Group Members
Principal Investigator
Lisa Alvarez-Cohen
Prof. Alvarez-Cohen is the Vice Provost for Academic Planning, Fred and Claire Sauer Professor, and past-Chair of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and of the Faculty Senate at UC Berkeley. She received her Bachelor’s Degree in Engineering and Applied Science from Harvard University and her M.S. and Ph.D. in Environmental Engineering and Science from Stanford University. Her research areas include biotransformation and fate of environmental water contaminants, environmental microbiology and ecology, bioremediation, biological wastewater nutrient removal, and application of molecular and isotopic techniques for studying environmental microbial communities. She has taught both undergraduate and graduate courses in environmental microbiology, environmental engineering, and biological process engineering, and has co-authored the textbook Environmental Engineering Science. She is a member of the National Academy of Engineering and a fellow of the American Academy of Microbiology and the Association of Environmental Engineering and Science Professors. She has won a number of awards including the China 1,000 Talents National Award, the ASCE Simon W. Freese Environmental Engineering Award, the W. M. Keck Foundation Award for Engineering Teaching Excellence, and the National Science Foundation Young Investigator Award.
lisaac@berkeley.edu
Postdoctoral Scholars
Fuhar Dixit
Fuhar is investigating practical solutions to address the global challenge of drinking water scarcity. Fuhar’s doctoral research focused on the use of anionic ion exchange resins to target toxic per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) and disinfection by-products (DBPs), two of the most common and harmful forms of contamination. At Berkeley, his research focuses on the detection, treatment and bioremediation of PFAS in the environment. In particular, he is examining the fate and transport of PFAS and its precursor compounds by augmenting the total oxidizable precursor (TOP) assay. In addition to his research contributions towards the field of environmental remediation, Fuhar strives towards the protection of wildlife and natural resources. He is a member of UC Berkeley’s Plant Futures Chapter and was a part of the UBC Thunderbirds Badminton Team during his doctoral studies.
fuhar@berkeley.edu
Anna-Ricarda Schittich
Ricarda’s research explores the biotransformation mechanisms of natural and xenobiotic organic compounds by combining lab scale experiments with structure-based pathway prediction tools. Ricarda holds a PhD from the Technical University of Denmark (DTU), where she focused on the characterization of dissolved organic matter (DOM) with fluorescence spectroscopy and investigated the impact of structurally different DOM constituents on the biodegradation of organic micropollutants. In her current research, she explores the capabilities of enzymatic systems to transform halogenated micropollutants, such as PFAS, and investigates their fate in sediments and groundwater.
rschittich@berkeley.edu
Sarah Schwartz
Sarah’s research explores the microbial capacity for biotransformation of persistent pollutants, especially PFAS and associated co-contaminants. She is also interested in the evolution and diversity of microbial metabolisms and biogeochemical pathways. Her work combines bioinformatic and experimental approaches to identify genetic and biochemical potential in silico, in vitro, and in situ. Sarah received her BS in Environmental Systems from UC San Diego, her SM in Science Writing from MIT, and her PhD in Microbiology from MIT.
slschwartz@berkeley.edu
Hyun Yoon
Hyun’s research interests revolve around the effective approaches in bioremediation of environmental pollutants including PFAS and other co-contaminants. His doctoral studies at Cornell University primarily focused on the effects of water chemistries, especially dissolved organic matter, on arsenic biotransformation. Additionally, he investigated the cometabolic processes between methanogenesis and arsenic demethylation. During this period, he utilized E. coli biosensors and soil microcosms alongside employing various analytical chemistry techniques. In his current research, he is deeply interested in exploring how surrounding aquatic chemistries affect the behaviors of PFAS and also the physiology of microbes capable of PFAS bioremediation. Outside of his research commitments, he finds enjoyment in watching Major League Baseball with some tasty snacks. Moreover, he takes pleasure in participating in physical activities such as swimming and ice-skating.
h_yoon@berkeley.edu
Graduate Students
Ned Antell
Ned has a bachelors in Ecology from Bates College in Lewiston, Maine. After college, he worked in three different Ecology labs at UC Davis and San Francisco State University as a research technician before joining the Alvarez-Cohen lab where he worked as a lab manager for three years. For his PhD research, Ned is interested in leveraging data science and analytical chemistry tools to improve our ability to understand and predict sources of PFAS contamination in the environment.
