Environmental microbiology, biodegradation of groundwater contaminants, microbial-nanomaterial interactions, nanotoxicology, applications of molecular biological and isotopic tools in environmental engineering.

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• THE VAULT GUY | Science, June 2024

• Ph.D. (2007), University of California, Berkeley
• M.S. (2001), Syracuse University
• B. Tech. (1997), Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi

• Editor-in-Chief:  Journal of Hazardous Materials Letters (2022-)
• Academy of Distinguished Alumni, CEE, University of California, Berkeley (2023)
• Co-Chair, Remediation Technologies (RemTEC) & Emerging Contaminants Summit (2022-2025)
• Distinguished Service Award. Association of Environmental Engineering & Science Professors (2020)
• Editor:  Journal of Hazardous Materials (2020-2025)
• Secretary, Board of Directors:  Association of Environmental Engineering and Science Professors (2018-2021)
• 2019: Walter L. Huber Civil Engineering Research Prize, American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE)
• 2018: Mahatma Gandhi Pravasi Samman award from the Government of India Non-Resident Indian Welfare Society
• 2017: Paul L. Bush Award, Water Environment & Reuse Foundation
• National Science Foundation Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) Award (2013-2018).
• DuPont Young Professor Award (2013-2016).
• Northrop Grumman Excellence in Teaching Award (2013).
• PopTech Science and Public Leadership Fellowship (2011- 2012).
• University of California Hellman Fellowship (2011- 2012).
• Excellence in Review Award, Environmental Science & Technology (2011).
• Chi Epsilon National Civil Engineering Honor Society (2011).
• 10 Trendsetters of 2010: Nanotechnology Researchers. Public Works Magazine (2010).
• CH2M-Hill/AEESP Outstanding Doctoral Dissertation Award. Association of Environmental Engineering and Science Professors (2008).
• Best Technical Presentation Award. Groundwater Resources Association of California Symposium on Emerging Contaminants, Concord, CA (2006).
• Corporate Activities Program Travel Grant. American Society for Microbiology 106th General Meeting, Orlando, FL (2006).
• Best Presentation Award. 16th Association for Environmental Health and Sciences Meeting & West Coast Conference on Soils, Sediments & Water, San Diego, CA (2006).
• University of California Toxic Substances Research and Teaching Program Fellowship (2001-2003).
• Syracuse University Center for Environmental Science and Engineering Fellowship (1999- 2001).

   

