Ah-Hyung “Alissa” Park

Ah-Hyung “Alissa” Park

PROFESSOR
CHEMICAL AND BIOMOLECULAR ENGINEERING
CIVIL AND ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING

Ronald and Valerie Sugar Dean

582D Engineering VI

Email: apark@seas.ucla.edu

Websites

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Ah-Hyung “Alissa” Park is a professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering and the Ronald and Valerie Sugar Dean of the UCLA Samueli School of Engineering. She also has a joint appointment in civil and environmental engineering.

Prior to joining UCLA September 1, 2023, Park had been a faculty member at Columbia University in New York since 2007 where she served as the Lenfest Earth Institute Professor of Climate Change and the director of the Lenfest Center for Sustainable Energy. She was also the chair of the Department of Earth and Environmental Engineering and an executive committee member of The Earth Institute and Columbia Climate School.
RESEARCH AND INTERESTS

Sustainable energy and materials conversion pathways with an emphasis on integrated carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS) technologies addressing climate change

  • Novel nano-scale hybrid materials for carbon capture and conversion
  • Innovative carbonate chemistry for sustainable built environment and unconventional resource recovery
  • Recovery of critical minerals and rare earth elements for clean energy transition
  • Ocean-based solutions for climate change
NOTABLE PUBLICATIONS
  • Sara T. Hamilton, Maria Kelly, Wilson A. Smith* and Ah-Hyung Alissa Park,* “Electrolyte-Electrocatalyst Interfacial Effects of Polymeric Materials for Tandem CO2 Capture and Conversion Elucidated Using In Situ Electrochemical AFM,” ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces (2024). DOI:1021/acsami.4c01908
  • Yang Wang, Tony G. Feric, Jing Tang, Chao Fang, Sara T. Hamilton, David M. Halat, Bing Wu, Hasan Celik, Guanhe Rim, Tara DuBridge, Julianne Oshiro, Rui Wang, Ah-Hyung Alissa Park* and Jeffrey A. Reimer*, “Carbon Capture in Polymer-based Electrolytes,” Science Advances 10(16) (2024). DOI: 1126/sciadv.adk2350
  • Hunter B. Vibbert. Amanda Whai Shin Ooi, and Ah-Hyung Alissa Park*, “Selective recovery of Cerium as high-purity oxides via reactive separation using CO2-responsive structured ligands,” ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering (2024). DOI:1021/acssuschemeng.3c08103
  • Jonah M. Williams, Michael P. Nitzsche, Lev Bromberg, Zifeng Qu, Aaron J. Moment, T. Alan Hatton, and Ah-Hyung Alissa Park,* “Hybrid thermo-electrochemical conversion of plastic wastes commingled with marine biomass to value-added products using renewable energy,” Energy & Environmental Science, 16, 5805-5821 (2023). DOI:1039/D3EE02461J – Highlighted in the themed collection: Spotlight on Women in Energy
  • Tony G. Feric, Sara T. Hamilton, Byung Hee Ko, Ga-Hyun Annie Lee, Sumit Verma, Feng Jiao and Ah-Hyung Alissa Park*, “Highly Tunable Syngas Product Ratios Enabled by Novel Nanoscale Hybrid Electrolytes Designed for Combined CO2 Capture and Electrochemical Conversion,” Advanced Functional Materials (2023). DOI:1002/adfm.202210017 – Highlighted in Women in Materials Science Virtual Issue published in Advanced Materials, Advanced Functional Materials, Advanced Science, Small and Advanced Materials Technologies. Celebrating Excellence in the Advanced Materials Family: Women in Materials Science. Special Collections (First published 01/01/2021. Last updated 02/28/2023)
  • Wei Yu, Ming Gao, Guanhe Rim, Tony G. Feric, Mark L. Rivers, Ammar Alahmed, Aqil Jamal and Ah-Hyung Alissa Park*, “Novel In-Capsule Synthesis of Metal-Organic Framework for Innovative Carbon Dioxide Capture System,” Green Energy & Environment 8(3), 767-774 (2023). DOI:1016/j.gee.2021.08.002
  • Hunter B. Vibbert and Ah-Hyung Alissa Park*, “Harvesting, Storing, and Converting Carbon from the Ocean to Create a New Carbon Economy: Challenges and Opportunities,” Frontiers in Energy Research – Carbon Capture, Utilization and Storage 10 (21 Sept. 2022) DOI:3389/fenrg.2022.999307
  • Tony G. Feric, Sara T. Hamilton, Md Ashraful Haque, Javad Jeddi, Joshua Sangoro, Mark D. Dadmun and Ah-Hyung Alissa Park*, “Impacts of Bond Type and Grafting Density on the Thermal, Structural and Transport Behaviors of Nanoparticle Organic Hybrid Materials-based Electrolytes,” Advanced Functional Materials 32, 2203947 (2022). DOI:1002/adfm.202203947
  • Sara T. Hamilton, Tony G. Feric, Sahana Bhattacharyya, Nelly M. Cantillo, Steven G. Greenbaum, Thomas A. Zawodzinski and Ah-Hyung Alissa Park*, “Novel Nanoscale Hybrid Electrolytes with Viscosity controlled using Ionic Stimulus for Electrochemical Energy Conversion and Storage,” JACS Au 2, 3, 590-600 (2022). DOI:1021/jacsau.1c00410
  • Guanhe Rim, Noyonika Roy, Diandian Zhao, Shiho Kawashima, Phillip Stallworth, Steven G. Greenbaum, and Ah-Hyung Alissa Park*, “CO2 Utilization in Built Environment via the Pco2 Swing Carbonation of Alkaline Solid Wastes with Different Mineralogy,” Faraday Discussions 230, 187 (2021). DOI:1039/D1FD00022E
  • Guanhe Rim, Tony G. Feric, Thomas Moore, and Ah-Hyung Alissa Park*, “Solvent Impregnated Polymers loaded with Liquid-like Nanoparticle Organic Hybrid Materials for Enhanced Kinetics of Direct Air Capture and Point Source CO2 capture,” Advanced Functional Materials 31, 2010047 (2021). DOI: 1002/adfm.202010047
  • Sean Overa, Tony G. Feric, Ah-Hyung Alissa Park* and Feng Jiao*, “Tandem and Hybrid Processes for Carbon Dioxide Utilization,” Joule 5(1), 8-13 (2021). DOI:1016/j.joule.2020.12.004
  • Kang Zhang, Woo-Jae Kim* and Ah-Hyung Alissa Park*, “Alkaline Thermal Treatment of Seaweed for High-purity Hydrogen Production with Carbon Capture and Storage Potential,” Nature Communication 11(1) (2020). DOI: 1038/s41467-020-17627-1
  • Guanhe Rim, Ariane Katrina Marchese, Philip Stallworth, Steven G. Greenbaum, and Ah-Hyung Alissa Park*, “29Si Solid State MAS NMR Study on Leaching Behaviors and Chemical Stability of Different Mg-Silicate Structures for CO2 Sequestration,” Chemical Engineering Journal, 396, 125204 (2020). DOI:1016/j.cej.2020.125204
IN THE NEWS
EDUCATION
  • Ph.D., Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, The Ohio State University (2005)
  • M.A.Sc., Chemical and Biological Engineering, The University of British Columbia, Canada (2000)
  • B.A.Sc. with Distinction, Chemical and Biological Engineering, The University of British Columbia, Canada (1998)
 
