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Sessions

Description:

The General Poster session will feature presentations of the latest innovations in research, education and public outreach in all topics related to environmental science and engineering.

Organizers:

Andrew Jones, Nicole Rockey

Description:

The “Meet-the-Candidate” session at the AEESP conference is tailored for postdoctoral and graduate student presenters who are interested in academic careers in environmental science and engineering. This session will occur during the regular poster session timeframe and will provide a unique platform for future faculty candidates to showcase their research visions and plans. Candidates will display their posters alongside the general session, allowing attendees to interact directly. Informal discussions will encourage dialogue on methodologies, results, and future research directions, helping candidates articulate their academic goals and teaching philosophies. Presenters could expect to: (1) Gain visibility within the AEESP community, (2) Receive constructive feedback from experienced academics, (3) Build professional relationships for future collaborations, and (4) Enhance career preparation through exposure to diverse perspectives.

Organizers:

Renzun Zhao, Isaac Musaazi, Sai Pamuru, Marzieh Shojaei

Public Engagement for Research and Policy

Description:

Publicly available datasets are often disparate and challenging to integrate. This session seeks datasets related to water and energy systems and the potential to use these to answer emerging questions at the intersection of water/energy challenges. 

Organizers:

Kelly Good, Jeanne VanBriesen

Description:

Over 60 million U.S. residents live in rural communities, many struggling to access reliable and affordable water infrastructure. Proper water management in small, rural communities is hindered by numerous barriers, including environmental conditions, low population density, workforce challenges, and low household incomes. This session envisions a ‘One Water’ approach that connects all water cycle elements to offer exciting opportunities to overcome challenges and unlock a future of continued affordable and equitable water access for these communities. The anticipated outcomes from this session include unique perspectives and solutions for One Water practitioners to bring back to their regional communities.

Organizers:

Mark Elliott, Justin Hutchison, Joe Brown, Amal, Bakchan, Jillian Maxcy-Brown, Mark Barnett, Bruce Dvorak, Prathap Parameswaran, Nirupam Aich, Kiranmayi Mangalgiri

Description:

A critical component of identifying and achieving air quality solutions is bringing the community into the conversation and process from the beginning, ensuring that studies capture local heterogeneities and generate data relevant to solutions the community wants and that are technically and economically feasible. Practical aspects include study design (e.g., where to place sensors, use of low-cost sensors over varying temporal and spatial scales, integrating mobile measurements, indoor-outdoor linkages); best practices in model calibrations; and strategies for collaborating with communities and communicating findings. This session will bring community air quality researchers together to discuss the challenges and progress towards measuring and communicating air quality at spatial resolutions relevant to community decision making.

Organizers:

Shang Liu, Andrew Metlaf, Matt Eckelman, Zhen Qu, Amy Mueller

Education Innovations

Description:

This session invites educators to share their experiences and insights on advancing environmental engineering and science education through integration of emerging technologies and experiential learning. As technology continues to rapidly evolve, cutting-edge tools such as Artificial Intelligence (AI), Augmented Reality (AR), Virtual Reality (VR), and other digital innovations present unique opportunities for creating unprecedented learning experiences. Experiential learning also provides a unique opportunity for students to actively engage with new technologies and community stakeholders. Through presentations and Q&As, this session aims to showcase diverse approaches and discuss successful implementations, challenges encountered, lessons learned, and opportunities to be captured. Additionally, this session will also provide a platform for networking and collaboration among educators committed to innovating and pioneering the future of environmental engineering and science education

Organizers:

Andrea Hicks, Hua Cai, and Xinyu Zhang

Description:

This session will bring together the environmental science and engineering community to organize a concerted STEM education effort about energy use, carbon emissions, and climate change at universities around the US and globally.

