ESE Student Profiles
| First & Last Name | Mentor/Lab | Home Department(s) | |
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| Lizz Allmon | Marisol Sepulveda | Forestry & Natural Resources |
Lizz AllmonHome Department:Forestry & Natural Resources Mentor / Lab:Marisol Sepulveda Specific Research Area / Project:Aquatic Toxicology Lab / Personal work-related websites:Personal WebsiteLab Website  About MeI began working in aquatic systems as an undergraduate at Shepherd University where I conducted research on water quality surrounding a water treatment plant using aquatic invertebrates as bioindicators. After graduating from Shepherd with a B.S. in Biology and Ecological Sciences, I began graduate school at The University of Texas where I completed my M.S. in Marine Science. My Master's research focused on fish physiology - particularly the acid-base compensation pathways in red drum (Sciaenops ocellatus) gills when exposed to ocean acidification. Following my completion of my M.S. I worked as a lab manager for 2 years at The University of Texas Marine Science Institute where I continued research on ocean acidification and began assisting with research in toxicity associated with oil spills. This led me to my current position as a PhD student in FNR & ESE where I am evaluating the cardiotoxic effects of oil on developing fish. Awards:
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| Dr. Randy Rapp | Technology |
Home Department:Technology Mentor / Lab:Dr. Randy Rapp Specific Research Area / Project:Sustainable Disaster Waste Management "Opportunities from Disaster: The Case for Improved Resource Reclamation Practices"  About MeAfter seeing my hometown constantly being hit by hurricanes and watching my old friends from the area dealing with the after effects of a storm, I knew I wanted to be part of the disaster preparedness and response arms. While serving the US Navy in Bahrain, I found this program of the Purdue Military Research Initiative (PMRI) and knew this was the way I could contribute further to the field and when I found out about ESE and their mission, I jumped at the chance to be a part of it. My experience as the lone, military gwith a family of three in tow into a young group of like-minded problem solvers across the spectrum of degrees and backgrounds. One example of how these 'wicked problem' problem solvers came together was in a heated debate topic on social justice in the developing world as part of the colloquium class. We combined our experiences of engineering, agriculture, political science, and technology to develop an excellent policy solution. I actively seek out this mixed point-of-view approach to all of my research going forward. With my doctorate in hand and after retiring from the military in the coming years, I want to use my degree knowledge in the planning aspects of readiness and response for a disaster in my state while serving as a consultant for businesses to implement the circular economy into their disaster planning. I may not save the world, but on my small-scale farm, I want to further demonstrate these integrated principles to my kids and schools around the area with hands-on workshops and application. Leadership:
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| Dr. Swati Srivastava | Political Sciences |
Home Department:Political Sciences Mentor / Lab:Dr. Swati Srivastava Specific Research Area / Project:NGO-Corporate partnerships in global environmental governance: Reconfiguration of authority of private actors  About MeEducation has always been important to me - both as an opportunity to grow and an opportunity to create a better life for myself and my family. I grew up in Bosnia and Herzegovina, a country that was ravaged by war in the early 1990s and remains economically unstable. As a low/middle-class citizen living in a country of only few employment opportunities, I knew that I had to invest in my education in order to live a good life. This realization that came early in my life is still the main driving force behind my academic/career ambitions. It pushed me to apply to a boarding school called United World College where I earned an IB diploma on a scholarship. After that, I was awarded a Shelby Davis scholarship to study at Westminster College in Fulton, MO. That experienced led me to Purdue after my mentor at Westminster (a Purdue alumna) suggested that Purdue would be an excellent environment for growth and interdisciplinary work. She was indeed right about that! oining IGP (ESE) was perhaps the best decision I made. Being surrounded by great minds from numerous disciplines on our campus opened my eyes to so many things. Every class I took was filled with interesting, fascinating conversations. I was taken out of my comfort zone as a political scientist where I needed to engage in new conversations and communicate with colleagues/professors about unfamiliar topics. I also had the opportunity to get them interested in my research and topics that political scientists study. Interestingly, no matter the topic or the discipline, we all always had something to contribute. I find it valuable that I learned how to communicate across disciplines and how to bring something meaningful to diverse conversations. An especially memorable experience was in the Fall 2019 when my ESE cohort organized a symposium titled "Sustainable Development Goals: Are We Chasing Unicorns". Being a part of a diverse, dynamic,and extremely talented group of graduate student working on accomplishing a common goal was an absolute bliss. We deeply cared about the topic and worked hard to create an event that would inspire other Purdue graduate students to think about sustainable development and its prospects. Coming from different backgrounds, we were able to holistically discuss the topic and create an event that attracted students from all