DENIN ENVIRONMENTAL FELLOWS
Bridging science and society
Next Recruitment: 2026
DENIN’s Environmental Fellowship connects graduate student research to relevant environmental issues through academic and career development opportunities.
From left, current Environmental Fellows Michael Powers, Hanan Abou Ali, Ross Klauer and Jason Geiger
The DENIN Environmental Fellows Program supports doctoral students carrying out environmentally relevant research at the University of Delaware. The goal of the program is to help prepare students whose scientific research and interests demonstrate a clear link to societal needs and benefits. We anticipate that, over time, DENIN Fellows will pursue diverse careers across academia and the public and private sectors and develop into the next generation of environmental leaders.
DENIN Fellows are selected to function as a team for two years and work together in ways that complement their primary academic programs. Fellows participate in and lead a select number of DENIN events and activities each year, including symposia and seminar series. DENIN provides opportunities for networking with domestic and international scientists and leaders, as well as for professional development in areas such as effectively communicating science. Fellows may also propose new initiatives.
Fellows are selected by a committee of internal and external reviewers. The fellowships include a $10,000 annual stipend. Fellowships are paid over a two-year period, as long as the Fellow remains in good standing academically. DENIN Fellows may not have concurrent RA or TA positions.
Current Fellows
Hanan Abou-Ali earned her Bachelor degree from Lebanese International University and a Master’s from Idaho State University. Under the direction of her advisor. Dr. Kyle Davis, Assistant Professor of Geography and Spatial Sciences, her research involves remote mapping and machine learning of crop growth patterns in Nigeria, with the goal of helping smallholder farmers optimize crop yield and economic return while minimizing environmental impact.
Jason Geiger earned a Bachelor degree from Gannon University. His research with his advisor, Dr. Paul Imhoff, Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering, is testing a more sustainable method that leaves the soil in place. Geiger is using a chemical that modifies the crystallization habit of the salts in the produced waters and allows them to form on top of the soil where they can be easily removed.
Ross Klauer earned a Bachelor degree in chemical engineering from Rose Hulman Institute of Technology in Indiana. His research under the direction of Dr. Mark Blenner and Dr. Kevin Solomon, both Associate Professors in Chemical and Bbiomolecular Engineering, is examining the breakdown of common plastics in the guts of mealworm larvae. He hopes to identify enzymes and microorganisms important in this process and ultimately build a bioreactor containing microorganisms that produce the enzymes that break down plastic.
Mike Powers conducts research under the direction of Dr. Michael O’Neal, Professor of Geological Sciences, using satellite data and field measurements to map the occurrence of permafrost in the Andes. The area contains cultural heritage sites of indigenous people, and several new copper mines are proposed in the area. He hopes the work will help balance concern for preserving the region’s permafrost and rock glaciers as drinking water reserves with more environmentally friendly copper mining.
Emma Korein studies community engagement in offshore wind energy development as part of her Marine Policy PhD program. With adviser Jeremy Firestone, professor of Marine Science & Policy, Emma has used a variety of methods to better understand community perceptions of the fairness, benefits, and burdens of offshore wind. Korein’s fellowship will advance her research, funding travel to research sites for field work and interviews and the presentation of her findings in open-access journals and conferences.
Idowu Kunlere is working towards a PhD in Energy and Environmental Policy, researching the processes and impacts of corporate decarbonization and proactive and equitable sustainability policymaking. Advised by Kalim Shah, assistant professor in the Biden School of Public Policy, Kunlere is crafting institutional reform suggestions to restore public confidence in the Voluntary Carbon Market, a decentralized market funding emission-reduction projects worldwide. With his fellowship, Kunlere strives to make climate finance knowledge more accessible and engage with stakeholders and policymakers in America and Nigeria.
Raghed Kurbaj is drawn to questions at the intersection of health and environmental changes, and his interest has been piqued by the issue of microplastic contamination. As the first student in adviser Ariel Alperstein’s lab in the Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry, Kurbaj’s research centers on spectroscopy. In his fellowship, he plans to explore the relationship between plastic size and composition and its intake into the human body, and hopes his findings demonstrate connections between environmental pollution and its impact on humans. He is pursuing a PhD in physical chemistry.
Nusrat Mohana, a Geography PhD candidate, is no stranger to the sociopolitical impacts of environmental change. Her childhood in Bangladesh was affected by the country’s frequent flooding and stagnant water, which led her to research how environmental disruption shapes the experiences of those who are displaced. With her adviser Lindsay Naylor, associate professor in the Department of Geography & Spatial Sciences, Mohana examines the lives of Myanmar nationals living in Bengali refugee camps, helping inform better environmental and humanitarian intervention. Her fellowship will fund field work in Bangladesh.
Austin Morgan is pursuing a doctorate in microbiology under adviser Mark Blenner, associate professor of Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering. Inspired by the use of genetically engineered microbes to monitor and remediate environmental problems, Morgan aims to build a biological timer that controls when modified genes “turn on” in an organism. This timer would prevent organisms from becoming invasive or destructive to their surrounding environment, broadening the technology’s potential implementations. With his fellowship, Morgan also seeks to learn more about the intersection of biotech research and public policy.
Past Fellows
Bradie Crandall earned a Bachelor degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of South Carolina. Under the direction of his advisor, Dr. Feng Jiao, Robert Grasselli Development Professor of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, his research focused on taking pollutants like the carbon dioxide that’s causing climate change, and the nitrates that are polluting our drinking water in Delaware, and turning these pollutants into valuable chemicals. He aimed to build an electrolyzer to convert nitrates into sustainably produced ammonia, which can be turned into fertilizer.
Christy Li earned duel degrees in Earth and Environmental Science and Math from Lehigh University. Her research with Dr. James Pizzuto, Professor of Earth Sciences, studied the transport and removal of mercury-absorbed fine sediment in the South River in Virginia through the development of a sediment transport model. She aimed to determine how long it would take the river to clean out these contaminated sediments without human interference and is hoping to help convey the dangers of mercury-tainted fish to the local population.
R. Alan Mason earned duel degrees in Earth Sciences and Music Education from Ohio State University. His work with his advisor, Dr. Tobias Kukulka, Professor, School of Marine Science and Policy, showed that plastics tend to aggregate into tidelines—where two currents or water masses converge—and form a patchy, irregular distribution in the bay. Mason aimed to develop analytical models to better understand what drives plastics movement in Delaware Bay. Understanding the movement of plastics through the bay helps people more efficiently remove them from the water, target beach cleanups, and stop plastics from reaching the bay in the first place.
Dannielle Pratt earned a Master’s degree in Environmental Science and Management from Duquesne University in Pittsburgh and a Bachelor of Science degree in Biology from Syracuse University. With her advisor, DENIN Director Dr. Holly Michael, she studied sea level rise along the Delmarva Peninsula. By understanding the drivers and mechanisms of hydrologic change, doctoral students like Dannielle can work to develop response strategies to prepare coastal communities for the future.
