Water Resources Engineer

• Jul 2023 - Present

Water Resources Engineer

• Aug 2021 - Jun 2023

Water Resources Intern

• Jul 2020 - Jul 2021

Kerry Fellow

• Oct 2020 - May 2021

Summer Fellow

• May 2019 - Aug 2019

Spent the summer working on two projects: urban wetland rehabilitation with SMEC, Inc. and urban stormwater management in the City of Kigali. The first project culminated in the Urban Wetland Master Plan, which detailed specific rehabilitation strategies and identified the end-use for each urban wetland. The goal of the project was to decrease flooding, improve biodiversity, and increase the resiliency of the city. The second project involved conducting an advanced hydrological analysis of a sub-watershed in the city to understand sub-catchment dynamics. I modeled the runoff of the sub-catchment using HEC-HMS and proposed flood mitigation measures at specific pain points in the area. Show less

Water & Sanitation Research Analyst

• May 2016 - May 2018

• Set up and managed ITT’s sanitation research lab, prepared short- and long-term work plans for the lab, coordinated logistics and procurement of all supplies, analyzed effluent quality data, and reported results to headquarters in Mumbai on a monthly basis • Supervised a team of 2 Masters students and 2 research technicians to test effluent quality and operational limits of a vermi-composting toilet to inform product design • Directed the construction of 50 pilot vermi-composting toilets in rural Rajasthan and conducted two separate monitoring and evaluation visits after 1 month and 6 months • Co-authored a comprehensive report on water security in South Asia to identify the most important challenges both at present and in the near future affecting Bangladesh, India, and Pakistan; recommended specific technological and policy solutions for governments, think tanks, and non-profits - Researched and wrote sections on faecal contamination of water bodies, faecal sludge management, water purification technologies for the removal of bacterial and chemical contaminants, and wastewater reuse • Contributed to the Water Security chapter of the 50 Breakthroughs report, which identifies 50 innovative technologies that will complement the SDGs and help alleviate poverty in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. Show less

Fulbright Scholar

• Aug 2015 - May 2016

India's waterways are infamous for being some of the most polluted in the world. An estimated 37.7 million Indians suffer from waterborne illnesses each year and the government loses $50 billion in resulting lost productivity and healthcare costs. The first step in combatting these issues is to identify where exactly this pollution is coming from, and one method to determine this is called microbial source tracking (MST). I'm using an MST technique called bacterial community analysis (BCA) to identify the source(s) of bacterial contamination in the Cochin backwaters. The potential sources I'm analyzing include humans, cows, dogs, goats, sewage, slaughterhouse waste, and non-point source domestic wastewater. I'm also exploring the social construction of water in everyday Indian life through surveying local residents on their perceptions of pollution, water quality, and public health. Show less

Lab Manager

• Jun 2014 - Jul 2015

• Conducted state-of-the-art research using biochemical, molecular, microbial, and genetic engineering laboratory techniques on a variety of socially-important projects, including plant biofuel development, microbial bioremediation, and soil biogeochemical change in response to climate change and land use • Organized bi-weekly lab meetings and trained new lab members on U.S. Dept. of Energy safety regulations, experiment protocols, and specialized equipment usage and handling • Procured and managed over $3000 in lab supplies and services at a time • Analyzed complex next-generation sequencing data in R software Show less

Research Assistant

• Jan 2013 - May 2014

Research Assistant

• Oct 2012 - Jan 2013

-Mapped different species' invasions over time and calculated their velocities to study invasion theory -Learned the fundamentals of scientific proposal writing -Gained work experience in an academic setting -Mapped different species' invasions over time and calculated their velocities to study invasion theory -Learned the fundamentals of scientific proposal writing -Gained work experience in an academic setting

MHIRT Research Intern

• Jun 2010 - Jul 2010

• Conducted independent research on plant natural products for drug discovery • Learned how to use several bioassays to test plant chemicals for medicinal use • Studied 4 plant species and found antimicrobial, herbicidal, antimitotic, and antimeiotic properties • Conducted independent research on plant natural products for drug discovery • Learned how to use several bioassays to test plant chemicals for medicinal use • Studied 4 plant species and found antimicrobial, herbicidal, antimitotic, and antimeiotic properties