parts of our campus. I think most of us dream about saving the world or solving one of the world's most pertinent problems. In fact, many of us join graduate school thinking that our work will contribute to such grand achievements. I like to think that I have become more realistic over time and aware that my work may not change the world, but that it may change a few lives. Teaching, in particular, brings joy to my life because I think that good teachers indeed change lives. My professors have and continue to play a central role in my development as a scholar and a person. Being able to play that figure for someone will make me feel more than accomplished. Helping students to become more inquisitive, more free as thinkers, more critical, more engaged in uncomfortable but important conversations - that is what I would like to do. Teaching/educating is a noble profession (when done right) and can (at an aggregate level) be a powerful tool. Therefore, I do hope to become a professor and build a career in academia. Awards:
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| Dr. Songlin Fei, Natural Resources Spatial Analysis Lab | Forestry & Natural Resources |
Home Department:Forestry & Natural Resources Mentor / Lab:Dr. Songlin Fei, Natural Resources Spatial Analysis Lab Specific Research Area / Project:Species to community level responses to climate change in eastern US forests Lab / Personal work-related websites:Lab Website About MeI grew up in West Michigan, an area rich in forests, lakes, and opportunities for exploring nature. For as long as I can remember, my family would go camping, hunting, fishing, canoeing, and other outdoor activities. I always thought it would be exciting to work in the great outdoors, but I also had interests in science and cooking. Luckily, I decided against culinary school and ended up in a general biology program at Calvin College, where I pursued the pre-med program. After a few long talks with my undergrad advisors and a summer research project measuring and analyzing changes in the forest at Calvin’s nature preserve, I decided med school was not for me and that graduate school in forest ecology would be quite interesting. Additionally, that summer trudging through swampy, mosquito-infested, 90°F forest plots made me realize that there is a lot more to forests besides just the few acres of land that I was working on. I stumbled across the Ecological Sciences and Engineering (ESE) webpage during my search for graduate schools, and after reading the description of the program it rose to the top of my list. Through ESE I was able to connect with my now advisor, Dr. Songlin Fei, and he had some interesting projects for me to work on if I joined his lab. The focus of his lab is to analyze large-scale patterns of forest dynamics, including climate change, invasive species, biodiversity, and others. This fit exactly what I was looking for—a much broader view of what was going on beyond what you can see when you’re walking through the woods, to quite literally “see the forest for the trees.” As for outdoor activities and cooking, I still spend my free time fishing in the Wildcat Creek, hiking at various parks, and cooking food for friends and family. Awards:
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| Fu Zhao - Sustainable Engineering Technology and Systems | Mechanical Engineering |
Home Department:Mechanical Engineering Mentor / Lab:Fu Zhao - Sustainable Engineering Technology and Systems Specific Research Area / Project:Sustainable Design/Recovery of critical materials from end-of-life electric vehicle lithium-ion batteries  About MeMy life journey and undergraduate education exposed me to the need for cutting-edge research and application that serve people and communities. I joined the D-PhD program to learn from and collaborate with the best at Purdue. With the world-class research that is conducted right here, there are few places with such great opportunities in one space. Sitting in class with people from Political Science, Forestry and Natural Resources, Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences, etc. is a nice break from, and also gives a wider perspective to, the mechanical engineering world of optimization. A memorable experience for me was serving as co-chair of ESE's 13th Annual Symposium titled "SDGs: Are We Chasing Unicorns?" I had a great time planning this event with my cohort and seeing it pan out successfully. Ultimately, I want to use my degree to serve in a capacity that pushes the world and its people forward in a sustainable manner. The beauty of design is that it is versatile and applicable to all of life, so I am excited to see how I apply my education to the challenges ahead. An ideal vocation for me would be to shuttle between working in private industry and passing my knowledge and experience on to new students. Presentations:
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| Dr. Zhao Ma/Human Dimensions Lab | Forestry & Natural Resources |
Home Department:Forestry & Natural Resources Mentor / Lab:Dr. Zhao Ma/Human Dimensions Lab Specific Research Area / Project:Natural resource social science/Adaptation and tradeoffs in river-based livelihoods on the Swat and Kabul Rivers of Pakistan  About MeI work in natural resource social science because I want to support sustainable and equitable natural resource management. I came to this field through my love of the outdoors and seeing the complex interactions between humans and the environment. This has driven my passion to find ways we can manage these resources for both human well-being and environmental sustainability. I also believe in the importance of mentoring and teaching, and I am thankful that I have the opportunity to work with undergraduates in my lab and in the classroom setting here at Purdue. I am incredibly grateful for the relationships I have formed as a part of ESE. The students, staff, and faculty have become important sources of support throughout my PhD and instrumental to my professional development. Planning the annual ESE sympoisum has been one my most memorable experiences in ESE. It was an incredible opportunity to work alongside other students, network with faculty across campus, and see the campus engage with the event. I plan to pursue a faculty position in a research-focused university in the U.S. I am excited about the opportunity to combine research and teaching and am particularly interested in positions at a land grant university to continue to work alongside stakeholders in agricultural systems. Awards:
