2022 Scholars

Erin Bulson

University of Wisconsin-Madison, PhD
EREF Scholar 2022

Evaluation of Automotive Shredder Residue as an Input of PFAS within the Waste Management System: An Environmental Sustainability Perspective 

Lakshika Dissanayake

Southern Illinois University, PhD
EREF Scholar 2022

Hybrid Chemo-Bio Upcycling of Waste Textile 

Julia Ann Funk 

Clemson University, PhD
EREF Scholar 2022 

Anaerobic Degradation of Organic Fraction Municipal Solid Waste (OFMSW) with Fats, Oils, and Grease Waste (FOG) to Generate High Valued Volatile Fatty Acids 

Isabella Ippolito

University at Waterloo, MSc
EREF Scholar 2022 

Using Metagenomic Approaches to Determine Antimicrobial Resistance in Landfills 

Olusola Johnson 

University of South Florida, PhD
Evergreen Scholar, 2022 

Tandem Catalytic Conversion of Biogas to Liquid Fuel 

Christopher Lang

University of California Santa Cruz, PhD
EREF Scholar 2022 

Death by a Thousand Cups: Anti-Blackness and Ecosocial Injustice in Plastic Production, Consumption, and MSW Management in the New Orleans Area 

Thomas Maani

Purdue University, PhD
EREF Scholar 2022 

Value Recovery and Closed Loop Recycling of Rare Earth Permanent Magnets from End-of-Life Electric Vehicles 

Alonso Andres Doria Manzur

Texas Tech University, PhD
EREF Scholar 2022 

Evaluation of PFAS Occurrence and Leaching Behavior from Biosolid-Amended Soils 

Chanho Park

Western Michigan University
EREF Scholar 2022 

Landfill Leachate Assessment using Airborne VLF-EM Method

Seyed Ali Rahmaninezhad 

Drexel University
EREF Scholar 2022 

Developing Microbial Processes for Enhancing Mechanical Recycling of Waste Plastics 

Apurba Kumar Saha

University of Arizona
EREF Scholar 2022 

Value Recovery of Spent Li-Ion Batteries: Optimizing the Economic and Environmental Impacts 

Josh Simpson

Temple University, MS
DCA Scholar 2022 

Electromethanogenesis in Anaerobic Digestion for Increased Methane Content, Energy Efficiency, and Economic Benefit 

Yu Tan 

University of Wisconsin-Madison, PhD
EREF Scholar 2022 

Permeable Sequestration Barriers for PFAS in Landfill Gas 

2021 Scholars

Rarosue Amaraibi

University of South Florida, Ph.D.
EREF Scholar 2021

Economic and Environmental Assessment of Landfill Gas to Energy Technologies

McKenzie Burns

University of Wisconsin Madison, PhD
EREF Scholar 2021

PFAS Removal from Landfill Leachate via Electrosorption

Hezhou Ding

North Carolina State University, Ph.D.
EREF Scholar 2021

Enhancing Volatile Fatty Acid Production from Anaerobic Co-Digestion of Food Waste

Jeannie Egan

North Carolina State University, MS
PTR Scholar 2021

Compostable Textile Apparel Fabrics

Monica Rodriguez Morris

University of Wisconsin-Madison, PhD
Fiessinger Scholar 2021

Tracking Waste: Improving the EoL Scenarios of PLA Cups

Jorge Rico

Colorado State University, PhD
EREF Scholar 2021

Microbiome Shaping Analysis of Rewired Anaerobic Digestion

Elisabeth Van Roijen

University California Davis, PhD
GMI Scholar 2021

Environmental Impacts of Bio-Based Plastics at End-of-Life

2020 Scholars

Ryan Anderson

Colorado State University, Ph.D.
EREF Scholar 2020

Advancing a Novel Anaerobic Digestion Process for Producing Fatty Acids from Solid Wastes

Brooke Marten

University of  Colorado, Boulder, Ph.D.
Tom J. Fatjo Scholar 2020

Organic Waste Management Systems – A Comparative Environmental Impact Assessment

2019 Scholars

Zachary LaTurner

Rice University, Ph.D.
Waste Industries Scholarship Honoring Lonnie C. Poole Jr. 2019

Developing novel methods for Resource Recovery: The Future of Food Waste Management


Questions? Please send an e-mail to scholarships@erefdn.org or call 919.861.6876, Ext. 111