Program Alumni

The Environmental Sciences Ph.D. program admitted its first students in Fall 2002 and saw its first graduates in 2008. You can always learn more about our students by visiting our Current Students webpage.

Shishir Adhikari 
2015, Biological Sciences 
Research Interests: Using modeling and GIS techniques to determine the distribution pattern of species and their related habitat.
Advisor: Volker Bahn 

Alison Agather 
2014, Earth and Environmental Sciences 
Research Interests: I am interested in the analysis and speciation of mercury and other metals in environmental systems.
Advisor: Dr. Chad Hammerschmidt 

Kathryn Barto 
2008, Biological Sciences 
Dissertation Title: An Assessment of the Allelopathic Potential of Alliaria Petiolata
Dissertation Director: Don Cipollini 

Sweta Bose 
2008, Chemistry 
Dissertation Title: Dissolution Kinetics of Sulfate Minerals: Linking Environmental Significance of Mineral-Water Interface Reactions to the Retention of Aqueous CrO42- in Natural Waters 

Katlin Bowman 
2014, Earth and Environmental Sciences 
Research Interests: Monomethylmercury (MMHg) is a potent neurotoxin that humans are exposed to primarily through the consumption of fish. 

Jacquelyn Bracco
2015, Chemistry 
Advisor: Steve Higgins 

Seth Brittle 
2012, Chemistry 
Research Interests: Determining the toxicological effect silver nanoparticles may have on biological organisms and investigating the environmental fate and transport of nanomaterials.
Advisor: Ioana Sizemore 

Adam Burdsall 
2013, Earth and Environmental Sciences 
Advisor: Abinash Agrawal

Kai Burington 
2012, Biological Sciences 
Research Interests: Tachinid flies (Diptera: Tachinidae) are a diverse group of parasitoid insects with many different kinds of arthropod hosts, including plant feeding pest insects.

Sumantra Chatterjee 
2010, Earth and Environmental Sciences
Dissertation Title: Estimating Evaporation Using Remote Sensing: A Hybrid Approach Between Modis Derived Enhanced Vegetation Index, Bowen Ratio System, and Ground Based Micro-Meteorological Data 

Edward Council 
2012, Earth and Environmental Sciences
Dissertation Title: Central Arctic Lithostratigraphy: Implication On Sediment Transport and Paleoceanography 

Kevin Custer 
2012, Earth and Environmental Sciences 
Research Interests: My research is looking at the effects of Nickel spiked sediments in situ on benthic communities, indigenous aquatic insects, and selected USEPA surrogate organisms. 

Samantha Davis 
2015, Biological Sciences 
Research Interests: Investigating the mechanisms of invasion by exotic species, and the effects of invasive species on native community composition and rare species survival.
Advisor: Don Cipollini 

Shawn Devlin 
2011, Biological Sciences
Dissertation Title: Littoral Zone Structure, Energy Mobilization and Benthic Food Webs in Oligotrophic Northern Temperate Lakes
Dissertation Director: Yvonne Vadeboncoeur 

Kirandeep Dhami 
2012, Biological Sciences 
Research Interests: Population genetics through studies of the evolutionary relationships using ducks as model species.
Advisor: Jeff Peters 

Chad Ferguson 
2009, Biological Sciences 
Dissertation Title: Conservation Genetics of a Near Threatened Freshwater Mussel Species (Lampsilis Cardium) and Improved Prospects for Recovery: How Nuclear and Mitochondrial DNA Analyses Inform Natural History and Conservation P 

Behzad Ghanbarian-Alavijeh 
2014, Physics 
Research Interests: My main research interests are in development of theoretical methods to model hydraulic properties e.g., hydraulic conductivity and solute transport in porous media based on fractal geometry and percolation theory. 

Arijit Guin 
2008, Earth and Environmental Sciences 
Dissertation Title: The Continuity of High-Permeability Zones in Sedimentary Deposits
Dissertation Director: Robert Ritzi 

Justyna Hampel
2019, Earth and Environmental Sciences
Dissertation Title: Ammonium cycling and nitrifier community composition in eutrophic waters affected by cyanobacterial harmful algal blooms 

Jeremy Heath 
2012, Biological Sciences 
Research Interests: I am studying the adaptive radiation of a group of gall midges, Asteromyia spp. (Cecidomyiidae: Diptera) on their goldenrod host plants. 

Daniel Hoffman
2020, Earth and Environmental Sciences
Dissertation Title: The Fate of Anthropogenic Nitrogen Along Hydrologic Continuums: Patterns of Transformation and Recycling in a Eutrophic Lake and Coastal Marine Sediments 

Safia Janjua
2020, Biological Sciences
Dissertation Title: Genetic Analysis of Snow Leopard Population Employing Next Generation Sequencing For Its Improved Conservation And Management 

Katherine Kapo 
2009, Biological Sciences 
Dissertation Title: Eco-Epidemiological Analysis For Screening-Level Ecological Risk Assessment: A Geographic Information Systems Approach
Dissertation Director: Allen Burton 

Leon Katona
2021, Biological Sciences
Dissertation Title: Diversity and Function of Algal Biofilms in the Laurentian Great Lakes 

Ed Kennedy 
2012, Chemistry 
Research Interests: All of my research interests have a common denominator ? discovering ways to improve quality of life ? 

