PECS Directory

Student Body

• Bare, Fiona

  Politics
  
  

  Bare studies the political economy of climate change using game theory, statistical inference, and qualitative methods. Bare’s research explores the politics of uncertainty around climate change, including the impact of natural resource variability on cooperation. She is also interested in understanding how uncertainty affects bargaining power in international negotiations around climate finance and payment for ecosystem services. Another area of Bare’s research examines the role of non-state actors, such as private firms and interest groups, in climate policymaking. Bare is advised by Kris Ramsay, professor in the Department of Politics.

• Chung, Maya

  Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences
  
  

  Chung studies the role of the ocean in climate from subseasonal to multi-century timescales. She also researches interactions between climate and infectious disease spread through the HMEI-STEP Fellowship. She is advised by professors Gabriel Vecchi (Geosciences, HMEI), Jessica Metcalf, and Bryan Grenfell (EEB, SPIA).

• Dey, Ipsita

  Anthropology
  
  

  Dey studies the revival of the sugarcane industry among Fijian Indians, combining environmental anthropology, political theory, and pertinent questions that concern environmental justice and conflict. She is working with generations of Indo-Fijian cane farmers, who propose intergenerational expertise in growing cane. Dey is advised by Jerry Zee, assistant professor of anthropology and the High Meadows Environmental Institute and Agustín Fuentes, professor of anthropology.

• Elikan, Max

  Chemistry
  
  

  AY 23-24 PECS Student Dinner Coordinator

  Elikan is interested in advancing the biology, chemistry, and engineering interface towards applications in energy and the environment. Elikan’s current research involves engineering new photoswitchable high-affinity protein-protein interactions to be used in metabolic engineering for green chemical synthesis, new biomaterials, and protein purification. Ultimately, Elikan’s goal in the long-term is to engineer proteins and whole microorganisms for sustainable chemical production, renewable energy, and bioremediation using techniques and skills from analytical chemistry and chemical and biological engineering. Elikan is advised by José Avalos, Associate Professor of Chemical and Biological Engineering and the Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment.

• Gray, Christian

  Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
  
  

  Christian’s research focuses on the role mycorrhizae play in plant-soil feedbacks, and how this role is influenced by changes in soil resources. Christian studies this by leveraging an existing nutrient manipulation experiment in the Fynbos, and compares the shift in mycorrhizal communities and host fitness against changes in soil nutrients. Christian is advised by Lars Hedin, professor of ecology and evolutionary biology and the High Meadows Environmental Institute.

• Huang, Baichuan

  Electrical and Computer Engineering
  
  

  AY 23-24 PECS Faculty Dinner Coordinator
  
  Huang’s research focuses on the coherent control of mid-infrared Quantum Cascade Laser (QCL) frequency combs to enhance their stability and spectral coverage for multi-trace-gas sensing. He is also studying the implementation of QCL frequency comb based photothermal spectroscopy for environmental sensing. Huang is advised by Gerard Wysocki, Associate Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering and Associated Faculty in the Princeton Materials Institute (PMI).

• Kovel, Carli

  Chemistry and Materials Science
  
  

  AY 23-24 PECS Student Chair

  Kovel’s research in the Chirik group aims to decrease the world’s dependence on fossil fuels through the synthesis of bioderived polymers and fuels using sustainable catalytic processes, such as bioderived feedstock molecules. Another facet of Kovel’s research aims to create bio-derived jet fuels. Kovel is advised by Paul Chirik, professor of chemistry.

• Kunes, Moriah

  Geosciences
  
  

  Kunes’ research aims to better understand the role of nitrogen cycling within the coral holobiont under normal and stressed conditions. My work uses 15N tracer experiments to determine where nitrogen is translocated within the coral holobiont and how surrounding environmental conditions may influence which nutritional mode, (photosynthesis vs. heterotrophy), corals use to acquire nitrogen. I’m hoping my studies will give insight into the health of the coral-algal partnership which is essential for coral survival. Kunes is advised by Bess Ward, the William J. Sinclair Professor of Geosciences and The High Meadows Environmental Institute

• Leininger, Aaron

  Civil and Environmental Engineering
  
  

  Leininger engineers electrochemically-active microbiomes towards applications for sustainable anthropogenic carbon cycling with a focus on making water treatment cheaper and more efficient. He is a member of professor Jason Ren’s Water-Energy-Technologies (WET) Lab in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and the Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment.

