. “Comparison of hydrogen peroxide quenching with activated carbon and mineral catalysts”. After graduation employed with Charlotte Water Environmental Laboratory. Currently Chemist II with Central Contra Costa Sanitary District.
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Xueying Wang
Xueying Brown (Wang) graduated with her MS and PhD in Civil Engineering in 2020. Her PhD research focused on the role of environmental buffers in potable water reuse. This work was sponsored by the National Institutes for Water Resources in collaboration with the USGS. However, she worked on a variety of projects during her time at UNC Charlotte. Before joining our program, she graduated with BS in Biology from UNC Charlotte and worked as a research assistant in the UNC Charlotte’s Ecology and Biogeochemistry of Watersheds lab for three years as the resident aquatic entomologist.
During her time in our graduate program, Xueying has earned multiple highly competitive awards, including Thomas L. Reynolds Graduate Student Research Award, 1st Place Student Poster at NC One Water conference in Raleigh, and most impressively 3MT competition for the university. Xueying went on to represent UNC Charlotte at the 3MT nationals and became one of the finalists.
Upon graduation she worked as an environmental engineer at Merrick and is currently a civil/water engineer at TRC Companies.
Nicole Kennedy Neth
Nicole graduated with her PhD in Infrastructure and Environmental Systems in 2018. Prior to that she received her Bachelor’s degree from Florida State University in Biological Sciences with a minor in Chemistry and a Master of Public Health degree from Eastern Kentucky University with a concentration in Environmental Health and Industrial Hygiene. Her PhD research focused on contaminants of emerging concern in environmental systems.
She has been inducted into Phi Kappa Phi academic honors society, Torch Bearers student leaders, and received the JumpStart education award for commitment to serving underdeveloped communities.
Nicole studied abroad for a semester in Iquitos, Peru where she worked in a rural health setting and conducted ecological research on the orthongo (large tiger) and deforestation in the Amazon Rain Forest. She also performed community-building service work in Grois Morne, Haiti where she worked on a major project reconstructing a schoolhouse.
She is currently a Human Health Toxicologist/Exposure Scientist with the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency.
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