Research Topics

Thomas Holsen’s lab studies the fate and transport of emerging contaminants in the Great Lakes. Past human activities have resulted in the emissions of numerous chemicals into the environment. Today there are >30,000 chemical substances in wide commercial use that could potentially cause similar problems as legacy chemicals; however, for the most part they have not been looked for in environmental media. In this project the concentrations of selected commercial chemicals in the Great Lakes, which are not being monitored in current measurement programs, will be determined. REU students will work with Tom and his lab group to use novel techniques to measure these contaminants in lake water, biota, and sediments. Results obtained will: 1) provide information about these new chemicals in the Great Lakes, 2) elucidate the processes responsible for pollutant cycling, and 3) provide information for regulators who may need to control the use of these chemicals. Undergraduates working on this long-term project have been co-authors on journal publications and conference presentations and participated in research cruises.

Silvana Andreescu’s research interests are in the areas of bioanalytical chemistry, electrochemistry, biosensing and environmental nanotechnology. Increased industrial and agricultural activity has affected the water circuit, with implications on the normal functioning of natural ecosystems and the availability of clean water sources for human consumption. Phosphorus (P) and nitrogen (N) export from agroecosystems has become a major issue with the increased rates and intensity of harmful algae blooms (HABs) and eutrophication acceleration, which kill fish, pollute drinking water, and alter tourism. The challenge of managing and preventing eutrophication is therefore two-fold: (1) the lack of effectively field monitoring tools that can identify areas of high P and N pollution and (2) the lack of engineering tools and methods to decrease environmental impact. Andreescu’s overall research project goal is to develop an easy-to-use inexpensive sensor that can selectively measure P in eutrophic waters. To achieve this goal, REU students will engineer materials possessing P-binding sites and graft them on high surface area sorbents with built in recognition and transduction capabilities. Students will test the hypothesis that these materials will respond and sense P by changing their properties upon binding, and that this mechanism can be used to create inexpensive sensors for monitoring essential nutrients in aquatic environments. Outcomes of this research will be a new technology solution to measure nutrients in contaminated nutrient-rich water sources with increased portability, low cost and the potential for large-scale deployment. This experience will provide REU students with the opportunity to acquire knowledge in materials synthesis and characterization as well as analytical skills, while developing novel technological solutions to current and emerging challenges in the environmental monitoring field.

Allen Gontz’s lab uses geophysical systems to investigate how and why landscapes have changed over time. Dr Gontz and his students have applied these techniques all over the world and are currently working in Australia, New Zealand and Spain to understand the climate-society, landscape-society and climate-landscape interactions. These investigations often take the form of mapping landscapes with ground penetrating radar, electrical resistivity and seismic reflection coupled with high resolution topography and aerial photography. Students will be exposed to preparing for field research projects, conducting field research, processing and interpretation of data, integration of data sources and synthesizing results using industry standard and state-of-the-art geophysical, computer and software systems. Examples of current projects include: 1) Understanding river sedimentation changes in an anthropogenically controlled river systems; 2) Using lake level changes to provide a context to climate changes over the past ~12,000 yrs in the Adirondacks and St Lawrence Lowlands; 3) Mapping former lake and wetland environments to unravel the flooding history of the St Lawrence Lowlands and the proglacial lake system that existed as ice retreated from the area during the last ice age; and 4) Understanding storm dynamics through changes in lagoon stratigraphy in large lakes.

Thomas Langen's project focuses on roads as a barrier to movement of aquatic and semi-aquatic animals. Road mortality, barriers to movement, and habitat contamination and degradation are all potential impacts of roads to animals inhabiting wetlands. Over 95% of wetlands in the US have been lost or severely degraded due to human activities, and the situation is similar elsewhere on earth. Given the very high value that remaining wetlands have for ecosystem services and biodiversity conservation, there is a need to understand and mitigate the environmental impact of roads. In this project, students will compare habitat degradation, road mortality, and road crossing patterns affecting vertebrate animals at roadways bisecting wetlands, at a series of such crossings that differ in terms of whether there is a potential passageway under the road and the type of passage (e.g. tube culvert, box culvert, bridge). Research activities include landscape and site-level GIS analysis, road surveys, and camera trapping. Tom has supervised research for >100 undergraduates; 27 of whom are co-authors with him.

Dr. Masudul Imtiaz and his AI Vision Lab are studying to develop an AI-vision-enabled environmental monitoring sensor to detect Microplastics in the aquatic environment. This camera-based approach can overcome the limitations of traditional lengthy and obtrusive instrumentations. In the lab setup of recirculating open channel flume, a low-cost, submerged Logitech C270 camera interfaced with a portable computer, and a YOLOv5 model was trained to detect the microplastics. A Deep-SORT model was finally employed to track the microplastics and detect their velocities. The revised design aims to perform real-time object detection on the embedded processor to improve portability and convenience in data analysis. The system will be built on a battery-powered portable stand-alone NVIDIA Jetson AGX processor interfaced with a high-resolution camera. REU students will study and identify the appropriate processor and camera model on a trial-and-error basis. The sensor system will be developed in the lab with the assistance of the Center for Advanced PCB Design and Manufacturing of Clarkson University. The sensor firmware will also be developed in a Linux environment. The REU students will also support the resaerch by exploring broader implementation and testing on several water body locations and exploring the possible redesign of the system.