• Rupp, Marco

  Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
  
  

  AY 23-24 PECS Faculty Dinner Coordinator
  
  Rupp aims to control the chemical composition for metals in laser-based powder bed fusion. His research offers an innovative method of creating low carbon steel while reducing emissions as well as the energy required. Rupp is advised by Craig B. Arnold, professor in mechanical and aerospace engineering and vice dean for innovation.

• Sima, Matthew

  Civil and Environmental Engineering
  
  

  Sima aims to investigate the biodegradation of PFAS coupled with the Feammox reaction by the bacteria Acidimicrobium sp. Strain A6 on both a fundamental mechanistic and natural system level. His research uses models and experimental research to determine the role of different proteins in and the kinetics of this coupling process for use in in-situ remediation of polluted soils and wastewater treatment plant byproducts. Sima is also a 2023 HMEI-STEP Environmental Policy Fellow. He is advised by Peter Jaffé, professor in the department of Civil and Environmental Engineering.

• Tan, Jun Zhi

  Chemical Engineering
  
  

  AY 23-24 PECS Student Dinner Coordinator
  
  Tan’s research focuses on catalytic upcycling of plastic waste into more valuable chemical intermediates (e.g., gasoline and diesel) with the ultimate goal of reducing the amount of plastic waste that ends up in the landfill. He utilizes a combination of kinetic, spectroscopic, and thermal analyses to elucidate the mechanism of plastics deconstruction on bifunctional zeolites, which have important implications on the conversion rates and product selectivities of plastic upcycling reactions. Tan is co-advised by Professor Michele Sarazen and Professor Bruce Koel in chemical and biological engineering.

• Tjo, Hansen

  Chemical and Biological Engineering
  
  

  Tjo’s research focuses on developing genome-editing and metabolic engineering tools in lignocellulose-degrading, non-model thermophiles. By lowering barriers to the manipulation of their metabolic pathways, such non-model microbes can be rapidly deployed in industrial contexts as next-generation cell factories for sustainable biofuels and biochemicals production. Tjo is advised by Jonathan Conway, Assistant Professor of Chemical & Biological Engineering.

• Wang, Cindy

  Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences
  
  

  AY 23-24 PECS Project Coordinator

  Wang’s research focuses on sea salt aerosols (SSA) because of the important role they play in the climate system through their effects on the global radiative budget. Wang’s research focuses on how SSA emissions themselves would change in the context of a warming climate. Wang is advised by Leo Donnor, lecturer in geosciences and atmospheric and oceanic Sciences.

• Wani, M. Shaharyar

  Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
  
  

  AY 23-24 PECS Student Coordinator
  
  Wani’s research focuses on developing bio-derived carbon aerogels, unraveling the formation mechanism, and using it for water and energy applications. He plans to develop carbon aerogel-based filters to remove contaminants like PFAS, and PFOA from the water. Wani is advised by Craig Arnold, Professor of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering and Vice Dean for Innovation.

• Watson, Harrison

  Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
  
  

  Watson’s research is on the role of large herbivore biodiversity in the exchange of carbon between soils and the atmosphere in savanna ecosystems, as well as to utilize a long-term experimental set-up established across a variable rainfall landscape with different groupings of herbivores to clarify these contributions from grasses and trees to savanna soil carbon stores. Watson is advised by Lars Hedin, professor of ecology and evolutionary biology and the High Meadows Environmental Institute.

• Wyatt, Abigale

  Geosciences
  
  

  Wyatt focuses on biogeochemical oceanography with her research utilizing coupled physical and biogeochemical models to study the biological processes in the upper ocean that sequester carbon away from the atmosphere. In particular, she aims to understand ecosystem shifts in response to climate variability and the subsequent changes in biological carbon export. Her adviser is Laure Resplandy, assistant professor of geosciences and the High Meadows Environmental Institute.