Graduate Faculty in BRS

  • Professor of Environmental Engineering
  • Courtesy Professor of Agricultural and Biological Engineering
  • ABE Graduate Faculty

Areas of Expertise

  • Food-energy-water nexus challenges; ecological wastewater treatment; bioremediation of soil and groundwater contaminants; nutrient recovery for the production of fertilizers, fodder, and biofuels; engaged global scholarship; humanitarian service projects.
Full Bio for Rachel Brennan, Ph.D., P.E.
Rachel Brennan, Ph.D., P.E.
Full Bio for Rachel Brennan, Ph.D., P.E.
  • Professor of Agricultural and Biological Engineering, and Bioethics
  • Director, Graduate Studies
  • Affiliated Faculty of the The Rock Ethics Institute

Areas of Expertise

  • Cellulose and nanocellulose structure and characterization
  • Bacterial cellulose production
  • Polysaccharide composite materials
  • Polysaccharide based barrier materials to replace plastics
  • Improved paper and paperboard products and processes
  • Bioabsorbable biomedical materials based on polysaccharides
Full Bio for Jeffrey Catchmark, Ph.D.
Jeffrey Catchmark, Ph.D.
Full Bio for Jeffrey Catchmark, Ph.D.
  • Assistant Professor of Agricultural and Biological Engineering

Areas of Expertise

  • Development of emerging bioproducts
  • Additive manufacturing with lignocellulosic biomass
  • Applications of synthetic chemistry to lignin
  • Catalytic transformations of biomass
  • Spectroscopic characterization of bio-derived molecules
Full Bio for Stephen Chmely, Ph.D.
Stephen Chmely, Ph.D.
Full Bio for Stephen Chmely, Ph.D.
  • Associate Research Professor of Agricultural and Biological Engineering
  • BRS Graduate Program Coordinator

Areas of Expertise

  • Bioenergy
  • Biomass Energy Systems
  • Thermochemical Conversion
  • Energy Efficiency
  • Controlled Environment Agriculture
  • Solar Energy Resource Evaluation
Full Bio for Daniel Ciolkosz, Ph.D., P.E.
Daniel Ciolkosz, Ph.D., P.E.
Full Bio for Daniel Ciolkosz, Ph.D., P.E.
  • Assistant Professor of Agricultural and Biological Engineering

Areas of Expertise

  • Industrial Ecology
  • Ethical Decision Making
  • Life Cycle Analysis
Full Bio for Christine Costello, Ph.D.
Christine Costello, Ph.D.
Full Bio for Christine Costello, Ph.D.
  • Professor of Agricultural and Biological Engineering
  • Bioprocess and Food Safety Engineering

Areas of Expertise

  • Bioprocess Engineering/Fermentation: Bioconversion of agricultural raw and waste commodities into value added products including bioenergy/biofuels, microbial enzymes, organic acids, polysaccharides, antimicrobial agents; optimization; novel bioreactors; downstream processing.
  • Food Engineering/Food Safety : inactivation of pathogenic and spoilage microorganisms by using novel non-thermal processing technologies including pulsed UV light, electrolyzed oxidizing water, and ozone.
Full Bio for Ali Demirci, Ph.D.
Ali Demirci, Ph.D.
Full Bio for Ali Demirci, Ph.D.
  • Professor of Agricultural Engineering
  • Environmental Biophysics, Animal Welfare, and Agricultural Emissions
  • Integrated Research and Extension Programs

Areas of Expertise

  • Air quality in indoor agriculture (barns, poultry houses)
  • Heating and Ventilation system design, principles and practice
  • Horse facility engineering (stables, riding arenas)
  • Farm animal welfare
  • Agricultural air emissions (gas, odor, particulates)
Full Bio for Eileen E. Fabian (Wheeler), Ph.D.
Eileen E. Fabian (Wheeler), Ph.D.
Full Bio for Eileen E. Fabian (Wheeler), Ph.D.
  • Professor of Food Science

Areas of Expertise

  • Dairy Processing
  • Food Rheology
  • Food Engineering
Full Bio for Federico Harte, Ph.D.
Federico Harte, Ph.D.
Full Bio for Federico Harte, Ph.D.
  • Assistant Professor of Agricultural and Biological Engineering

