Sustainability Research and Training Program
Sustainability Research and Training Program
SRTP Funded Research
PI’s: Suad Joseph, Bryan Jenkins
Funded by Diamond Developers, of Dubai
PARTICIPANT BIOS AND RESEARCH INTERESTS
Organized by Research Title
Developing an Integrated Approach for Assessment and Utilization of Biomass
Pramod Pandey, Ph. D
Assistant Cooperative Extension Specialist
Food Science and technology
University of California, Davis (UCD)
Research Interests: Pathogenic bacteria transport at watershed-scale, in-stream and overland bacteria transport, watershed modeling, anaerobic digestion, renewable energy, water resources management, and rainwater harvesting.
Salma Talhouk, Ph. D
Associate Professor of Horticulture
Department of Plant Sciences
American University of Beirut (AUB)
Research Interest: Conservation of the native Lebanese flora.
Ali Chalak, Ph. D
Associate Professor
Applied Economics
American University of Beirut (AUB)
Research Interests: Agricultural and food economics, consumer and customer research, transport economics, health policy, applied choice analysis.
Rashed Al-Sa’ed, Ph. D
Professor
Director of the Institute of Environmental and Water Studies
Birzeit University
Makram Suidan, Ph. D
Dean of the Faculty of Engineering
American University of Beirut (AUB)
Shadi Hamadeh, Ph. D
Professor
Agriculture
American University of Beirut (AUB)
Research Interests: Optimization strategies for small ruminant production in semi-arid areas; Sustainable farming systems, rural livelihoods and food security in semi-arid areas; Livestock-environment interactions with emphasis on water and heat stress; Urban agriculture.
Developing Co-Products From Anaerobic Digestion
Christopher Simmons, Ph. D
Associate Professor
Food Science and Technology
University of California, Davis (UCD)
Research Interests: Improving energy and water use efficiency in food processing by reclaiming energy from waste biomass streams and developing strategies for waste-water treatment and recycling.
Jean Vandergheynst, Ph. D
Professor
Department of Biological and Agricultural Engineering
University of California, Davis (UCD)
Research Interests: Problems that involve the transformation, decomposition and conversion of plant biomass to products.
Ramin Yazdani, Ph. D
Associate Professional Researcher, Air Quality Research Center
Director of Yolo County Division of Integrated Waste Management
University of California, Davis (UCD)
Yigal Achmon, Ph. D
Post-Doctoral Fellow
University of California, Davis (UCD)
Research Interests: Food sustainability; Food waste; Biosolarization.
Mutasem El-Fadel, Ph. D
Professor
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
American University of Beirut (AUB)
Enabling Hybrid Solar Technologies in Sustainable Communities
Pieter Stroeve, Ph. D
Professor
Department of Chemical Engineering
University of California, Davis
Research Interests: Colloid and surface science, self-assembled monolayers, supramolecular structures on surfaces, supported lipid bilayers, transport in colloids and tissues, nanotechnology, bio-nanotechnology, renewable energy, solar energy, nuclear energy, thermoelectrics, biomass transformation to fuels and membrane separations.
Tobias Barr
Project Director, California Department of General Services
Special Projects Manager, UC Davis Transportation and Energy Research
University of California, Davis (UCD)
Masoud Rahman, Ph. D
Sr. Global Program Manager, Farasis Energy Inc.
Associate Director, Center for Energy Storage and Microgrid UC Davis
Lab Manager and Senior Research Scientist, Green Technology Lab
University of California, Davis (UCD)
Sara Outcault, Ph. D
Market Transformation Research Director
UC Davis Energy and Efficiency Institute
Western Cooling Efficiency Center
University of California, Davis (UCD)
Steven Wiryadinata, Ph. D
Senior Member of Technical Staff, Sandia National Laboratories
Graduate Student Researcher
University of California, Davis (UCD)
Nesreen Ghaddar, Ph. D
Professor of Mechanical Engineering
Qatar Chair of Energy Studies
Director of the Munib and Angela Masri Institute of Energy and Natural Resources
American University of Beirut (AUB)
Research Interests: Computational Fluid Dynamics and Heat Transfer, Energy studies, Heat and Moisture transfer models of clothed humans; Bioheat Modeling, Energy Efficiency of HVAC and dehumidification systems.
Kamel Ghali, Ph.D
Professor of Mechanical Engineering
American University of Beirut (AUB)
Sequential Energy and Compost Production from Organic Residues
Jean Vandergheynst, Ph. D
Professor
Department of Biological and Agricultural Engineering
University of California, Davis (UCD)
Research Interests: Problems that involve the transformation, decomposition and conversion of plant biomass to products.
Christopher Simmons, Ph. D
Associate Professor
Food Science and Technology
University of California, Davis (UCD)
Research Interests: Improving energy and water use efficiency in food processing by reclaiming energy from waste biomass streams and developing strategies for waste water treatment and recycling.
Ramin Yazdani, Ph. D
Associate Professional Researcher, Air Quality Research Center
Director of Yolo County Division of Integrated Waste Management
University of California, Davis (UCD)
Alissa Kendall, Ph. D
Professor
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Chair, Energy Graduate Group
Institute of Transportation Studies
Agricultural Sustainability Institute
University of California, Davis (UCD)
Research Interests: life cycle assessment and other structured environmental assessment methods, and the development of new methods for carbon accounting.