• Ivy Kwok, Graduate Student Rapid Fire, 3rd Place Winner.  Society of Women Engineers Collegiate Competition (2025).
• Ivy Kwok, Distinguished Teaching Assistant Award, UCLA Academic Senate Committee on Teaching (2025)
• Ivy Kwok, Outstanding Graduate Student Member Award, Society of Women Engineers (2024)
• Priscilla Yang, UCLA Undergraduate Dean’s Prize for Excellence in Science (2024)
• Yifan Gao, CAPEES-Elsevier Outstanding Graduate Student Award (2024)
• Yifan Gao, American Chemical Society (ACS) Environmental Chemistry Graduate Student Award (2024)
• Ivy Kwok, Student Poster Competition, 1st Prize Winner, Remediation Technology and Emerging Contaminants (RemTEC) Summit (2023)
• Ivy Kwok, Geosyntec Paper Competition, 3rd Prize Winner, Remediation Technology and Emerging Contaminants (RemTEC) Summit (2023)
• Yifan Gao, UCLA Dissertation Year Fellowship (2023)
• Pia Ramos, Outstanding Ph.D. Student in Civil and Environmental Engineering Award (2023)
• Kshitija Shah, Student Paper Competition Winner, Sixth International Symposium on Bioremediation and Sustainable Environmental Technologies, Austin, TX (2023)
• Melia Leclercq, Joint Institute for Regional Earth System Science & Engineering Scholarship (2023)
• Brianna Kramer, 3-minute Thesis Presentation Winner, Undergraduate Research Fellows Program Research Forum Course, UCLA Undergraduate Research Center – Sciences (2023)
• Priscilla Yang, 3-minute Thesis Presentation Winner, Undergraduate Research Fellows Program Research Forum Course, UCLA Undergraduate Research Center – Sciences (2023)
• Soham Ray, National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship (2023-26)
• Kshitija Shah, UCLA Technology Development Group, New Ventures Fellowship (2023)
• Pia Ramos, Fulbright Postdoctoral Fellowship, Technion- Israel Institute of Technology (2023)
• Yu Miao, UCLA Chancellor's Award for Postdoctoral Research (2022)
• Margaret Capetz, Society of Women Engineers Northrop Grumman Scholarship (2022)
• Ivy Kwok, Society of Women Engineers Boeing Scholarship (2022)
• Margaret Capetz, Grace Hopper Conference AnitaB.org Scholarship (2022)
• Benjamin Croze, UCLA Summer Mentored Research Fellowship (2022)
• Kshitija Shah, UCLA Campus Wide Gradslam Competition, Finalist (2022)
• Katherine Tsai, American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), Los Angeles Younger Member Forum (YMF) Scholarship (2022)
• Margaret Capetz, Dr. Vincent Ho Scholarship in Engineering (2021)
• Ivy Kwok, Asian American Architects and Engineers Association (AAa/e) Foundation Scholarship (2021)
• Katherine Tsai, Asian American Architects and Engineers Association (AAa/e) Foundation Scholarship (2021)
• Kshitija Shah, UCLA Summer Mentored Research Fellowship (2021)
• Pia Ramos, UCLA Summer Mentored Research Fellowship (2021)
• Yu Miao, FEMS Congress Attendance Grant, American Society of Microbiology and the Federation for European Microbiological Societies (2021)
• Ivy Kwok, UCLA GradSWE Scholarship, Society of Women Engineers (2021)
• Alexandra Polasko, Distinguished Teaching Assistant Award, UCLA Academic Senate Committee on Teaching (2021)
• Katherine Tsai, Certificate of Achievement in Engineering, Mathematics, and Physics category, The Annual Biomedical Research Conference for Minority Students (2020)
• Pia Ramos, PhD Sandwich Program Scholarship, Israeli Council for Higher Education (2020)
• Ivy Kwok, Eugene V. Cota-Robles Fellowship (2020)
• Ivy Kwok, UCLA Chancellor’s Service Award (2020)
• Jerry Ngo, Dr. Berky Nelson Award, Student Organizations, Leadership & Engagement (2020)
• Ivy Kwok, UCLA Undergraduate Dean’s Prize for Excellence in Science (2020)
• Nicholas Johnson, Student Paper Competition Winner, Twelfth International Conference on Remediation of Chlorinated and Recalcitrant Compounds, Portland, OR (2020)
• Pia Ramos, Hydrophilix Industry-Sponsored Research Fellowship (2020)
• Yu Miao, Outstanding Ph.D. Student in Civil and Environmental Engineering Award (2019)
• Alexandra Polasko, Hydrophilix Industry-Sponsored Research Fellowship (2019)
• Ivy Kwok, Certificate of Achievement in Microbiology Category, The Annual Biomedical Research Conference for Minority Students (2019)
• Jerry Ngo, Chancellor’s Service Award (2019)
• Dominic Robolino, Dean’s Prize for Excellence in Science (2019)
• Alexandra Polasko, Dave Caldwell Drinking Water Scholarship, American Water Works Association (2019)
• Pia Ramos, Eugene V. Cota-Robles Graduate Fellowship (2019)
• Nicholas Johnson, Student Paper Competition, 3rd Prize Winner, Remediation Technology Summit (2019)