Organizers:

Wei Peng, Mim Rahimi, Lea Winter, Brandi Robinson

Biotechnologies, Microbiology and the Built Environment

Description:

This session will focus on the environmental surveillance, characterizations, removal efficiency, and risk analysis of emerging waterborne viruses, advancing engineering interventions for waterborne virus control in water and wastewater treatment.

Organizers:

Danmeng Shuai, Tiong Gim Aw, Yun Shen, Joan B. Rose

Description:

This session will explore the growing application of synthetic biology in engineering. We will host a session with presentations and a panel discussion to address the current state of knowledge and future needs for engineered biotechnology use.

Organizers:

Courtney Gardner, Cresten Mansfeldt, Kimberly Parker

Description:

This session will discuss applications of multi-omics in environmental engineering and science, including opportunities and challenges pertinent to instrumentation and data science.

Organizers:

Yaqi You, Liyuan Hou, Matthew Reid, Michael Vega, Yinyin Ye

Description:

We spend 90% of our time indoors where we are exposed to a complex mixture of chemicals and microbes that are relevant for human health. Indoor spaces have unique features compared to natural environments (e.g., high surface area, diverse materials, and reduced moisture) that alter many environmental processes. It is critical that we continue to improve our understanding of the processes that drive indoor chemistry and microbiology. This session will feature podium presentations on indoor chemical and microbial processes, including human health implications.

Organizers:

Karen Dannemiller, Bridget Hegarty

Description:

This session will focus on various aspects of biofilm-associated risks in built environment, including health, environmental and structural impacts, assessment and monitoring, and emerging technologies and management strategies for biofilm control.

Organizers:

Ben Ma, Mariana Lanzarini-Lopes

Description:

The session will bring together a diverse group of researchers focused on built environment microbiology to share and discuss innovative and sustainable microbial solutions for improving environmental and human health in these engineered settings.

Organizers:

Nicole Rockey, Ishi Keenum, Shilva Shrestha

Description:

This session will showcase and synthesize research on the topic of lead in drinking water in U.S. schools & childcare facilities. Participants will discuss data science, engineering, and field approaches to evaluate and remediate lead contamination.

Organizers:

Katya Cherukumilli , Emily Kumpel, Kelsey Pieper

Materials Management and Circularity

Description:

This session will convene research on design and interfacial engineering of reactive materials (e.g., photocatalysts and electrocatalysts, reactive membranes) for pollution mitigation, disinfection, and resource recovery.

Organizers:

Wen Zhang. Lea Winter, Damilola Daramola, Samuel Snow, David Jassby

Description:

This session will discuss the role landfills play in managing municipal solid waste (MSW), releasing emerging contaminants, and recovering resources, with a focus on critical data challenges. Data challenges with landfills are driven by a multitude of factors. While some nationwide databases track landfills, they do not include all landfills. Moreover, data remains highly heterogeneous due to the highly disparate waste streams that enter them. Waste streams vary with time and upstream waste diversion protocols, leaving them as a black box with largely uncharacterized physics, chemistry, and biology. Landfills are dynamic operational environments, which can affect emerging contaminants (e.g. PFASs) release, treatment efficiencies, and resource recoveries (e.g. methane, precious metals, etc). New technologies are emerging to measure fugitive methane emissions from landfills, but interpreting between the results from different technologies can be complex. Data gathering is further complicated by the fact that each landfill owner and operator has different data systems and practices. Challenges exist in managing the data, as reporting guidelines vary widely between states, the data can have low interoperability, and data quality varies. Mitigating challenges related to landfill data will also critically improve life cycle assessments. This session seeks speakers that will further discuss these data challenges and the resulting impacts on public policy and health

Organizers:

Caitlin Proctor, Amisha Shah, Inez Hua, Lindsay Soh, Ngaiyin Yip

Description:

This session will present solid waste management research as crucial to sustainability, addressing PFAS, plastic pollution, climate impacts, and recycling. Targeting waste professionals and researchers, topics include the fate of contaminants (e.g., PFAS, microplastics), landfill gas, leachate

