WSU: Environmental Sciences Ph.D.

Biological Sciences

Name	Year	Advisor
Adhikari, Shishir	2010	Volker Bahn
Research Interests: Using modeling and GIS techniques to determine the distribution pattern of species and their related habitat.

Bourne, Michael	2009	Yvonne Vadeboncoeur
Research Interests:

Burington, Zachary	2012	John Stireman
Research Interests:

Davis, Samantha	2010	Don Cipollini
Research Interests: Investigating the mechanisms of invasion by exotic species, and the effects of invasive species on native community composition and rare species survival.

Dhami, Kirandeep	2007	Jeff Peters
Research Interests: Population genetics through studies of the evolutionary relationships using ducks as model species.

Duell, David	2002	James Amon
Research Interests: I am interested in anaerobic degradation of chlorinated ethenes in wetlands.

Heath, Jeremy (Website)	2007	John Stireman
Research Interests: I am studying the adaptive radiation of a group of gall midges, Asteromyia spp. (Cecidomyiidae: Diptera) on their goldenrod host plants. Complex interactions between these midges, host-plant defenses, parasitoid wasps, and a mutualistic fungus instrumental in gall formation may be spurring rapid evolutionary diversification. Understanding the ecology and evolution of this system will provide insight into the process of speciation and may aid in the sustainable control of invasive plants and agricultural pests.

Lavretsky, Philip	2009	Jeff Peters
Research Interests: I am interested in population genetics and evolutionary ecology. My research focuses on the Mallard Complex composed of 13 extant mallard-like species found around the world. The group impeccably illustrates radiating speciation with increasing concern of genetic extinction by introgressive hybridization.

Lieurance, Deah	2008	Don Cipollini
Research Interests: My research interests include invasive plant biology, plant ecophysiology, plant allometry, and the biocontrol of alien exotic plants.

Milks, James	2004	James Runkle
Research Interests: I am interested in the processes involved in reforestation and impacts of reforestation on local ecosystem processes. I am also interested in general forest dynamics and the population and community ecology of mammals.

Munubi, Renalda	2010	Yvonne Vadeboncouer
Research Interests: I am studying the effects of algae food quality (C:N:P stoichiometry and biochemical compounds) on growth performance and behavior of cichlid fish (Tropheus brichardi)

Rigsby, Chad	2011	Don Cipollini
Research Interests:

Schlotman, Holly	2010	Thomas Rooney
Research Interests:

Voss Hannah	2012	Yvonne Vadeboncouer
Research Interests:

White, Patrick	2011	Volker Bahn
Research Interests: Novel application of automated bird song recognition techniques and GIS to determining occurrence patterns of bird communities across multiple spatial scales.

Department of Chemistry

Name	Year	Advisor
Bracco, Jacquelyn	2012	Steve Higgins
Research Interests:

Brittle, Seth	2012	Ioana Sizemore
Research Interests: Determining the toxicological effect silver nanoparticles may have on biological organisms and investigating the environmental fate and transport of nanomaterials.

Danielson, Kyle	2011	Audrey McGowin
Research Interests:

Hunter, Nora	2010	Paul Seybold
Research Interests: Developing environmentally friendly syntheses of green nanomaterials to investigate their corresponding cytotoxic, antimicrobial, and biosensing properties.

Kennedy, Ed	2012	Vladimir Katovic
Research Interests: All of my research interests have a common denominator – discovering ways to improve quality of life – be that ecology-based (clean energy, achieving energy independence, and in discovering additional ways to live more sustainably and harmoniously with our environment), or biologically/biochemically-based (through research involving stem cells, telomerase, aging modulation, nutrition, neurotransmitter research, and improving human performance both cognitive and physical).

Nguyen, Phuong Khanh	2010	Suzanne Lunsford
Research Interests: My research interest is to develop electrochemical modified sensors to detect and analytically quantify heavy metals in aqueous solution.

Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences

Name	Year	Advisor
Bowman, Katlin	2012	Chad Hammerschmidt
Research Interests: Monomethylmercury (MMHg) is a potent neurotoxin that humans are exposed to primarily through the consumption of fish. To understand more about the biogeochemistry of MMHg I am participating in an international research program called GEOTRACES to study the marine mercury cycle in the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.

Clayton, Angie	2009	Charles Ciampaglio
Research Interests: My interests are focused on the end Pennsylvanian and end Permian extinction events, their fossil and rock record biases as well as the anomalies that exist and how these inconsistencies relate to current extinction.

Custer, Kevin	2006	Allen Burton, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
Research Interests: My research is looking at the effects of Nickel spiked sediments in situ on benthic communities, indigenous aquatic insects, and selected USEPA surrogate organisms. Nickel flux and sediment chemistries will also be examined to look at fate and effects of Nickel over time in situ. These compartments will help determine the toxicity and bioavailability of Nickel to these selected groups organisms.

Marsh, Daniel	2012	Chad Hammerschmidt
Research Interests:

Qin, Ke	2009	Abinash Agrawal
Research Interests: My research interests include co-metabolism of chlorinated compounds in wetlands using ammonia oxidizing bacteria

Soltanian, Mohamad Reza	2011	Robert Ritzi
Research Interests: My interests are focused on numerical modeling, especially Finite element method to model contaminant transport, unsaturated soil behavior, and ground water flow, as well as stabilization of expansive soils with additive materials.

Wang, Bo	2012	Abinash Agrawal
Research Interests:

Department of Phamacology and Toxicology

Name	Year	Advisor
Fallahi, Fahimeh	2012	Mariana Morris Saber Hussain
Research Interests:

Salisbury, Richard	2004	Courtney Sulentic
Research Interests: Using molecular tools to understand and define environmentally mediated immune suppression

Department of Physics

Name	Year	Advisor
Ghanbarian-Alavijeh, Behzad	2010	Allen Hunt
Research Interests: My main research interests are in development of theoretical methods to model hydraulic properties e.g., hydraulic conductivity and solute transport in porous media based on fractal geometry and percolation theory.

Smigelski, Jeffrey	2003	Sarah Tebbens
Research Interests: As a member of the Complex Systems Research Group here at WSU, my focus has been using a quantitative approach to understand and model the internal dynamics of physical systems using novel mathematical methods and digital signal processing techniques. The mathematic models may then be used to determine the impact of environmental noise and variations on populations embedded within these systems drawing from concepts in Chaos Theory, Complexity Theory, Fractal Geometry, Population Ecology, and Nonlinear Dynamics. Understanding biological-physical coupling through this inter-disciplinary approach is essential to developing an accurate picture of the ecosystem under investigation.

Viveros, Leamon	2011	Elliott R. Brown
Research Interests: I am developing new methods for biological & nanoparticle terahertz (THz) analysis. I also investigate THz characteristics of biological samples which will be used to create novel biosensors and THz applications.