• Peerapong Pornwongthong, Gold Medal and Special Prize at the World Invention and Innovation Forum (2018)
• Alexandra Polasko, Outstanding Master of Science in Civil and Environmental Engineering Award (2018)
• Alexandra Polasko, Student Paper Competition 1st Prize Winner, Emerging Contaminants Summit (2018)
• Alessandro Zulli, Dean’s Prize for Excellence in Science (2018)
• Meng Wang, Sustainable Nanotechnology Organization Student Award (2017)
• Gerardo Gutierrez, Eugene V. Cota-Robles Fellowship (2017)
• Alexandra Polasko, American Society for Microbiology Agar Art Finalist, Don’t Cry Over Spilt Bacteria (2017)
• Alexandra Polasko, Society of Women Engineers UCLA Scholarship (2017)
• Alexandra Polasko, UCLA Campus Wide Gradslam Competition, 3rd Place Winner (2017)
• Meng Wang, AEESP Outstanding Master’s Thesis Award.  Association of Environmental Engineering and Science Professors (2016)
• Alexandra Polasko, New England Biolabs Passion in Science Award for Environmental Stewardship (2016)
• Alexandra Polasko, Brown and Caldwell Women in Leadership Fellowship (2016)
• Alexandra Polasko, National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Program Honorable Mention (2016)
• Phillip Gedalanga, Certificate of Merit, American Chemical Society 251st National Meeting & Exposition, San Diego, CA (2016)
• Meng Wang, Certificate of Merit, American Chemical Society 251st National Meeting & Exposition, San Diego, CA (2016)
• Shu Zhang, Certificate of Merit, American Chemical Society 251st National Meeting & Exposition, San Diego, CA (2016)
• Alexandra Polasko, Brown and Caldwell Women in Leadership Scholarship (2016)
• Shu Zhang, California Association of Sanitation Agencies Education Foundation Scholarship (2016)
• Meng Wang, Student Paper Competition Honorable Mention, Emerging Contaminants Summit (2016)
• Shu Zhang, Society of Women Engineers UCLA Scholarship (2016)
• Alexandra Polasko, Eugene V. Cota-Robles Fellowship (2015)
• Alexandra Polasko, Malcolm R. Stacey Memorial Scholarship (2015)
• Alexandra Polasko, Len Assante National Groundwater Scholarship (2015)
• Shu Zhang, Student Paper Competition Honorable Mention, Remediation Technology Summit (2015)
• Siyi (Fiona) Guo, Undergraduate Fellowship, Los Angeles County Sanitation District (2015)
• Peerapong Pornwongthong, Outstanding Ph.D. Student in Civil and Environmental Engineering Award (2014)
• Nancy Tseng, The Chrysler Foundation Scholarship (2014)
• Nancy Tseng, Society of Women Engineers UCLA Scholarship (2014)
• Nancy Tseng, UCLA Dissertation Year Fellowship (2014-2015)
• Vincent Reyes, NSF Traineeship in Clean Energy for Green Industry (2014)
• Rajani Bansal, Society of Women Engineers Phillips 66 Scholarship (2014)
• Anjali Mulchandani, 1st Place Winner at American Water Works Association CA/NV Fresh Ideas Poster Competition (2014)
• Peerapong Pornwongthong, Student Paper Competition Winner at Groundwater Resources Association Emerging Contaminants Symposium (2014)
• Nancy Tseng, Society of Women Engineers Susan E. Stutz-McDonald Scholarship (2013)
• Rajani Bansal, L-3 Communications Scholarship (2013)
• Peerapong Pornwongthong, Best Paper Prize at the Eighth International Conference on Remediation of Chlorinated and Recalcitrant Compounds, Monterey, CA (2012)
• Nancy Tseng, Student Paper Competition Winner at Groundwater Resources Association Symposium on Contaminants of Emerging Concern (2012)
• Peerapong Pornwongthong, Student Paper Competition Honorable Mention, Groundwater Resources Association Symposium on Contaminants of Emerging Concern (2012)
• Melissa Spitzmiller, Certificate of Merit, American Chemical Society 243rd National Meeting & Exposition, San Diego, CA (2012)
• Sergio Arce, 3M Corporate Research and Development Internship Scholarship (2012)
• Nancy Tseng, National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Program Honorable Mention (2011)
• Nancy Tseng, US Environmental Protection Agency Science to Achieve Results (EPA STAR) Fellowship (2011-2014)
• Vincent Reyes, NSF Science and Engineering of the Environment of Los Angeles (SEE-LA) Fellowship (2011-2012)
• Amanda West, Undergraduate Fellowship, Los Angeles County Sanitation District (2011)
• Justin Choe, Stockholm Junior Water Prize, California winner (2011)
• Melissa Spitzmiller, Eugene V. Cota-Robles Fellowship (2010)
• Melissa Spitzmiller, Malcolm R. Stacey Memorial Scholarship (2010)
• Vincent Reyes, UCLA Chancellor’s Prize (2010)

C&EE M165: Environmental Microbiology C&EE M166: Environmental Microbiology and Biotechnology Laboratory C&EE 266: Environmental Biotechnology