Current Students and Scholars

Saravanan Shanmugam

Sarav joined our lab in 2023 and has established new areas of research aimed at valorizing solid wastes from poultry processing plants. These solids, obtained from dissolved air flotation units, cause nuisance odors when land applied. Sarav is looking into alternative valorization strategies, including black soldier fly larvae production and yeast fermentations.

Qichen Wang

Qichen graduated with his PhD in May 2022 and is conducting research on algal growth on anaerobic digestates and use of the resulting biomass in fish feed.

Wellington Arthur

Wellington joined the lab in January 2022 as a PhD student. He is developing a treatment train for "poultryponics," which is the use of poultry processing wastewater in hydroponic plant irrigation. His work includes promoting nitrification, eliminating pathogens, and overcoming the effects of antimicrobial agents in the wastewater.

Shima Rezaei

Shima joined the lab in January 2022 as a PhD student. She is conducting experiments on how design decisions in aquaponics affect system performance and usability, specifically investigating the effects of integrating algae into the biofloc and comparing coupled vs. decoupled systems.

Edward Drabold

Ed joined the lab in August 2022. He is studying valorization of poultry processing waste solids using hydrothermal treatment, followed by cultivation of microorganisms for nutraceutical production. He is also researching strategies to reduce odor upon land application of poultry processing solid wastes.

Navid Farahmandzad

Navid joined the lab in 2023. He is studying valorization of poultry processing waste solids using anaerobic digestion and investigating the impacts of biochar on mitigating odorous molecules created during fermentation.

Margaret Otto

Margaret joined the lab in 2024 after five years of working at Superior Fresh, the largest aquaponics producer in the US. She is studying ways to manipulate the microbial community of aquaponic plants to improve yields and disease resilience.

Dative Niyonizeye

Dative joined the lab in 2025 and is working under the direction of Dr. Shanmugam. She is studying valorization of poultry processing waste solids using black soldier fly larvae.