Organizers:

Florentino B. De la Cruz, Syeed Md Iskander, Jiannan Chen

Description:

This session will explore cutting-edge technologies and strategies for resource recovery from waste streams to enhance circular economy transitions, featuring innovations, case studies, and discussions on overcoming barriers. Experts from academia, industry, and government will present cutting-edge research and case studies demonstrating effective methods of extracting valuable materials from wastewater streams. The session will cover a range of topics including innovative treatment technologies, economic and environmental impacts of resource recovery, and the integration of these practices into existing infrastructure. Participants will engage in discussions on overcoming technical, regulatory, and economic barriers to resource recovery, aiming to foster collaborations that propel the adoption of sustainable practices globally.

Organizers:

Mohan Qin, George Wells, Shiqiang Zou, William Tarpeh, Taeyoung Kim

Climate, Energy, and Resource Sustainability

Description:

Environmental engineers and scientists are poised to lead the development of technologies to address the interconnected causes and effects of climate change. This session convenes diverse approaches for solutions to mitigate and adapt to climate change, including presentations describing research on environmental engineering solutions to climate change and a panel discussion on our role in leading climate change solutions. Topics include mitigation and adaptation to climate change through: carbon capture, storage, and utilization; mitigation of emissions of other greenhouse gases; geoengineering and engineering of natural ecosystems; engineering the built environment; and technologies that provide alternatives to difficult-to-decarbonize sectors.

Organizers:

Lea Winter, Bill Cooper, Mim Rahimi, Joshua Jack, Fateme Rezaei, Greeshma Gadikota

Description:

This session aims to engage the AEESP community on the critical issue of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and decarbonization in wastewater management. While sectors like energy and transportation are advancing in decarbonization, the wastewater sector is emerging as a priority due to its significant methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions. As the 5th largest CH4 and 2nd largest N2O emitter, decarbonizing this sector presents unique challenges. Wastewater management involves emissions across all three scopes, making quantification difficult and standardization complex. Existing frameworks like the IPCC/EPA emission factor oversimplify the issue, leading to inaccurate estimations and impeding technological progress. Decarbonization of wastewater systems offers opportunities beyond reducing emissions. It also enhances energy efficiency, resource recovery, and the removal of emerging contaminants, making this an increasingly prominent research area. This session will showcase the latest developments in wastewater decarbonization, positioning environmental engineers to lead efforts beyond pollutant removal, contributing to industrial decarbonization and climate change mitigation.

Organizers:

Jason Ren, Jeseth Delgado Vela, Adam Smith

Description:

Climate change is predicted to lower yields for many food crops despite growing demand for food. Agriculture is resource intensive and unsustainable, accounting for 70% of all freshwater use and 14% to 28% of global greenhouse emissions. Agricultural innovations are also too slow to manage the increasing prevalence of both biotic (e.g. fungus) and abiotic stresses (heat and drought) resulting from a rapidly changing climate. We need to radically transform current practices to make agriculture sustainable and climate change resilient, and ensure future food security. This session will explore novel materials, methods, and approaches for making agriculture more sustainable as well as technoeconomic and lifecycle impacts analysis of agriculture systems to quantify the impacts of technological advances.

Organizers:

Gregory Lowry, Sai Pamuru, Leanne Gilbertson

Description:

This session focuses on the intersection of air pollution modeling, energy systems analysis, and justice. Local air pollution and an evolving energy system both impact our efforts toward achieving equity. This session will feature cutting-edge research and educational innovations aimed at addressing disparities in pollution exposure and access to clean energy. Key topics will include air quality modeling to identify pollution hotspots in disadvantaged communities, the integration of energy and pollution models for equitable energy transitions, and policy frameworks that incorporate environmental justice in decision-making.

