Student Research Projects
WRRI Funds graduate student researchers across the state working to address a broad range of topics in water resources.
Explore Funded Student Projects
The table below contains a list of funded student projects dating back to 2018. Use the search bar to search particular topics, researchers, or key words. If a final report is available, it has been provided as a hyperlink within the title column. For a list of projects funded prior to 2018, or to view a final report for one of these projects, contact John Fear (jmfear@ncsu.edu).
| Project Title | Researcher | Advisor | Year started | Key Terms | In the News |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Identification of Polyphosphate Accumulating Organisms in an NC Wastewater Treatment Plant and Factors that Affect Their Performance in Enhanced Biological Phosphorus Removal | Autumn Robinson | Erin Field | 2024 | wastewater treatment; phosphorous removal | from WRRI |
| Assessing Perceptions of Salt Marsh in the Residential Landscape in Central Coastal North Carolina | Mary-Margaret McKinney | Rachel Gittman and Cynthia Grace-McCaskey | 2024 | climate change; salt marshes; flooding | from WRRI |
| What are the Odds? Probabilistic Flood Hazard Assessment for New Bern, North Carolina | John (Jack) Baer | Antonia Sebastian | 2024 | flooding; New Bern; climate change; flood hazard models | from WRRI |
| Understanding Perceptions, Impacts, and Responses Related to Climate Change in Ocracoke, North Carolina | Bevin Hardy | 2024 | climate change; Ocracoke; community resilience | from WRRI | |
| Assessment and Mitigation of Microplastic Pollution in Treated Wastewater and Biosolids: A Focus on Primary and Secondary Solids | Chideraa Ndubuisi | Olya Keen | 2024 | microplastics; wastewater treatment; public health | from WRRI |
| A Novel Approach to PFAS Quantification and Attribution in Freshwater Resources: Indicator Compounds in a Stormwater and Wastewater Dominated Stream | Jonathan (Jonny) Behrens, Duke University | Emily Bernhardt | 2023 | PFAS; Durham; urban streams | from WRRI |
| Assessing the Impacts of Increased Salinity on Bald Cypress Growth in Forested Freshwater Tidal Wetlands along Smith Creek, NC | Kendra Devereux, UNC Wilmington | Monica Rother and Andrea D. Hawkes | 2023 | Ghost forest; climate change; saltwater intrusion; tidal wetlands; Wilmington | from WRRI |
| Seasonality and Precipitation Effects on Nitrogen Processing in Urban Green Infrastructure | Colin Finlay, East Carolina University | Ariane Peralta and Michael O'Driscoll | 2023 | green infrastructure; stormwater; nitrogen; Greenville | from WRRI |
| Stormwater Diversion, Storage, and Treatment by Beaver-Enhanced Wetlands in Piedmont Urban Watersheds | Chris Norcross, NC State University | Karl Wegmann | 2023 | stormwater; urban wetlands; beavers; Walnut Creek; Raleigh | from WRRI |
| Leaky Leachate: PFAS Concentrations in Landfill-Impacted Communities in North Carolina | Charlotte Robbins, UNC Chapel Hill | Courtney Woods | 2023 | PFAS; landfills; Environmental Justice | from WRRI |
| Development of an Anaerobic Digestion Minimal Microbial Community and Community Resistance and Resilience in Response to Perturbations | Savanna Smith, NC State University | Francis de los Reyes III | 2023 | wastewater treatment; anaerobic digestion | from WRRI |
| Advancing Understanding of Flood Water Quality Distributions and Drivers through Statistical Modeling | Emine Fidan, NC State University | Natalie Nelson | 2022 | flooding; surface water quality; Hurricane Florence | from NC State BAE |
| Determining the Relative Contribution of Nuisance Flooding to the Risk Profiles of Estuarine Communities under Current and Future Climate Conditions | Lauren Grimley, UNC Chapel Hill | Antonia Sebastian | 2022 | flooding; climate change; sea level rise; | from WRRI |
| PFAS Removal from Natural Water through Electrodeionization Equipped with Novel PFAS Selective Resins | Holly Haflich, UNC Chapel Hill | Orlando Coronell | 2022 | PFAS removal; drinking water treatment | from WRRI |
| Assessing Water Quality in the Upper Cape Fear Aquifer, a Potential Alternate Drinking Water Source for Chemours-Area Residents | Tiffany VanDerwerker, NC State University | David Genereux | 2022 | PFAS contamination; drinking water; well water; groundwater | from WRRI |
| Evaluating Oyster Reef Restoration Configurations for Optimizing Ecological Success Wave Attenuation Against the Threat of Sea Level Rise and Boat Wakes | Georgette Tso, East Carolina University | Siddharth Narayan | 2022 | oyster reef restoration; climate change | from WRRI |
| Assessment of Pesticide Stability in Water and Analysis of Pesticide Degradates in Private Wells in North Carolina | Nancy Alexander, NC State University | Detlef Knappe | 2021 | pesticides; well water | from WRRI |