AWARDS AND RECOGNITION
  • KSEA, Engineer of the Year Award (2025)
  • American Chemical Society ENFL Distinguished Researcher Award (2025)
  • Distinguished Engineering Educator Award, The Engineers’ Council (2025)
  • IUPAC Distinguished Women in Chemistry or Chemical Engineering Award (2025)
  • 2025 Global Cleantech 100 list, GreenOre CleanTech LLC (a startup co-founded by Alissa Park and Sean Zhou) (2025)
  • Fellow, Canadian Institute for Advanced Research (CIFAR) (2023 – 2026)
  • Shell Thomas Baron Award in Fluid-Particle Systems, Particle Technology Forum, American Institute of Chemical Engineers (2022)
  • Inaugural Ivy+ Provost Leadership Fellow, Faculty Advancement Network (2022)
  • American Chemical Society Energy and Fuels Division Mid-Career Researcher Award (2022)
  • Distinguished Alumni Award for Academic Excellence, The Ohio State University (2021)
  • Provost Leadership Fellow, Columbia University (2021)
  • Fellow, American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE) (2021)
  • Fellow, American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) (2020)
  • Fellow, American Chemical Society (2020)
  • Fellow, Royal Society of Chemistry (2020)
  • Mid-Career Faculty Grant Award, Columbia University (2020)
  • U.S. C3E Research Award (2018)
  • PSRI Lectureship Award in Fluidization, American Institute of Chemical Engineers (2018)
  • American Chemical Society Energy and Fuels Division - Emerging Researcher Award (2018)
  • Janette and Armen Avanessians Diversity Award, Columbia University (2017)
  • American Chemical Society WCC Rising Star Award (2017)
  • U.S.-China EcoPartnership Award by the United States Department of State (2015)
  • James Lee Young Investigator Award (2010)
  • National Science Foundation CAREER Award (2009)