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 of 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 of 2022 as a PhD student. He is developing a treatment traing for "poultryponics" which is the use of poultry processing wastewater in hydroponic plant irrigation. Among the challenges he is working on include promotion of nitrification, elimination of pathogens, and overcoming the effects of antimicrobial agents in the wastewater.

Shima Rezaei

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

Edward Drabold

Ed joined the lab in August of 2022. He is studying valorization of poultry processing waste solids using hydrothermal treatment followed by cultivation of microorganisms for nutraceutical production. He is also studying 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. He is seeking to understand the impacts of biochar on mitigation of odorous molecules created during fermentation. 

Margaret Otto

Margaret joined the lab in 2024. She joined us after 5 years of working at Superior Fresh, the largest aquaponics producer in the US. She is studying ways to manipulate the microbial community of aquaponics 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.

1. Emma Tolbert (11/2024-present)
2. Kelly Sullivan (8/2024-present)
3. Mary Beth Hall (4/2024-present)
4. Rance Hood (2/2024-present)
5. Caroline Morris (1/2024-present)
6. Sarah Henslee (1/2024-present)
7. Emma Gujski (12/2023-present)
8. Fran Mann (10/2023-present)
9. Maddie Spoor (5/2023-present)
10. Al Dean Francisco (3/2023-present)