Chemical engineers are well-suited to make major contributions toward meeting challenges for the environment, energy, and sustainable development. The Department of Chemical and Biochemical Engineering has an active research program in the science and engineering of air pollution, links between climate and air pollution, sensors for air and water quality, bioremediation and treatment of air, water and sediment, and the design of new environmentally compatible technologies. Our atmospheric environmental research activities span many scales – from local to regional, and to global scale.
Faculty
Gregory Carmichael
Current research: Development and application of chemical transport models (CTM) to studies in regional atmospheric chemistry, air quality, and climate.
David Cwiertny
Current research: Environmental fate and risk assessment of emerging pollutant classes; development of material-based technologies that promote resource sustainability.
Syed Mubeen
Current research: Electrochemical synthesis of functional nanomaterials, solar fuels and chemicals, plasmon-based energy conversion systems, and energy-efficient water treatment systems.
Hyeongmin Seo
Current research: Synthetic biology and metabolic engineering for biosynthesis of chemicals, materials, and fuels; high-throughput screening method development for biocatalyst engineering.
Charles Stanier
Current research: Aerosol and gas-phase research applications in air pollution, climate science, and energy.
Betsy Stone
Current research: Combining analytical, environmental, and organic chemistry to advance understanding of the chemical composition and sources of atmospheric particulate matter.
Jun Wang
Current research: Satellite remote sensing and Earth system modeling, focusing on aerosols, radiative transfer, fires, air-land interaction, air quality, and climate.
Zhe (Andy) Wang
Current research: High-throughput catalyst discovery for energy transformation and storage; electrochemical reactor design optimization; sustainable technologies for green chemical manufacturing and water purification.
Jing Zeng
Current research: Mesoscale numerical and radiative transfer modeling, satellite remote sensing of aerosol and cloud, aerosol climate forcing and aerosol property retrieval using polarization, and land surface modeling of precipitation, soil moisture, and radiation.