After graduating with my masters in mechanical engineering, I set a goal to pursue a Ph.D. in a high-impact research area, focusing on climate change mitigation solutions. Since then, I have put my best foot forward in applying to grad schools while becoming educated in the field of negative emissions technologies.

I am pleased to announce that I have been accepted to pursue a Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering in the Clean Energy Conversions Lab under the advisement of Dr. Jennifer Wilcox! My research will focus on negative emissions technologies, low-/no-carbon kiln technology, and finding ways to optimize direct air capture (DAC) processes to minimize the overall costs.

I am excited to be a part of this research because these negative emissions technologies (NETs) can be used to clean up the CO₂ emissions in the atmosphere. Although it is significantly easier to reduce emissions that it is to remove emissions, the initiatives to reduce emissions are advancing very slowly. NETs will be crucial to helping make the switch from a carbon-intensive economy to an economy that is more sustainable and healthier for our population. In addition, there are technologies and industries established today that are difficult to decarbonize, including, but not limited to, iron and steel production and transportation (distributed emissions sources such as cars and planes). By deploying technologies that will take CO₂ out of the air, these “hard to avoid” emissions can be offset at a remote DAC plant.

Unfortunately, there is significant cost associated with these technologies today. Through further research, development, and demonstration, these costs are expected to be reduced, allowing for further economic scale-up. Contributing to such cutting-edge and important research, is very humbling. I am honored to be a part of this.