Our Team

Ruggero Rossi

Principal Investigator

Background: Ruggero Rossi is an Assistant Professor at Johns Hopkins University. He is broadly interested in the decarbonization of the water infrastructure.

Fun Fact: Ruggero enjoys Rugby (just watching as he’s too old to play), hiking and cooking.

Teaching and mentoring philosophy: My goal as a teacher is to ignite the curiosity of my students. Being curious and passionate in the class or in the lab triggers a mindset that is critical not only for our present work but also for our future careers. My goal as a mentor is to encourage all the students to consider diverse experiences and perspectives throughout their lives, to develop a learning environment in which difference is valued, equity is sought, and inclusiveness is practiced, contributing to the development of my mentees.

Postdocs

Danbee Kim

Postdoctoral fellow

Background: Danbee worked as a postdoctoral researcher at Korea Institute of Energy and Research from 2022 to 2023. She received her B.S. in 2017 and Ph.D in 2023, both in Environmental Engineering from Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology. Danbee is interested in scaling up microbial electrolysis cells and other bioelectrochemical systems and recovering valuable products from wastewaters.

Fun Fact: Don’t ask Danbee directions!

Daniel Alejandro Moreno Jimenez

Postdoctoral fellow

Background: Daniel is a Postdoctoral Fellow. His research focuses on biomanufacturing ammonia using electrochemical systems and harnessing the potential of waste streams as feedstock to recover valuable-added products including hydrogen and electricity. He is also interested in developing novel catalyst materials and PEM water electrolyzers. Daniel earned his Ph.D. degree from the University at Albany, State University of New York.

Fun Fact: Daniel enjoys playing tennis, biking, and hiking. His ice cream flavor choice is asparagus/pineapple.

Kai Yang

Postdoctoral fellow

Background: Kai is a postdoctoral researcher working on advancing microbial fuel cells with seawater to develop durable and efficient power supply systems. Before postdoc, He got his B.E. from Tsinghua University, M.S. from Columbia University, and Ph.D. in Environmental Engineering from University of Wisconsin-Madison, where he focused on ammonia recovery by electrochemical processes and membrane distillation.

Fun Fact: Kai likes road trips, badminton, and ice-skating!

Graduate Students

Nakyeong Yoon

Ph.D. candidate

Background: Nakyeong is a Ph.D. student in Geography and Environmental Engineering. She received her B.S and M.S degree in Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST) working on electrochemical desalination technologies and AI modeling. She is working on carbon capture from water resource recovery facilities.

Fun Fact: She enjoys listening to music and going to the art gallery.

Hongang Du

Ph.D. candidate

Background: Hongang is a PhD student working on bioelectrochemical hydrogen production. He received his bachelor’s degree in Water Resources at University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point and Master’s degree in Environmental Health and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University. He has strong interests in recovering valuable resources like ammonia, energy, and valuable metals from wastewaters.

Fun Fact: In his spare time, Hongang enjoys road trip in rural areas.

Alyssa Rorie

Ph.D. candidate

Background: Alyssa is a Ph.D. student in Geography and Environmental Engineering. She received her B.S. in chemical engineering from North Carolina A&T State University, where she worked on various projects from protein crystallization to using machine learning to fill in climate change data gaps. She was also a participant of the University of Michigan’s Summer Research Opportunity Program, where she worked on using electrochemistry to degrade phenolic pollutants. Now at Johns Hopkins, her research focuses on identifying disinfection byproducts generated from various treatment processes, including point-of-use chlorination and electrocoagulation. Alyssa is co-advised with Dr. Carsten Prasse.

Fun Fact: Alyssa enjoys reading, running and playing her guitars.

Billy Zhu

Ph.D. candidate

Background: Billy is a PhD student working on bioelectrochemical ammonia fixation. He was a Master student in our lab and received his bachelor’s degree in Earth Science at the University of Rochester. He is highly interested in minimizing greenhouse gas emissions.

Fun Fact: Billy enjoys hiking and cooking.

Research Assistants

Haoyu Huang

Research Assistant

Background: Haoyu is a research assistant working on organic synthesis and halogenation of methane in electrochemical cells. He received his bachelor’s degree in environmental physics at the University of Toronto and master’s degree in Geography and Environmental Engineering at Johns Hopkins University.

Fun Fact: Haoyu is interested in ALL types of Rubic’s cubes.

Master Students

Wenbin Li (Cody)

Master student

Background: Wenbin is a M.S. student working on marine microbial fuel cells and desalination. He received his bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering at Soochow University and is currently pursing master’s degree in Geography and Environmental Engineering at Johns Hopkins University.

Fun Fact: Wenbin likes soccer and his favorite team is Chelsea!

Mingxuan Gu

Master student

Background: Mingxuan is a master student conducting electrochemical investigations into the generation and reactivity of hydroxyl and chlorine radicals. He received his bachelor’s degree in Environmental Engineering at the University of Science and Technology Beijing and pursuing a master’s degree in Environmental Health and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University.

Fun Fact: Mingxuan is a huge fan of Magic the Gathering, especially in Commander format.

Bohao Liu

Master student

Background: Bohao is a Master student working on bioelectrochemical assisted production of ammonia for fertilizers. He got his B.E in Environmental Engineering from Northern Arizona University, where he focused on modeling water chemistry response to diurnal algae growth and carbon dioxide enrichment.

Fun Fact: Bohao is a big fun of cars and motorcycles. He also interested in workout and road trip. He’s chasing for a 315lb bench press and a Porche 911!.

Visitors

Zhicheng Wu – Zhejiang University

Alex Castro – Faculty of Philosophy, Sciences and Letters of Ribeirão Preto – University of São Paulo

Undergraduate Students

Josh Alcantar – ChemBE

Claire Zeng – ChemBE

Rafael Medrano – EHE

Giulian Laudisa – EHE

Alumni

Junhan Li – Research Assistant – Ph.D. student at The George Washington University with Dr. Xitong Liu

Zezhen Hao – Research Assistant – Now Ph.D. student at Texas A&M

Dr. Luguang Wang – Postdoc – Now faculty at Utah State University