Group Picture May 2025
From left to right: (back row) Jiaxing, Joey, Maggie, Will; (middle row) Prof. Aristilde, Rebecca, Benjamin, Nasrin, Cara Dominique; (front row) Kelly, Lynna, Aurore, Nanqing, Norah.
Follow these links for details on Principal Investigator and alumni.
PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
Ludmilla Aristilde, Ph.D.
Faculty Profile at Northwestern University
2025–Present, (Tenured) Full Professor, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, (by courtesy) Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, and (by courtesy) Department of Earth, Environmental, and Planetary Sciences, Northwestern University
2019–2025, (Tenured) Associate Professor, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Northwestern University
2024–Present, REU Co-Director, Center for Synthetic Biology, Northwestern University
2023–Present, Faculty Affiliate, Trienens Institute for Sustainability and Energy, Northwestern University
2021–Present, Faculty Affiliate, International Institute of Nanotechnology, Northwestern University
2020–Present, Core faculty, Center for Synthetic Biology, Northwestern University
Faculty Profile at Cornell University
2019–2023, Adjunct Associate Professor, Department of Biological and Environmental Engineering, Cornell University
2018–2019, (Tenured) Associate Professor, Department of Biological and Environmental Engineering, Cornell University
2012–2018, Assistant Professor, Department of Biological and Environmental Engineering, Cornell University
2017, Invited Professor by the Université Grenoble-Alpes, Institut des Sciences de la Terre, Grenoble, France
2015, Atkinson Center for a Sustainable Future Faculty Fellow
Contact Information:
Northwestern University
McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science
E-mail: ludmilla.aristilde@northwestern.edu
POSTDOCTORAL RESEARCHERS
Benjamin Barrios Cerda, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Associate, Civil and Environmental Engineering, Northwestern University, 2024-Present
Ph.D. Environmental Engineering, Michigan Technological University, 2023
M.S. Materials Center, Advanced Materials Research Center, 2019
B.S. Chemistry, Monterrey Institute of Technology and Higher Education, Mexico, 2016
Research Interests: Reaction Mechanisms of Environmental Processes.
Research Topics: Catalysis and transformation of Biomolecules at Mineral Interfaces.
Jiaxing Wang, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Associate, Civil and Environmental Engineering, Northwestern University, upcoming
Ph.D. Civil and Environmental Engineering, Duke University, 2025
M.S. Civil and Environmental Engineering, Duke University, 2020
B.S. Environmental Science, Dalian University of Technology, China, 2018
Research Interests: Fate of organic compounds in ecosystems and improve environmental monitoring.
Research Topics: Molecular chemistry of mineral-organic associations.
RESEARCH ASSISTANTS AND TECHNICIANS
Rebecca Wilson
Research Assistant, Civil and Environmental Engineering, Northwestern University, 2024-Present
M.S. Civil and Environmental Engineering, Northwestern University, 2023-2024
Research technician, Civil and Environmental Engineering, Northwestern University, 2023-2024
B.S. Environmental Science, Northwestern University, 2023
Research Interests: Fate of dissolved organic matter, Environmental Metabolomics.
Research Topics: Metabolomics of agricultural productivity.
Joseph (Joey) Brogan
Research Technician, Civil and Environmental Engineering, Northwestern University, 2025-Present
B.S. Environmental Engineering, Northwestern University, 2025
Research Interests: Agricultural productivity, biotechnology.
Research Topics: Plant metabolomics, microscopic imaging.
Ph.D. GRADUATE STUDENTS
Aurore Niyitanga Manzi
Ph.D. Student, Civil and Environmental Engineering, Northwestern University, 2022-Present
M.S. Geological Sciences, Texas Christian University, 2022
B.S. Environmental Science, Texas Christian University, 2019
Research Interests: Elucidating the mechanisms in organic-mineral interactions and the controlling role of these interactions in environmental and industrial processes.
Research Topics: Probing the catalytic properties of mineral oxides in nutrient recycling and recovery.
Norah Chen
Ph.D. Student, Civil and Environmental Engineering, Northwestern University, 2023-Present
M.S. Civil and Environmental Engineering, Northwestern University, 2023
B.S. Environmental Science, Nankai University, China, 2022
Research Interests: Application of proteomics and metabolomics to study bacterial degradation pathways and exploration of industrial applicability of degradation products.
Research Topic: Quantitative analysis of microbial catabolism of plastics products.
Cara Flynn
Ph.D. Student, Civil and Environmental Engineering, Northwestern University, , 2024-Present
B.S. Biochemistry, McGill University, Canada, 2024
Research Interests: Understanding microbial metabolism, idnentify mechanisms in bioconversion and bioremediation.
Research Topic: Microbial catabolism of plastics derivatives and production of value-addded compounds.
Dominique Kelly
Ph.D. Student, Earth, Environmental, and Planetary Sciences, Northwestern University, 2024-Present
Co-advised with Prof. Maggdalena (Maggie) Osburn, EEPS
B.A. Environmental Science and Policy, Smith College, 2022
Research Interests: Understanding mechanisms of microbial adaptation to nutrient stress during nutrient cycling and acquisition under different environmental conditions.
Research Topic: Using metabolomics and lipidomics techniques to evaluate the impact of nutrient availability and carbon source in bacteria.
UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS
Lynna Deng
Mechanical Engineering, Northwestern University, 2023-Present
Class of 2026
Research Topic: Bacterial carbon metabolism.
Maggie Schneider
Biological Science, Northwestern University, 2024-Present
Class of 2026
Research Topic: Mechanisms of nutrient-cycling enzymes
Will Boyle
Chemical Engineering and Environmental Science, Northwestern University, 2025-Present
Class of 2027
Research Topic: Mechanisms of organic phosphorus recylcing
