Cohort 4 (2022-2024)
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Agricultural & Biosystems Engineering Projected Grad: Spring 2026 Advisor: Dr. Dan Andersen
My research involves increasing the practicality of anaerobic digestion. I create models to determine the profitability of anaerobic digesters given different scenarios. Also, I assemble and operate lab-scale plug-flow and mixed anaerobic digesters. We are particularly interested in investigating how different farm sizes, travel distances, conveyance methods, digester types, and feedstocks impact revenue. If anaerobic digestion is profitable for more farms, then more farms could reduce their greenhouse gas emissions and produce renewable energy. |
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Chemical and Biological Engineering Projected Grad: Spring 2026 Advisor: Dr. Robert Brown Broadly, I am interested in scaling new, environmentally relevant technologies for application in the commercial arena. I am currently working to produce animal feed from waste carbon dioxide by growing single cell protein through gas fermentation. Through these methods, we can combat the environmental effects of animal protein by reducing the greenhouse gas emissions, land use, freshwater demands, fertilizer runoff, and land erosion associated with conventional animal feed production. |
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Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering Projected Grad: Fall 2024 Advisor: Dr. Amy Kaleita
My research is in collaboration with the IFEWs research group, a project which is developing an Iowa Food-Energy-Water simulation model, to create the model database and develop a visualization tool to observe the relationship between agricultural products (food, feed, biofuels) and water quality through nitrogen export for decision-making facilitation. |
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Civil, Construction and Environmental Engineering Projected Grad: Spring 2026 Advisor: Dr. Lu Liu My interest areas are climate change and its effects, as well as the Water-climate-energy nexus. I worked on investigating climate change’s impact on surface water resources in my master’s. Currently, I am exploring integrated assessment modeling (e.g., GCAM) to assess future electricity and water demand under different climate change and socio-economic development. |
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Animal Science Projected Grad: Spring 2024 Advisor: Dr. Steven Lonergan My research interest involves discovering and characterizing molecular factors that impact fresh pork quality, including tenderness, water-holding capacity, and color. By understanding these factors, we can select livestock and implement production practices to improve the efficiency of livestock production and the quality, safety, and shelf-life of meat products. In doing so, we could reduce the inputs of feed, water, and energy in livestock production and limit the waste of spoiled or undesirable meat products in the marketplace |
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Agricultural Meteorology Projected Grad: Spring 2026 Advisor: Dr. Brian Hornbuckle
“My present research focuses on analysis of how the water content in soil and crops changes over the course of the growing season. I am using these findings to validate soil moisture measurement tools such as remote sensing satellites around critical times of the year, including the spring planting season and the fall harvest. The goal is to help farmers use this information to use and manage their land more efficiently and sustainably. Eventually, my goal is to apply these principles to other ecosystems, such as forests and prairies in order to help conservationists manage these habitats and integrate them into agroecosystems. Through my research, I hope to help farmers understand the impacts of weather and climate on agricultural productivity and to help ensure the survival of critical habitats alongside agricultural productivity throughout the Corn Belt and across the globe.” |
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Interdepartmental Graduate Program in Nutritional Sciences Projected Grad: Spring 2025 Advisor: Dr. Lorraine Lanningham-Foster
Our dietary choices not only affect our personal health but also environmental health. However, consumers already have a lot to consider when buying food, such as cost, nutrition, and personal preference, so education on the environmental impacts of food choices likely won’t lead to change. It is my goal to make it easier for consumers to select more nutritious and environmentally friendly options. One way I plan to study this is through a virtual reality grocery store or restaurant, where I can observe how changes in the food environment affect consumer choices. |
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Economics Projected Grad: Spring 25 Advisor: Dr. Dermot J Hayes
My research focuses on food and health economics and consumer and producer behavior. I employ applied microeconometrics and experimental economics methods to answer questions relevant to applied economists, data analysts, and policymakers. |
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Civil, Construction and Environmental Engineering Projected Grad: Fall 2027 Advisor: Dr. Lu Liu
My current research aims to build an inventory that quantifies the water available for reuse. Data will be collected from sources like stormwater, agricultural runoff and return flow, municipal wastewater, and rainwater. The end goal of the research is to combine these data into one body across attributes like spatial and temporal resolution for consistency and level of detail in a data structure. |
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Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering Projected Grad: Spring 2024 Advisor: Dr. Zhiyou Wen & Dr. Robert Brown
My research encompasses a broad range of the field of bioprocessing. My research interests are primarily focused around discovering and developing value-added coproducts in biomass-based systems. My current work focuses on a pretreatment for herbaceous biomass that simultaneously improves its bioavailability for anaerobic digestion, as well as extracts high-value chemicals as a coproduct. Additionally, I am also working on enzyme production from pyrolysis waste streams, as well as developing a probiotic for chickens and pigs to mitigate the toxicity of mycotoxins in their feed. |
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Industrial & Manufacturing Systems Engineering Projected Grad: Spring 2025 Advisor: Dr. Sara Ryan
My research interests are Operations Research and Mathematical Programming and applying them to real-world problems. Also, I am interested in considering uncertainty in my research. I am currently working on the reliability assessment of scenario sets generated by different scenario generation methods. I have a penchant for continuing my research by applying it to real-world applications like energy management systems.
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Materials Science and Engineering Projected Grad: Fall 2025 Advisor: Dr. Shan Jiang My research focuses on improving the ability to deliver biological reagents into plant cells using biolistic delivery. I am currently designing and developing new tools that improve cell transfection rates significantly while reducing the overall error in the system commonly attributed by experiments with biological tissues. I also use advanced computation fluid dynamic simulations to better understand the effects of the new devices by studying the dynamics of the system. |
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Environmental Science Projected Grad: Spring 2027 Advisor: Dr. Michelle Soupir
I am highly interested in using new technology to combat changes made to freshwater aquatic systems by terrestrial systems. My research focuses on utilizing and optimizing woodchip bioreactors as an edge-of-field conservation practice. Our goal is to obtain a deeper understanding of how the microbial communities within bioreactors operate in order to develop a more effective system. |
Cohort 3 (2021-2023)
Alex CleveringaDept: Agronomy– Crop Production & Physiology
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Jarrett MorrisonDept: Civil, Construction and Environmental Engineering
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Cohort 2 (2020-2022)
Richard MagalaDept: Natural Resource Ecology & Management
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Cohort 1 (2019-2021)
Chin-Yuan “Jeff” ChuProgram: Industrial Engineering Research Interest: …utilizing data analytic tools to manage the risk of supply chain in FEWS (food, energy, and water systems) nexus, helping farmers, companies, and policymakers develop innovative and sustainable solutions. |
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Garrison GunterProgram: Chemical Engineering Research Interest: …developing pyrolysis plants capable of effectively converting waste biomass into biofuel and value-added chemicals. |
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Tim Neher
Research Interest:…antibiotic resistance indicators in agriculture, related it to quantities of antibiotics used by livestock owners and to evaluate in-field or edge-of-field practices that may potentially provide opportunities to reduce resistance indicators as well as provide economic benefits to farmers. Honors and Awards Guy Fellowship Award, 2020, Iowa State University. Fellowship established to promote research in soil and water conservation. 
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Matt NowatzkeParticipant through December 2020
Research Interest: …the intersection of data science, agriculture, and human-centered design to identify models and systems that couple human decision-making with sound agricultural and environmental practices. |
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