Abul Baki’s ecohydraulics research lab was built to enhance our understanding of the ecohydraulics for healthy water solutions. During the summer 2025, Dr. Baki will run the following research projects: 

Live Fish Experiments: This experimental study systematically examines the influence of hydrodynamics resulting from instream boulders placement on live fish behaviors (e.g., resting time, swimming performance and cost, passages efficiency, social facilitation, etc.). To observe fish dynamics, two underwater cameras and three top-view cameras will be used, and an artificial intelligence (AI) deep learning algorithm will be developed and employed to track fish positions over time. The outcomes of this study could inform effective river restoration projects and guide future research efforts to understand fish behaviors and social dynamics within riverine fish populations, emphasizing the importance of considering hydrodynamics.

Microplastics Pollution and their Dynamics: This study analyzes water samples from a water treatment plant to evaluate the current efficiency of microplastics removal and recommend advanced technologies or techniques for more effective microplastics filtration. Additionally, experimental and numerical approaches characterizes the dynamic behavior of microplastics in water bodies, providing accurate models for predicting their settling, transport, and retention rates. The outcomes will contribute to improving water treatment processes and enhancing our understanding of microplastics dynamics in aquatic environments.
 

Elizabeh J. Podlaha-Murphy's REU project seeks to remove contaminants from industrial waste streams.  In particular, dyes, nitrates, and azoles from wastewater using innovative electrolysis processes are of interest.  A barrier to the wide adoption of electrolysis is the high energy needs for electrochemical reduction; hence better electrocatalysts and separation strategies are needed with long lasting stability. Materials that are useful electrodes that aid in adsorption of these pollutants often not very reactive and vice versa. This project’s goal is to develop novel composite materials for a variety of different pollutant. Textile, paints, pulp and paper, carpet and printing industries are well known to generate large volumes of wastewater containing synthetic dyes that have carcinogenic effects on human bodies. Dye effluents can obstruct light penetration in the water of lakes, rivers etc. thus inhibiting the biological processes based on photosynthesis.  A number of chemical industries generate nitrate and nitrite waste that if consumed can cause numerous health effects, including cancer in adults, as well as methemoglobinemia or “blue baby syndrome” in children. Azoles are common corrosion inhibitors in semiconductor processes and has high toxicity to plants, invertebrates, and microorganisms. The REU student can choose one of these three pollutant areas. The organic pollutants will be oxidized using an electrochemically assisted Fenton reaction with titania-based metal alloy composites and the inorganic nitrates will be reduced with graphene-based metal alloy composites made from abundant, inexpensive elements. The project will include fabrication of the composite by electrodeposition, materials characterization (e.g., inspection of morphology by scanning electron microscopy, and determination of deposit composition including x-ray fluorescence) and testing of the degradation of the pollutants. No experience in electrochemistry is required.
 

Yang Yang’s group integrates chemical engineering, environmental chemistry, and material science principles to address critical challenges in renewable energy production, water treatment, and water reclamation. Ongoing projects in his group to enhance water security include the development of: 1) an electrochemical oxidation process for the treatment of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances in landfill leachate; 2) a fast electrochemical disinfection process for the inactivation of pathogens and the control of antibiotic-resistant gene; 3) an electrochemical method for the control of harmful algae bloom in aquatic systems. REU students will learn the principles of redox chemistry, electrochemistry, and advanced oxidation/reduction processes. Students also will receive immersive experience on 1) the design and operation of the electrochemical reactor and 2) the analysis of the transformation of target pollutants during electrochemical treatment. In addition to lab-based studies, students will have hands-on experience in operating the full-scale (500 m3/d) boat-mount electrochemical algae treatment prototype in Great Lakes-St. Lawrence watersheds. Also, we are expecting to have field tests every summer to evaluate the performance of a full-size HAB terminator product in a New York State lake. The REU project could be integrated into this research task.

Taeyoung Kim’s lab develops innovative electrochemical technologies to remove and recover nutrients from wastewater, which will not only address their harmful effect on aquatic systems but also conserve the value when properly recovered for fertilizer. Electrochemical methods allow for separating charged nutrients, such as ammonium (N) and phosphate (P), of which concentration varies significantly depending on the source, requiring different strategies for nutrient recovery. Students will study the overall landscape of wastewater generation and treatment processes, and have opportunities to operate several electrochemical systems applicable to several different sources including sewage, landfill leachate, and anaerobic digestion dewatering side stream. Selective membrane or electrode are required to remove low concentrations of ammonium-N in sewage. To handle high ammonium-N concentrations in landfill leachate and side stream, the solution pH is elevated to drive ammonium-N towards ammonia-N by electrochemical reactions. Volatile ammonia-N will be recovered by membrane stripping. Struvite precipitation is used to recover both N and P in wastewater but its solution chemistry must be met for effective crystallization. Energy consumption will be quantified to assess technical and environmental benefits together with resource recovery efficiency. Collectively, Dr. Kim’s lab will provide undergraduate students with research experience in the field of energy, environment, and electrochemistry, which is highly interdisciplinary in nature.

River Geomorphology: River geomorphology describes how rivers change shape over time due to natural disturbances and human activities. The student participating in this REU project will investigate the channel geometry, such as width, depth, slope and planform of rivers and streams by using data published in literature and/or collected through remote sensing.”