Organizers:

Jeremiah Johnson, Fernando Garcia Menendez

Description:

Hydrogen has garnered increasing attention in energy transitions, with the ability to serve as a low-carbon energy carrier or source. The prospective benefits of hydrogen to climate and health are contingent on developing safe and sustainable production and storage pathways at commercial scale. Research in hydrogen production and storage options is rapidly evolving, and environmental engineers can play critical roles, particularly with respect to defining environmental impacts of large-scale, hydrogen-based energy systems. This session intends to establish the roles of environmental engineers in shaping hydrogen economies and welcomes contributions to all aspects of research related to hydrogen production, transport, and storage pathways. In particular, we welcome abstracts related, but not limited, to:
  1. Environmental impacts of hydrogen economies, particularly relative to alternative decarbonization measures
  2. Hydrogen production from various sources
  3. Innovative materials to improve energy efficiency
  4. Advanced methods for hydrogen production
  5. Environmental impacts of underground hydrogen storage
  6. Biogeochemical processes in underground hydrogen storage
  7. Transport phenomena related to hydrogen retention and transport in porous media

Organizers:

Anne Menefee, Meng Wang

Description:

Phosphorus and nitrogen are two key nutrients that play crucial roles in many aspects of daily life but have a legacy of negative environmental impacts resulting from linear, rather than circular, management. This session will be hosted by the National Science Foundation’s Science and Technologies for Phosphorus Sustainability (STEPS) Center and the Center for Advancing Sustainable and Distributed Fertilizer Production Centers (CASFER). Both centers are focused on reducing the harmful environmental impacts of these nutrients and developing circular flows and economies. This session will highlight research on these nutrients and will span molecular-level understanding of nitrogen and phosphorus, new recovery and production technologies, watershed-scale modeling of nutrient flows, regional to global economics, and the involvement of stakeholders in nutrient management and technology adoption. Experiences forming and running the Centers will be shared by the Centers’ directors.

Organizers:

Doug Call, Marta Hatzell, Judy Zhang, Becca Muenich

Description:

There is increasing pressure to manage the financial risks of environmental threats (e.g., floods, extreme temps). This session will focus on translating these events into financial risk for different sectors and the development of new solutions. Extreme environmental events are increasing in both frequency and severity, imposing global financial losses of more than $500 billion per year. In the quest to find more effective means of combatting the adverse financial impacts of these intermittent and unpredictable events many public- and private sector actors are seeking a better understanding of these risks and more sophisticated strategies for managing them.

Organizers:

Gregory W. Characklis

Description:

As we transition from fossil fuel-based energy production and distribution systems to “clean” energy infrastructure, important questions arise concerning use and release of environmental contaminants through the life cycle of these technologies (e.g., lithium ion batteries, semiconductors, wind turbines, and solar cells). Renewable energy technologies may represent new routes for familiar pollutants to enter the environment as well as a mechanism for release of novel pollutants used in new technologies. This session will serve as a forum for presentation of new research focused on environmental impacts associated with renewable energy, including technology manufacturing, use, recycling, and disposal.

Organizers:

Lee Ferguson, Jennifer Guelfo, Leanne Gilbertson

Treatment Technologies

Description:

The topic of our session covers the oxidative and reductive fate processes of chemical and biological contaminants in natural and engineered systems. This topic spans multiple foundational and emerging topics in environmental engineering, including the transformation of organic matter and contaminants (PFAS, DBPs, and micropollutants), advanced oxidation and reduction processes, and inactivation of pathogens. By addressing the fate of both chemical and biological contaminants in one session, we will bring together researchers in two areas that are typically siloed despite the growing recognition of their connection in environmental and engineered systems..

