Current Projects

These faculty are currently in search of students for these specific projects:

Barbara Doll

  • Monitoring and modeling of sediment transport and aggradation processes associated with installation of innovative grade control structures installed in a highly eroded urban channel located in Millbrook Exchange Park, Raleigh, N.C. 
  • Evaluation of biogeochemical processing and water quality treatment capability of an innovative stream restoration approach known as regenerative stormwater conveyance using a paired watershed case study at a working farm in Ramseur, NC.

Mahmoud Sharara

  • Establishing Nutrient Recovery Supply-Chain in Context of Animal Agriculture SystemThis project will involve lab and farm-scale studies to evaluate nutrient recovery unit operations/technologies. In addition, the student will develop management models that integrate these unit operations into a supply-chain to facilitate sustainable use of waste.
  • Developing climate-resilient technologies for animal waste processing and conversion: This project will develop adaptive measures to improve resilience of existing animal waste management systems in addition to investigating new robust technologies that can mitigate the impacts of extreme weather events on farm operations.

Ashley Beck

  • Investigating microbially induced calcite precipitation and the potential for using microbial communities to improve biomineralization applications. 
  • Modeling interactions between maize roots and its soil microbial community and investigating the impact on plant health. 

Dani Jones

  • Building on Dr. Jones’s operations research experience applied to the agricultural-based energy sector and her desire to promote environmentally friendly energy sources, she continues to develop mathematical models and solution algorithms to solve large-scale problems that arise in the areas of transportation, logistics, and renewable energy systems. She focuses on simulation and optimization of the entire supply chain (including, harvesting, pre-processing, storing, and delivering) for biomass as a feedstock for cost effective production of fuels, products, and power.