Mutasem El-Fadel, Ph. D
Professor
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
American University of Beirut (AUB)
Sara Pace, Ph. D
Postdoctoral Scholar
Food Science & Technology
University of California, Davis (UCD)
Research Interests: Food waste recycling; Anaerobic digestion; Industrial ecology.
Demonstration of a Novel Technology for the Sustainable Water Use
Bassam Younes, Ph. D
Professor
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
University of California, Davis
Research Interests: Computational and experimental hydraulics, computational river mechanics, turbulence modeling, hydrodynamic loading on offshore structures, water disinfection with UV light, viscoelastic fluids in turbulent flows, scalar transport in complex shear flows, vortex shedding.
Promoting a Culture of Sustainability at The Sustainable City
Alan Meier, Ph. D
Adjunct Professor, Department of Environmental Science and Policy
Senior Scientist, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
Faculty Researcher, UC Davis Energy and Efficiency Institute
University of California, Davis (UCD)
Research Interests: Understanding how people and equipment use energy and opportunities to reduce consumption.
Richard Tutweiler, Ph. D
Professor of Practice
Director of the Research Institute for a Sustainable Environment (RISE)
Department of History
American University of Cairo (AUC)
Martina Jaskolski, Ph. D
Assistant Professor of Sustainable Development
Associate Director of Research, Research Institute for a Sustainable Environment (RISE)
American University of Cairo (AUC)
Nermin Dessouky
Graduate Student Researcher
University of California, Davis (UCD)
Research Interests: Urban planning, Architecture, Sustainable urban development and the Social
and environmental impacts of the built environment.
Chelsea Estevez
Foreign Service Consular Adjudicator at U.S. Department of State
Research Associate, Research Institute for a Sustainable Environment, AUC
Greener Cities are Cooler Cities: Using vegetative green infrastructure to mitigate urban micro-climates in desert urban landscapes
Yaser Abunnasr, Ph. D
Associate Professor
Chairperson of the Department of Landscape Design & Ecosystem Management (LDEM)
BLA Program Coordinator
Faculty of Agricultural and Food Sciences
American University of Beirut (AUB)
Stephen Wheeler, Ph. D
Professor, Landscape Architecture Program
Department of Human Ecology
University of California, Davis (UCD)
Research Interests: Climate change planning for mitigation and adaptation, evolution of built landscapes in metropolitan regions, theory and practice of sustainable development.
Aram Yeretzian, Ph.D
Assistant Professor
Architecture and Design
American University of Beirut (AUB)
Research Interests: The dynamic energy profile in cities, outdoor thermal comfort; The association between anthropogenic heat, air pollution and the urban fabric; Optimization of building shape; The performance of the building envelope.
Hadi Jaafar, Ph. D
Assistant Professor
Agriculture
American University of Beirut (AUB)
Research Interests: Remote sensing of vegetation; Crop yield modeling; Smart irrigation;
Stochastic Hydrology; Conflicts, Agriculture, Water and Food Security.
Salma Talhouk, Ph. D
Associate Professor of Horticulture
Department of Plant Sciences
American University of Beirut (AUB)
Research Interest: Conservation of the native Lebanese flora.
Traveler’s Response to Innovative Technology
Giovanni Circella, Ph. D
Director, 3 Revolutions Future Mobility Program
Senior Research Engineer, School of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology
University of California, Davis (UCD)
Research Interests: Travel behavior, travel demand modeling, travel survey methods, emerging transportation services, shared mobility, autonomous vehicles and policy analysis.
Susan Handy, Ph. D
Professor
Department of Environmental Science and Policy
Director, National Center for Sustainable Transportation
University of California, Davis (UCD)
Research Interests: Relationships between transportation and land use, particularly the impact of land use on travel behavior, and on strategies for reducing automobile dependence.
Patricia Mokhtarian, Ph. D
Professor Emerita, Civil and Environmental Engineering
University of California, Davis (UCD)
Research Interests: Impact of telecommunications technology on travel behavior; Land use and transportation interactions; Attitudes toward travel; Congestion-response behavior; Travel time budgets; Transportation/air quality impacts of transportation demand management measures.
Maya Abou Zeid, Ph. D
Associate Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Assistant Dean in the Maroun Semaan Faculty of Engineering and Architecture
American University of Beirut (AUB)
Research Interests: Travel behavior modeling and forecasting, urban transportation planning, and driving behavior and road safety.
Social and Technical Study on Electrical Energy Storage and Energy Management System for Green Homes and EVs
Jae Wan Park, Ph. D
Associate Professor
Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
University of California, Davis (UCD)
Research Interests: Proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cell and battery: In-situ diagnosis using neutron radiography for PEM fuel cell and battery, design and optimization, water management for PEM fuel cell.
Sarah Outcault, Ph. D
Market Transformation Research Director
UC Davis Energy and Efficiency Institute
Western Cooling Efficiency Center
University of California, Davis (UCD)
Heba Nassar, Ph. D
Professor of Economics
American University of Cairo (AUC)
Research Interests: Labor markets, International Economics, Macroeconomics.