Areas of Expertise

  • Mechanization and Automation for Specialty Crops
  • Robotic Solutions for Agricultural Applications
  • Precision Agriculture
  • Electro-Hydraulic Control System
Full Bio for Long He, Ph.D.
Long He, Ph.D.
Full Bio for Long He, Ph.D.
  • Professor of Agricultural and Biological Engineering
  • BioRenewable Systems Coordinator

Areas of Expertise

  • Specialty crop mechanization and automation
  • Precision agriculture applications for specialty crops
  • Applications of artificial intelligence to agricultural systems management and control
Full Bio for Paul Heinemann, Ph.D.
Paul Heinemann, Ph.D.
Full Bio for Paul Heinemann, Ph.D.
  • Research Professor of Agricultural and Biological Engineering

Areas of Expertise

  • Chemical and thermochemical conversions of lignocellulosic biomass and other byproducts (including wastes) into value-added products (e.g. platform chemicals and hydrogen gas)
  • Developing catalysts for various conversion processes using nanotechnological approaches
  • Developing degradable biofilm formulations for agricultural applications
  • Various applications of advanced oxidation processes (degradation of toxic organic chemicals in wastewaters, depolymerization of biomass)
  • Evaluation of the effects of various fumigation treatments/technologies on the quality characteristics of food products
Full Bio for Sibel Irmak, Ph.D.
Sibel Irmak, Ph.D.
Full Bio for Sibel Irmak, Ph.D.
  • Assistant Research Professor of Agricultural and Biological Engineering

Areas of Expertise

  • Agricultural water management & agrohydrology
  • Irrigation science, management, & engineering
  • Sense & model water fluxes in soil-plant-atmospheric continuum
  • Evapotranspiration & its physiological and environmental controls
  • Precision water & nutrient management
  • Agricultural resource (water, radiation, nutrient) use efficiency
  • Agrometeorology; Climate sensitivity & resiliency of ag systems
  • GIS & Remote Sensing applications in agricultural & natural resources
Full Bio for Meetpal S. Kukal, Ph.D.
Meetpal S. Kukal, Ph.D.
Full Bio for Meetpal S. Kukal, Ph.D.
  • Associate Professor of Agricultural and Biological Engineering
  • Machinery and Biomass Logistics
  • Program contact for Agricultural Systems Management Minor; Off-Road Equipment Minor

Areas of Expertise

  • Agricultural Machinery
  • Machine design and test
  • Biomass harvesting, handling and logistics
  • Biomass in-field processing and densification
  • Hydraulics and Pneumatic system design and test
Full Bio for Jude Liu, Ph.D.
Jude Liu, Ph.D.
Full Bio for Jude Liu, Ph.D.
  • Assistant Research Professor
  • ABE Graduate Faculty
  • Autonomy, Perception, and Cognition Department

Areas of Expertise

  • Agent development for cognitive autonomy
  • Automation and mechanization of biological systems and processes
  • Autonomy in unmanned vehicles
  • Thermal fluids and combustion
Full Bio for David James Lyons, Ph.D.
David James Lyons, Ph.D.
Full Bio for David James Lyons, Ph.D.
  • Assistant Professor of Agricultural and Biological Engineering
Full Bio for Michael Mashtare, Ph.D.
Michael Mashtare, Ph.D.
Full Bio for Michael Mashtare, Ph.D.
  • Assistant Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering

Areas of Expertise

  • Water quality
  • Stormwater management
  • Green infrastructure
  • Urban ecohydrology
  • Biogeochemistry
Full Bio for Lauren McPhillips, Ph.D.
Lauren McPhillips, Ph.D.
Full Bio for Lauren McPhillips, Ph.D.
  • Professor of Agricultural and Biological Engineering
  • Nationwide Insurance Professor of Safety & Health

Areas of Expertise

  • Safety
  • trade secrets
  • packaging & pallets
  • sustainable business
  • sports greening
  • wood, building products, paper industries
Full Bio for Judd Michael, Ph.D.
Judd Michael, Ph.D.
Full Bio for Judd Michael, Ph.D.
  • Associate Professor of Agricultural and Biological Engineering
  • Natural Resource Engineering