Tony Kim 
2014, Physics 
Research Interests: Parametric antenna in plasma for excitation of VLF and plasma waves by microwaves and laser beams. 

Philip Lavretsky 
2014, Biological Sciences
Research Interests: I am interested in population genetics and evolutionary ecology. My research focuses on the Mallard Complex composed of 13 extant mallard-like species found around the world. 

Deah Lieurance 
2012, Biological Sciences 
Research Interests: My research interests include invasive plant biology, plant ecophysiology, plant allometry, and the biocontrol of alien exotic plants.
Advisor: Don Cipollini 

Michele Miller
2020, Biological Sciences
Dissertation Title: Anthrax Event Detection: Analysis of Public Opinion Using Twitter During Anthrax Scares, The Mueller Investigation, and North Korean Threats 

Renalda Munubi 
2015, Biological Sciences 
Research Interests: I am studying the effects of algae food quality (C:N:P stoichiometry and biochemical compounds) on growth performance and behavior of cichlid fish (Tropheus brichardi) 

Phuong Khanh Nguyen 
2013, Chemistry 
Research Interests: My research interest is to develop electrochemical modified sensors to detect and analytically quantify heavy metals in aqueous solution.
Advisor: Suzanne Lunsford 

David Peterman
2020, Earth and Environmental Sciences
Dissertation Title: The Hydrostatics and Hydrodynamics of Prominent Heteromorph Ammonoid Morphotypes and the Functional Morphology of Ammonitic Septa 

Donnie Peterson
2019, Biological Sciences
Dissertation Title: Preference, performance, and selection of historic and novel hosts by emerald ash borer, Agrilus planipennis Fairmaire (Coleoptera: Buprestidae)  

Christina Powell 
2010, Earth and Environmental Sciences 
Dissertation Title: Biodegradation of Groundwater Pollutants (Chlorinated Hydrocarbons) in Vegetated Wetlands: Role of Aerobic Microbes Naturally Associated With Roots of Common Plants 

Ke Qin 
2014, Earth and Environmental Sciences 
Research Interests: My research interests include co-metabolism of chlorinated compounds in wetlands using ammonia oxidizing bacteria
Advisor: Abinash Agrawal 

Ramya Ramanathan 
2008, Earth and Environmental Sciences
Dissertation Title: Linking Plume Spreading to Hierarchical Stratal Architecture
Dissertation Director: Robert Ritzi 

Chad Rigsby 
2011, Biological Sciences 
2016, Ph.D., Environmental Sciences
Research Interests: Though I have broad interests in invasive insect behavior, ecology, and physiology, my current research and interests pertain to the interactions between the emerald ash borer (EAB; Agrilus planipennis) and ash 

Libby Roberson 
2014, Biological Sciences 
Advisor: Don Cipollini

Richard Salisbury 
2012, Pharmacology and Toxicology 
Research Interests: Using molecular tools to understand and define environmentally mediated immune suppression
Advisor: Courtney Sulentic 

Ryan Shell
2020, Earth and Environmental Sciences
Dissertation Title: Marine Vertebrate Communities from the Cisuralian Epoch (Permian Period) of central North America 

Jeffrey Smigelski 
2012, Physics 
Research Interests: As a member of the Complex Systems Research Group here at WSU, my focus has been using a quantitative approach to understand and model the internal dynamics of physical systems using novel mathematical methods and digita

Mohamad Reza Soltanian 
2015, Earth and Environmental Sciences 
Research Interests: My interests are focused on numerical modeling, especially Finite element method to model contaminant transport, unsaturated soil behavior, and ground water flow, as well as stabilization of expansive soils with additive 

Laxminath Tumburu 
2010, Biological Sciences 
Dissertation Title: Crustacean endocrine disruption through a pathway involving nuclear receptors, cyclic nucleotides, and calcium transporters
Dissertation Director: Michele Wheatly 

Bo Wang
2019, Earth and Environmental Sciences
Dissertation Title: Degradation of Halogenated Hydrocarbons by Zero-Valent Magnesium and Copper/Magnesium Bimetallic Reductant, & Characterization of Poly- and Perfluoroalkyl Substances in Treated Wastewater Reclaimed for Direct Potable Reuse  

Adrienne Williams 
2015, Physics 
Research Interests: I am interested in the development of bio-based graphene field effect transistors with DNA nucleobases to serve as gate dielectrics with potential application as biosensors and in electronics. 

Fang Yu
2018, Physics
Dissertation Title: Modeling of Soil Formation on The Basis of Chemical Weathering: Applications From Percolation Theory