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| Dr. Joseph Sinfield, Innovation Science Laboratory | Civil Enginnering |
Home Department:Civil Enginnering Mentor / Lab:Dr. Joseph Sinfield, Innovation Science Laboratory Specific Research Area / Project:Innovation and Innovation Ecosystems  About MeI am a highly curious person who is always looking to learn the “new new thing.” During my B. Tech in Mechanical Engineering at IIT Bombay, I got interested in thermal sciences. Considering Purdue’s reputation for engineering and the breadth of disciplines it offered, I decided to come to the Ray W. Herrick Laboratories at Purdue. During my MS at the Herrick Labs, I researched a lot on HVAC systems to try and make them more efficient. Having worked on considerable number of engineering problems, my curiosity drove me into the realm of complex socio-economic-technical problems, and I was looking for ways to enhance my problem-solving skillset. Realizing that problems of tomorrow cannot be solved by solutions of yesterday, I began my PhD with a research focus on the emerging topic of innovation ecosystems with Dr. Joseph Sinfield. At the same time, I also got involved with ESE to interact with different schools of thought. This freedom beyond the boundaries of traditional disciplines has greatly influenced my thought process as well as my research philosophy. Ultimately, I am interested in solving and enabling others to solve complex socio-economic-technical problems to make the world a better place. By making the ideas of innovation more accessible to people, I am interested in seeing different possibilities that lie in front of us in the future! Awards:
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| Dr. Sara McMillan | Agricultural & Biological Engineering |
Home Department:Agricultural & Biological Engineering Mentor / Lab:Dr. Sara McMillan Specific Research Area / Project:Rhythms of Urban Rivers: A Socio-environmental Investigation of Stormwater Lab / Personal work-related websites:Personal Website About MeI completed my undergraduate education at the University of California Santa Barbara. I was drawn to both Environmental Science and Black Studies. So much so that I was an undergraduate researcher in a soil science lab (Dr. Jennifer King’s Lab), and I completed my senior thesis in the Black Studies Department. I dove deeply into literature on both social justice and environmental science which caused me to think frequently about environmental justice—even though this course was not offered at the time. I knew that I wanted my graduate program to allow me the flexibility to study both environmental science and social justice simultaneously. One of my favorite moments in the Ecological Sciences and Engineering (ESE) program was during the 2016 ESE Symposium. We hosted a conference on polarization and extreme thought around the environment and society. It was the perfect time for this topic as the 2016 election was beginning (we all know how that transpired). During the symposium, I hosted an Art Workshop with an IGP student in Electronic and Time-based Art, Boyd Smith, where we encourage attendees to create art that expressed a polarizing topic. I enjoyed this collaboration with Boyd as he illustrated how to use color and materials to express conflicting points of view on the environment—a stark contrast to my mostly quantitative way of thinking. Fantastic artwork resulted as well! IGP has facilitated many of these cross-discipline collaborations that have challenged me intellectually. My ultimate goal is to teach and train students to think beyond disciplinary silos and engage in culturally relevant conversation on global and local socio-environmental change. Further, I strive to envision STEM fields a critical to knowledge production on socio-environmental justice and solving complex environmental issues. Awards:
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| Robin Tanamachi / Weather Radar Research Lab | Earth, Athmospheric & Planetary Sciences |
Home Department:Earth, Athmospheric & Planetary Sciences Mentor / Lab:Robin Tanamachi / Weather Radar Research Lab Specific Research Area / Project:Polarimetric and electric characteristics of severe convective storms Lab / Personal work-related websites:Personal Website About MeMy academic journey has been a very unique and non-linear process. As an undergraduate student I was trained to be a civil engineer with a master's degree in hydrological sciences. Subsequently in my doctoral programme, I moved to research in atmospheric sciences. ESE was definitely a fittting choice for an inter-disciplinary researcher like me. I must admit that I feel really lucky to have been able to develop skill sets for engineering as well as science research. My future goal is to continue my research endeavors and inspire the next generation of scientists to further the horizons of our scientific knowledge. Teaching, apart from being a noble profession is also an avenue to actually improve critical thinking. I cannot think of a better opportunity to research alongside teaching than see myself serving as a faculty member. It is no secret that there are lots of pressing issues that plague our society at present. The complex nature of these issues need collaborative thinking efforts and strategies. I want to be an active contributor to scientific studies and campaigns through participation in field studies, designing experiments to investigate and question the unexplored territories in weather science. Awards:
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| Prof. Suresh Rao | Environmental & Ecological Engineering |
Home Department:Environmental & Ecological Engineering Mentor / Lab:Prof. Suresh Rao Specific Research Area / Project:Dynamics of fractal intra-urbanheat islets Lab / Personal work-related websites:Personal Website About MeI come from India, where I have mostly lived in Ranchi - my hometown, and in Roorkee - during my undergraduate degree in Civil Engineering at IIT Roorkee. However, thanks to my parents' avid interest in traveling, I have been all around this incredibly diverse country. I highly recommend it to fellow travelers who love colors, noise, crowds, food, and affordability! Ph.D. at Purdue for me has been a truly trans-disciplinary and nomadic experience, thanks to the amazing NASA Earth and Space Science Fellowship, the wisdom and benevolence of my advisor - Prof. Suresh Rao, and of course, the cross-pollination of diverse ideas enabled by ESE! I have had the privilege to travel extensively for collaborations, workshops, and conferences. I believe that this freedom from traditional disciplinary boundaries and global exposure has molded my research philosophy greatly. In the long-term, I am motivated to be a Professor at an esteemed research university and start a center for complex urban systems research with a specific emphasis on meteorological applications. I seek to build and lead an interdisciplinary research group modeled after the one I have had the pleasure to be a part of at Purdue. I wish to inspire many more inquisitive minds to ask and ponder over complex questions that are of great scientific and societal relevance and arm them with the right tools to address them. Awards:
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| Dr. Venkatesh Merwade | Civil Enginnering |
Home Department:Civil Enginnering Mentor / Lab:Dr. Venkatesh Merwade Specific Research Area / Project:Improving post-hurricane flood modeling using Satellite Products  About MeI have a curious mind and love to dig deep into any subject for my understanding. I was fond of Physics and Mathematics because of my father, who taught me not to solve the science problems with the use of physical equations but using imagination first. I was fortunate to do my masters from one of the premier research institutes in India, the Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur, where I developed a model for river dynamics study. My mentor at IIT Kanpur was a Purdue graduate himself, and he inculcated the traits of perseverance, honesty and smart work under his guidance, and used to tell me in almost every meeting, “Whatever you pursue, wherever you go, give your best, go with your full heart”. While I was forming my research ideas, my love for the mighty Himalaya was growing, and I started visiting it frequently. I do not travel the touristy way; instead, I go as if I would live in those places. These journeys unraveled the hard life the locals were facing because of climate change, and other factors such as the shift in the crop growing season, urbanization, and heavy flooding became part of the new normal. I kept considering how I can help such communities and help preserve this serenity through my PhD. As they say, luck favors the driven, I got PhD offers from each the 4 reputed universities I had applied- and in fact Purdue was the last offer I got. I had worked at Purdue as a summer visitor (with Prof. Dev Niyogi) and got to know of the ESE IGP and really liked the research culture and environment here. So, I was elated to join Purdue University. I have enjoyed the collaborative culture at Purdue University. From the very beginning, when I used to meet my fellow classmates for the ESE symposium, they all belong to diverse backgrounds professionally and personally. It made me appreciate the differences that we all have and embrace their expertise and viewpoint over a certain topic, which I might have never thought of having a “pure” engineering outlook. The best part is that I have found everyone, whom I have approached, always friendly and warm. I used to have the notion of not asking for help if I am stuck and spend hours to solve any issues. Here I have found that everyone is so willing to help and learn together that I don’t hesitate in discussing and working in a team environment- and truly believe that the collaborative learning environment has made me a better researcher. I am passionate about integrating technology for societal good. I will be the first Ph.D. in my family, and I chose Civil Engineering to work with complex systems, especially on water extremes. Growing up in India in the Himalayan foothills and influenced by the Ganges, I have seen communities struggle either accessing water or getting displaced by floods. Over the years, I have become motivated to unleash the power of remote sensing technology to help with the societal needs. This has scaffolded off experiences where I witnessed the impact of agencies helping communities with predictions regarding natural hazards such as landslides and save lives and property. What I do in academia is not only a research work plan but also a part of my calling. I am hopeful that the Ph.D. will help me with the foundation for the next phase in postdoctoral mode- to create a mapping and decision support tool to help with flooding, especially for urban regions - in places where there is little to no warning. Awards:
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