Areas of Expertise

  • Emerging Contaminants
  • Contaminant Fate and Transport
  • Environmental Hydrology
Full Bio for Heather Preisendanz, Ph.D.
Heather Preisendanz, Ph.D.
Full Bio for Heather Preisendanz, Ph.D.
  • Associate Professor of Agricultural and Biological Engineering

Areas of Expertise

  • Storm water management
  • Watershed modeling
  • Application of optimization tools in watershed analysis
  • Ecohydrological impacts of climate and land use change
Full Bio for Cibin Raj, Ph.D.
Cibin Raj, Ph.D.
Full Bio for Cibin Raj, Ph.D.
  • Professor of Agricultural and Biological Engineering
  • Bioenergy and Bioresource Engineering

Areas of Expertise

  • Lignocellulosic biomass conversion
  • Bioenergy
  • Manure conversion
  • Sustainable agriculture
Full Bio for Tom L. Richard, Ph.D.
Tom L. Richard, Ph.D.
Full Bio for Tom L. Richard, Ph.D.
  • Adjunct Professor of Agricultural and Biological Engineering
  • USDA-ARS

Areas of Expertise

  • Pasture Systems
  • Watershed Management
Full Bio for C. Alan Rotz, Ph.D.
C. Alan Rotz, Ph.D.
Full Bio for C. Alan Rotz, Ph.D.
  • Associate Professor of Biological and Chemical Engineering
  • Synthetic Biology

Areas of Expertise

  • Synthetic Biology
  • Metabolic Engineering
  • Biophysics
  • Molecular Biology and Biochemistry
  • Modeling & Optimization
Full Bio for Howard Salis, Ph.D.
Howard Salis, Ph.D.
Full Bio for Howard Salis, Ph.D.
  • Assistant Research Professor
  • Co-Director of CSL Behring Fermentation Facility
  • ABE Graduate Faculty
Full Bio for Ashik Sathish, Ph.D.
Ashik Sathish, Ph.D.
Full Bio for Ashik Sathish, Ph.D.
  • Associate Professor of Agricultural and Biological Engineering
  • Assistant Dean for Undergraduate Education, College of Agricultural Sciences
  • Environmental Resource Management Program Coordinator

Areas of Expertise

  • Wetland biogeochemistry
  • Riparian wetlands
  • Construction of wetlands for waste treatment
  • Pollutant impacts on aquatic systems
Full Bio for Robert Shannon, Ph.D.
Robert Shannon, Ph.D.
Full Bio for Robert Shannon, Ph.D.
  • Assistant Professor of Agricultural and Biological Engineering

Areas of Expertise

  • Bioproducts Systems Analysis
  • Process Systems Engineering
  • Bioprocess Engineering
  • Biomass Valorization
  • Biosystems Techno-Economic Analysis and Life-Cycle Assessment
Full Bio for Juliana Vasco-Correa, Ph.D.
Juliana Vasco-Correa, Ph.D.
Full Bio for Juliana Vasco-Correa, Ph.D.
  • Assistant Research Professor of Agricultural and Biological Engineering
  • ABE Graduate Program Coordinator

Areas of Expertise

  • Engineering Mechanics of Materials; Characterization of Physical and Mechanical Properties of Agricultural and Biological Materials
  • Powder Mechanics; Storage, Conveying, Mixing, Size Reduction, Flow, Segregation, and Compaction of Particulate Materials
  • Mathematical/numerical modeling, simulation, and analysis of mechanical behavior of particulate materials and biological materials
  • Applying mechanical engineering theories to the problems involving biological and particulate materials including renewable energy and consumer products
Full Bio for Hojae Yi, Ph.D.
Hojae Yi, Ph.D.
Full Bio for Hojae Yi, Ph.D.
  • Assistant Professor of Chemistry
  • BRS Graduate Faculty

Areas of Expertise

  • Organic chemistry and chemical biology
  • Lignin chemistry, biochemistry, and engineering
  • Bioenergy
  • Synthetic organic and medicinal chemistry
Full Bio for Yimin Zhu
Yimin Zhu
Full Bio for Yimin Zhu