The University of Pittsburgh’s Summer 2025 student sustainability research projects are funded by the Mascaro Center for Sustainable Innovation. Special thanks to each of the faculty advisors who help to make this program happen.
Save the date for the Summer Research Symposium on July 16, 2025.
Advancing Environmental Justice Through Movement-Engaged Participatory Research
Advisor: Fernando Tormos-Aponte, Sociology
Student: Abigail Wolf, Law, Criminal Justice + Society, Anthropology
Development of a Reusable Pulse Oximeter Prototype
Advisor: Kevin Bell, Bioengineering
Student: Riya Kothari, Bioengineering
Nutrition Security & Sustainability
Advisor: Corey Flynn & Michael Boninger, Sustainability in Health Sciences
Student: Jennifer Snyder, Nutrition & Dietetics
Determination of Sustainable & Selective Polystyrene Degradation Mechanisms
Advisor: Kimberly Carter-Fenk, Chemistry
Student: Melody Reynolds, Chemistry
Filtration properties of binder jet 3D printed porous metals for reusable filter applications
Advisor: Markus Chmielus, Mechanical Engineering & Materials Science
Student: Ethan Kinyon, Mechanical Engineering & Materials Science
Developing & Conducting a Scope 3 Greenhouse Gas Inventory
Advisor: Sydney Crum, UPMC Center for Sustainability
Student: Trent Stross, Computational Biology
On the limits of disaster insurance
Advisor: Michael L Hamilton, Business Analytics & Operations
Student: Jiayi Wang, Marketing Science & Business Analytics
Modeling Climate Change Impacts on Insect-Pollination Dependent Crops
Advisor: Vikas Khanna, Civil & Environmental Engineering
Student: Jarod Hart, Sustainable Engineering & Environmental Engineering (pursuing master’s degree)
Understanding management & services of urban & backyard ponds in Pennsylvania
Advisor: Kevin Kohl, Biological Sciences
Student: Randy Richardson, Biological Sciences
Using CURE-Based Labs to Investigate Environmental Stress Response Genes in the Grain Crop Sorghum
Advisor: Melissa Lehrer, West Virginia University
Brackenridge Scholar: Jacob Halka, Molecular Biology
Detecting low-cost retrofit solutions in homes
Advisor: Stephen Lee, Computer Science
Student: Raymond Zong, Computer Science
Solar Panel Recycling
Advisor: Paul Leu, Industrial Engineering
Students: Ruoyi Xu, Chemical Engineering & Yuankai Zhang, Industrial Engineering
Sustainable Glass
Advisor: Paul Leu, Industrial Engineering
Student: Madeleine Stone, Mechanical Engineering
Investigation & mitigation of climate change impacts on Pennsylvania regions
Advisor: Xu Liang, Civil & Environmental Engineering
Student: Alex Taylor, Civil Engineering
Using Generative AI to Identify Sustainability Gaps in Healthcare
Advisor: Natasa Miskov-Zivanov, Electrical & Computer Engineering
Student: Ethan Estatico, Information Science
Fiber Optic Sensing, Modeling, Application & Data Processing for Energy Infrastructure Monitoring
Advisor: Paul Ohodnicki, Mechanical Engineering & Materials Science
Student: Fangchun Li, Engineering Science
EvolvingSTEM: a three-dimensional laboratory evolution curriculum to increase STEM occupational identity through authentic experiences
Advisor: Cassie Quigley, Teaching, Learning, & Leading, Education
Student: Nathan Cho, Chemistry & Teacher Education
Data-Driven Analysis of Landfill Greenhouse Gas Emissions through Statistical Modeling & Geospatial Insights
Advisor: Amin Rahimian, Industrial Engineering
Student: Ethan Furr, Data Science
Sustainability research project on a selected topic
Advisor: Joaquin Rodriguez, Chemical & Petroleum Engineering
Student: Phoebe Esser Katz, Mechanical Engineering
Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure in Pennsylvania: Addressing Barriers to Adoption
Advisor: Ramin Shabanpour, Civil & Environmental Engineering
Student: Tianshun Li, Marketing Science & Business Analytics
Using Diatoms to Reconstruct Environmental Change
Advisor: Patrick Shirey, Geology & Environmental Science
Student: Rebekah Mischler, Environmental Science
Towards Circular Use of Polyurethanes
Advisor: Goetz Veser, Chemical & Petroleum Engineering
Student: Helayna Baer, Chemical Engineering
Design spinel ferrite magnetic adsorbents for water purification
Advisor: Guofeng Wang, Mechanical Engineering & Materials Science
Student: Zhe Lu, Materials Science & Engineering
Can Improved Waterway Quality Enhance Economic Resilience in Coal Communities?
Advisor: Jeremy Weber, Public & International Affairs
Student: Aidan Semanco, Public Administration, Energy & Environment concentration
Additive manufacturing of nonclassical alloys with multi-principal elements for improved sustainability
Advisor: Wei Xiong, Mechanical Engineering & Materials Science
Student: Sasha Roth, Engineering
Energy & Smart Data Analytics
Advisor: Kate Zettl, UPMC Center for Sustainability
Student: Joshua Raj, Data Science & Statistics
Surveying the Woody Vegetation across Powdermill Nature Reserve to Track Change Over Time
Advisors: Andrea Kautz, Carnegie Museum of Natural History & Esmee de Cortie, Mascaro Center for Sustainable Innovation
Student: Keanna Marcelo, Environmental Science