Organizers:

Adam Simpson, Katherine Graham, Kirin Emlet Furst, Aleksandra Szczuka

Description:

Electrified technologies offer a diverse platform for addressing challenges at the intersection of water, energy, and environmental sustainability. These processes provide several advantages over traditional methods, including higher efficiency, reduced chemical inputs, and selective targeting of specific species. This session will explore a range of emerging topics across these three critical areas:
  1. Water: Electrified water treatment approaches, including electrocoagulation, electrodialysis, electrochemical redox processes, capacitive deionization, water disinfection via electrical fields, and electrochemical fouling and scaling control.
  2. Energy: Recycling of energy materials, and the recovery and harvesting of valuable resources, such as rare earth elements and lithium.
  3. Environment: Direct or assisted gas separation, concentration, and sequestration, with applications in CO2 and NH3 management.

Organizers:

Mim Rahimi, Wensi Chen, David Jassby, Neha Sharma, Lea Winter, William Tarpeh, Ryan Kingsbury, Xing Xie, Damilola Daramola, Bezawit Getachew

Description:

This session will focus on recent advances and emerging themes in UV treatment of water, surfaces, and air. Recent developments in UV technology, such as UV LEDs and excimer lamps, have motivated new avenues of research into pathogen disinfection and contaminant removal via UV treatment. This session will also highlight UV research in diverse contexts, such as disinfection of air for pandemic prevention and control, water treatment for low resource or decentralized settings, and novel UV technology (such as personal protection equipment) for public health and safety.

Organizers:

Emma Payne, Madison Ferrebee, Karl Linden

Description:

This session explores innovative methods to optimize water treatment processes avoiding chemical dependent practices, reduce environmental impacts, and maximize resource recovery. For example, the “Minus Approach” involves minimizing contaminants in drinking water and wastewater through anaerobic processes, advanced filtration, and sustainable resource recovery practices. This approach ensures cleaner drinking water and reduces energy use and emissions. It also enables the recovery of valuable resources from wastewater, supporting circular economy principles. Anaerobic wastewater treatment processes are of particular interest because they use less energy than activated sludge and nutrients can be retained for applications like hydroponic farms for growing food. Potable reuse is also of interest; the membrane barrier helps ensure drinking water safety. Various factors have hindered AnMBRs from become mainstream, including fouling control energy demands, effluent dissolved methane, and lack of nutrient removal (for potable reuse). This session will engage those who are working to make water management technologies (such as AnMBRs) more adaptable, robust, and reliable. For example: (1) decarbonization and valorization of carbon for chemical feedstocks, (2) recovery of high nutrient strength streams such as livestock wastewater, and (3) creating high-quality permeate, free of emerging contaminants.

Organizers:

David Ladner, Yongsheng Chen, Paul Westerhoff, Prathap Parameswan, Adam Smith, Jeonghwan Kim

Virtual Tools, Machine Learning and AI

Description:

Recent years have seen a surge in the development and application of machine learning (ML) and artificial intelligence (AI) technologies, revolutionizing how we approach data-driven discoveries across diverse scientific domains. Environmental science, health, and engineering are areas of increasing complexity, where issues such as pollution, climate change, and public health require innovative solutions. AI and ML methods offer a powerful means of addressing these challenges, enabling the prediction of environmental impacts, toxicities, and risks, and supporting better-informed policy and regulatory decisions. We shall invite the submission of abstracts that apply machine learning and AI methodologies to solve pressing problems in environmental science, health, and engineering. Topics of interest include, but are not limited to: Source Attribution, Chemical Toxicity Prediction, Screening of Unknown Pollutants, Human Exposure Assessment, Molecular Mechanisms of Exposure and Disease, Generative Models for Molecular Design and Optimization, Benchmarking Studies.

Organizer:

Joseph Wasswa

Description:

The increasing complexity of global environmental challenges pushes the limits of traditional LCA. The growing need for more accurate, timely, and comprehensive environmental assessments has opened the door to use of Artificial Intelligence (AI), which could revolutionize LCA by enhancing its predictive power and expanding its data processing capabilities. However, LCA modeling, as a data-driven techniques, inherently comes with limitations such as uncertainties and variabilities that can challenge interpretation and decision-making, especially when dealing with complex or futuristic LCA models. We and others have assessed and critique the growing body of ML + LCA literature and think it is of interest to ensure that qualified LCA practitioners establish best practices for integration of AI into LCA, rather than allowing the novelty of ML to erode rigorous LCA practice. We think it will be of interest for the AEESP community who engages in LCA to discuss opportunities and challenges associated with integration of ML and LCA.