eantell@berkeley.edu
Nicole Garrido
Nicole is a first-year PhD student in Environmental Engineering at UC Berkeley. She obtained her B.S. in Molecular, Cell, and Developmental Biology from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). There, she worked in the Nikolov Lab studying the genetic basis of phenotypic diversity in flowering plants. She also spent two summers in the Orphan Lab at the California Institute of Technology (CalTech) where she explored the microbial ecology of coastal seagrass roots, focusing on the redox function of cable bacteria in mediating sulfide levels in marine sediment. Her research in the Alvarez-Cohen Lab explores the use of microbial enzymes for the bioremediation of environmental contaminants, specifically PFAS in Superfund sites. Nicole is passionate about research as a vessel to engineer a more equitable future.
nicolegarrido@berkeley.edu
Leyan Peng
Leyan attained her BS degree in Environmental and Ecological Engineering from Purdue University. She is motivated to make this planet a better place by investigating intricate pathways that underpin the remediation of contaminants.
leyan_peng@berkeley.edu
Christian White
Christian is interested in the development of microbial techniques to improve sustainable wastewater treatment. In research, he is interested in using omic techniques to study anammox, anaerobic ammonium oxidative, bacteria, their metabolic pathways, and different inhibitors to their conversion of ammonium to nitrogen gas.
caw87@berkeley.edu
Undergraduate Researchers
Shreya Chaudhuri
Former Members
Katerina Tsou (Graduate Student)
Currently: Environmental Engineer II, AECOM
Sophia Steffens (Postdoc)
Currently: BASF
Sanaiya Islam (Laboratory Manager)
Avery Parks (Undergraduate Researcher)
Julian Falagan (Undergraduate Researcher)
Emily Cook (Graduate Student)
Currently: Environmental engineer, EKI
Emily Gonthier (Graduate Student)
Currently: Production Coordinator, PLOS
Ray Keren (Postdoc)
Currently: Senior Scientist, Tezza
Mason King (Lab Manager)
Currently: Engineer, Geosyntec Consultants
Zhihao Niu (Visiting Graduate Student)
Chris Olivares (Postdoc)
Currently: Assistant Professor, UC Irvine
Mohan Sun (Graduate Student)
Currently: Senior Scientist, Illumina
Eric Troyer (Graduate Student)
Sara Gushgari-Doyle (Graduate Student)
Currently: Scientist, ZymoChem
Shan Yi (Assistant Project Scientist)
Currently: Senior Lecturer, University of Auckland
Wei-Qin Zhuang (Postdoc)
Currently: Senior Lecturer, University of Auckland
Jennifer Lawrence (Graduate Student)
Currently: Environmental Engineer, CDM Smith
Yilu Sun (Visiting Graduate Student)
Xuening Zhang (Visiting Graduate Student)
Siang Chen Wu (Postdoc)
Katie Harding Marjanovic (Graduate Student)
Xinwei Mao (Graduate Student)
Currently: Assistant Professor, Stony Brook University
Jae Ho Bae (Junior Specialist)
Currently: Senior Software Engineer, Uber
Stephanie Jones (Postdoc)
Currently: Lead Scientist, LanzaTech
Patrick Gregoire (Postdoc)
Yujie Men (Postdoc)
Currently: Assistant Adjunct Professor, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
Tong Liu (Postdoc)
Currently: Senior Scientist, Twist Biotech
Renato Montagnolli (Visiting Scholar)
Currently: Postdoctoral Researcher, Sao Paulo State University
Ben Stenuit (Postdoc)
Kimberlee West (Graduate Student)
Currently: Engineer, San Francisco Bay Water Quality Control Board
Helene Feil (Associate Specialist)
Georgia Green (Undergraduate researcher)
Ariel Grostern (Postdoc)
Currently: Senior Policy Analyst, Health Canada
David R. Johnson (Graduate Student)
Patrick K.H. Lee (Postdoc)
Currently: Associate Professor, City University of Hong Kong
Tiffany Louie (Lab Tech/Manager)
Peerapong Pornwongthong (Graduate Student)
Currently: Assistant Professor, King Mongkut’s University of Technology North Bangkok
Kristin Robrock (Graduate Student)
Currently: Managing engineer, Exponent Inc.
Christopher Sales (Graduate Student)
Currently: Associate Professor, Drexel University