| Assessing Temporal Variability of Antibiotic-Resistant E. Coli in Surface Water Near Animal Feeding Operations | Tanvir Pasha, NC State University | Angela Harris | 2021 | E. coli; surface water; Cape Fear River; Neuse River; CAFOs | from WRRI |
| Understanding the Flood Mitigation Benefits of Buyouts: A Hydrologic Assessment of Property Acquisition in North Carolina Watersheds | Hunter Quintal, UNC Chapel Hill | Antonia Sebastian | 2021 | flooding; natural infrastructure; planning; climate change | from WRRI |
| High Resolution Mass Spectrometry (HRMS) as a Diagnostic Tool to Assist Groundwater Monitoring Recommendations from Local Health Departments to Private Well Users | Hayden Rudd, NC State University | Elizabeth Nichols | 2021 | well water; Wake County; water quality | from WRRI |
| Degradation of Antibiotic Resistance Genes Using Hydroxyl Radical and Sulphate Radical | Adeola Sorinolu, UNC Charlotte | Mariya Munir | 2021 | antibiotic resistance; public health; water treatment | from WRRI |
| Viability of Fungal Bioremediation for Treatment of Persistent Pesticides in North Carolina Waters | Leah Weaver, NC State University | Tarek Aziz | 2021 | emerging contaminants; STEM education | from WRRI |
| Targeted Field Study of Antibiotics and Antibiotic Resistance Genes in North Carolina Wastewater Impacted Watersheds | Sara Kamanmalek, UNC Charlotte | Jacelyn Rice-Boayue | 2021 | wastewater; GIS; antibiotic pollution | from ScienceDirect |
| Co-Treatment of Food Processing Wastewater with Municipal Treated Wastewater | Jonae Wood, NC A&T University | Niroj Aryal | 2021 | wastewater treatment | from WRRI |
| Validating Positive Openness Raster Data for Indicating Locations of Stream bed Incision and Stream bank Erosion in the Mine Creek Watershed, Raleigh, N.C. | Layla El-Khoury, NC State University | Barbara Doll | 2021 | stream bank erosion; Mine Creek watershed | from WRRI |
| Unraveling the Effects of Grain Size and Moisture Content on the Linearity of Cohesive Soil Erosion: Implications for Predicting Streambank Retreat | Alexis Swanson, NC State University | Celso Castro-Bolinaga | 2021 | erosion; stormwater | from WRRI |
| Participatory Asset and Problem Mapping: A Citizen Science Approach for Documenting Post-Disaster Flooding and Priorities in Coastal North Carolina | Olivia Vila, NC State University | Bethany Cutts | 2019 | Environmental Justice; natural disaster recovery; citizen science | from WRRI |
| Spatiotemporal Reconstruction of Historical Swine CAFO Spread in North Carolina and Connections to Water Quality | Lise Montefiore, NC State University | Natalie Nelson | 2019 | CAFOs; water quality | from WRRI |
| Modeling and Predicting Drinking Water Contamination Risk in North Carolina to Enhance Community Resilience | Riley Mulhern, UNC Chapel Hill | Jacqueline MacDonald Gibson | 2019 | drinking water contamination; Environmental Justice; Robeson County; Wake County | from WRRI |
| Effects of Salinization on Mercury Bioavailability in Coastal Wetlands at Albemarle-Pamlico Peninsula, North Carolina | Yener Ulus, UNC Greensboro | Martin Tsui | 2019 | coastal wetlands; salinization; mercury contamination; Dare county; Tyrell county | from WRRI |
| Sunlight-Mediated Removal of Emerging Contaminants in Treatment Wetlands and Surface Waters | Arpit Sardana, NC State University | Tarek Aziz | 2019 | water quality; pharmaceuticals; wastewater | from WRRI |
| Green Infrastructure in Schools: Creating a Network for Stormwater Management and Student Engagement and Well-being | Zhenzhen Zhang, NC State University | Kathryn Stevenson | 2019 | climate change; stormwater management; green infrastrucutre; education | from WRRI |
| A Watershed Model to Understand Groundwater and Surface Water Interactions to Support Sewer Utility Resilience at the Jacksonville N.C. Forest Water Re-Use Facility | Nancy Gibson, NC State University | Elizabeth Nichols | 2018 | groundwater; surface water; sewer; wastewater treatment; Jacksonville, NC | |
| Design and Application of Cyclodextrin-Based Materials for the Treatment of Legacy and Emerging Perfluoroalkyl Acids | Zachary Hopkins, NC State University | Detlef Knappe | 2018 | PFAS treatment | |
| Phytoplankton Nutritional Ecology and the Eutrophication Trajectory in a Piedmont Reservoir with Elevated Ammonium | Nicole Lindor, NC State University | JoAnn Burkholder | 2018 | eutrophication; Falls Lake | |
| Cometabolic Degradation of 1,4-Dioxane in Biologically Active Carbon Filters with Locally Enriched Biota | Amie McElroy, NC State University | Detlef Knappe | 2018 | 1,4-dioxane | |
| Electrochemical Mineralization of Perfluorooctanoic Acid and Perfluorooctanesulfonic Acid | Vivek Pulikkal, UNC Charlotte | Mei Sun | 2018 | PFAS |
