EREF awards seven scholarships

 

Sampurna Datta

Sarah Gustitus

Richard Hilliard

Ryan Joslyn

Daniel Moccia-Field

Koichi Kanaoka

James Souder

The board of directors of the Environmental Research & Education Foundation (EREF), Raleigh, North Carolina, has awarded seven scholarships to masters and doctoral students across North America pursuing education in solid waste management.

The 2017 EREF scholars include:

Sampurna Datta, University of Michigan, Ph.D.:
Project:Transformative shift of landfills from containment facility to energy harvesting
Worldwide practices in managing the growing amounts of municipal solid waste (MSW) that are generated every year (1.3 billion tons globally) are unsustainable, Datta says, and, as a result, landfills represent the second largest human-generated source of methane in the U.S. Datta’s research focuses on providing a means of extracting energy from MSW through the modeling of processes occurring within a landfill.

Sarah Gustitus, University of Virginia, Ph.D.:
Project: Determining the service life of bentonite-polymer geosynthetic clay liners permeated with aggressive leachates
The goal of Gustitus’ research is to develop new techniques to predict the service life of geosynthetic clay liners (GCLs) produced with bentonite-polymer (B-P) composites. Her objective is to develop and implement an accelerated test protocol, which uses elevated temperature test conditions and an existing model to predict the service life of B-P GCLs used with different waste streams. Through this effort, guidance may be developed for industries that have a need for durable liners so that they may determine to what extent B-P GCLs may be effective for their applications.

Richard Hilliard, Oregon State University, Ph.D.: 
Project: Applying the simultaneous anammox and denitrification (SAD) to landfill leachate
Nitrogen loading in landfill leachate constitutes a primary long-term concern for municipal solid waste disposal, threatening pollution and an excess of nutrients in surface and ground waters, which causes algal blooms, Hilliard says. Current methods employed in landfill leachate are costly, involving extremely large footprints, expensive chemical additions, high energy requirements or expensive leachate transportation costs for discharge to a local wastewater treatment plant (WWTP). Hilliard’s goal for this research is to develop a SAD (simultaneous anammox and denitrification) system that provides a system to remove nitrogen from leachate.

Ryan Joslyn, University of Central Florida, MS: 
Project: Field investigation of an elevated temperature Florida landfill
For reasons that are not entirely clear, incidents of elevated temperatures in MSW landfills are occurring at increasing frequency. These landfills present temperatures that well exceed the range tolerable for micro-organisms (176 degrees Fahrenheit). Given the significance of elevated temperatures at landfills and the growing number of landfills with these issues, Joslyn saysthe goal of his research is to develop a more complete understanding of elevated temperature landfills using landfill gas and leachate monitoring data, specifically in the state of Florida.

 

Daniel Moccia-Field, Yale University, MS:
Project:Closing resource loops in institutional food waste
With low quality and high volume, the waste stream from institutional food production is a challenge and an opportunity, Moccia-Field says. Materials from these establishments tend to pass directly out of the kitchen window and into the trashcan. With his research, Moccia-Field intends to change the perspective of food production professionals by introducing systems of science and circular economy to discuss new strategies and operations. The goal of this research is to empower stakeholders throughout the industry to conserve resources by using waste stream management.

Koichi Kanaoka, Duke University, MS:
Project: Opportunities, challenges and benefits of increasing waste recovery rates in U.S. cities
With 3 billion people entering the middle class and the earth’s population projected to grow to more than 9 billion by 2030, Kanaoka says effectively managing natural resources will become critical for maintaining and improving people’s quality of life. Kanaoka’s research focuses on the drivers and mechanisms of society’s transition toward a circular economy and how waste recovery and industrial symbiosis could be leveraged as strategies for promoting regional economic development while minimizing environmental impact.
  
James Souder, Yale University, MS:
Project: Closing the loop and increasing material recovery in supply chains and production systems
The current solid waste management and recycling systems rely heavily on consumer sorting behavior, Souder says, even though consumers are confused by the difference between single and multistream recycling and which types of materials can be recycled in their municipalities. Souder’s research seeks to tackle this problem and build on momentum of using labels to inform recycling decisions and automatic waste sorting mechanisms.

EREF scholarships recognize graduate students pursuing excellence in solid waste management research and education. Recipients are chosen based on credentials and potential contributions to the solid waste industry and its scientific community.

EREF scholarship applications for the 2018-19 school year are due Thursday, April 5, by 5 p.m. Eastern standard time. Students must be full-time masters or doctoral student and have a clearly demonstrated interest in solid waste management research. 

For more information on the EREF Scholarship Program or to access the application, visit erefdn.org/scholarship-program.