Organizers:

Lisa Colosi Peterson, Mehran Akrami

Environmental Contaminants

Description:

Understanding the behavior of contaminants in the environment and improving engineered systems to treat those contaminants are important global environmental challenges. Mathematical and computational models aid in addressing these challenges. Properly formulated models allow us to make predictions, to run numerical experiments when physical experiments are not practical, to build “digital twins” of treatment facilities and engineered processes, and to gain insights about system behavior that can only be gleaned via quantitative mathematical description of the system and its relevant mechanisms. Examples of processes that can benefit from quantitative modeling include interfacial air-water-solid adsorption, chemical-soil-bacterial interactions, selective adsorption into novel materials, and multi-phase flow through porous media. The goal of this session is to present advances in analytical or computational methods for modeling the fate and transport of contaminants in the aqueous environment and engineered system. Presentations will highlight how models and their application improve our conceptual and quantitative understanding of physical, chemical, and biological mechanisms. The aqueous environment and engineered systems may include, but is not limited to, surface, groundwater, or the vadose zone, and physical, chemical, or biological flow reactors.

Organizers:

Itza Mendoza-Sanchez, Jeffrey Cunningham, Yinuo (Noah) Yao

Description:

This session focuses on the latest advances in PFAS treatment and destruction technologies designed to address current environmental and regulatory challenges associated with PFAS contamination. Removal and destruction of PFAS from environmental media such as water, soil, air, and solid waste will be discussed. The session highlights cutting-edge physical, chemical, and biological technologies that go beyond mature treatment technologies currently applied at field-scale.

Organizers:

Mei Sun, Detlef Knappe

Description:

The persistence and widespread use of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) have led to their pervasive contamination in both drinking water and wastewater systems. Treatment processes aimed at removing PFAS and other co-occurring contaminants inevitably generate residuals, including spent activated carbon, sludges, and biosolids. These residuals require careful management due to the resistance of PFAS to conventional degradation and the risk of further environmental contamination through non-destructive disposal methods such as landfilling. Sustainable solutions are urgently needed to mitigate PFAS risks in wastes, and protect human health and the environment.
For many utilities, the challenges of managing PFAS wastes are compounded by limited treatment options and escalating management costs. This session invites discussions on innovative approaches for managing and treating PFAS-contaminated water and wastewater residuals, such as spent adsorbents, brines, sludges, and biosolids. Additionally, it will address the broader impact of PFAS-laden wastes on communities. By participating in this session, attendees will gain insight into the latest research developments on PFAS management and explore the essential need for collaboration with public sector partners in tackling this critical issue.

Organizers:

Kyle Doudrick, Paula Mouser, Onur Apul, Baikun Li, David Hannigan

Description:

Nearly universal exposure to PFAS has been documented in the US population. Contaminated drinking water is a primary source of exposure but research on non-water sources is gaining traction. Recent data link some PFAS exposure with the indoor environment. PFAS precursors are commonly detected in indoor air and dust, but sources to air and dust are unclear as investigations of products linked to higher levels of PFAS in indoor environments (e.g., construction materials) are lacking. Another important line of research aims to understand how the thousands of PFAS present in the environment interact in a mixture and the implications for environmental monitoring and public health. This session will highlight novel research on (1) PFAS exposure, particularly investigation of poorly understood exposure sources and the relevant exposure pathways, (2) interactions among PFAS in mixtures, and (3) development of new approaches for mitigating PFAS emissions and exposure.

Organizers:

Nadine Kotlarz, Heather Stapleton
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