Amy E. Childress, Ph.D.
Department Chair

Amy Childress has been with the Civil and Environmental Engineering Department at UNR since 1997. She holds a B.S. degree in Civil Engineering (1992) from the University of Maryland and M.S. and Ph.D. degrees (1993 and 1997) in Environmental Engineering from the University of California , Los Angeles . Her research interests include physical and chemical processes for water and wastewater treatment, membrane separations in environmental applications, and colloidal and interfacial processes in aquatic systems. Curriculum Vitae

Phone. 775.784.6942
Fax. 775.784.1390
e-mail. amyec@unr.edu

Eric Orset is a post doctoral associate who holds a B.S. degree in Biochemistry (1991) and an M.S. degree in Physico-Chemistry (1995) from the University of Montpellier II, France, and a Ph.D. in Environmental Sciences (2001) from the University of Montreal, Canada. After graduating, he served as a project manager (specializing in drinking water and industrial wastewater treatment) at CNETE (Centre National en Electrochimie et en Technologies Environnementales) in Quebec, Canada. His main research interest is the development of hybrid membrane bioreactors.

Phone. 775.327.2260
e-mail. eorset@unr.edu

Pawel Rempala is a research associate who holds a M.S. degree in Chemistry from Jagiellonian University (UJ), Kraków, Poland (1994), and a Ph.D. in Chemistry from the University of Nevada, Reno (2001). His main research interests include the use of contact angle measurement to characterize flat polymeric membranes, and the application of AFM (atomic force microscopy) to determination of membrane roughness. He is also working on application of contact angle measurements to curved surfaces (hollow fiber membranes) as a part of project aimed at standardization of membrane characterization techniques and correlation of membrane properties with membrane performance.

Phone. 775.784.6940
e-mail. rempala@unr.edu

Graduate Students

Andrea Achilli has been a Ph.D. student in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering since Fall 2005. He holds a B.S. degree and a M.S. degree in Environmental Engineering from the University of Ancona, Italy (2002). He is investigating the optimization of aerobic and anaerobic membrane bioreactors for wastewater treatment. His research focuses on nutrient removal, biofouling, and energy reduction.
Co-advised by Prof. Eric Marchand
Phone. 775.784.1189
e-mail. aachilli@unr.edu

Mirinda Hutton has been an M.S. student in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering since May 2007.  Before becoming an M.S. student Mirinda worked in the membrane research group as an undergraduate assistant.  She graduated from the UNR in May 2007 with a B.S. in Environmental Chemistry.  Currently her work focuses on pressure driven membrane process for the desalination of cooling tower brines.
Phone. 775.784.1189
e-mail. huttonm@unr.nevada.edu

Francisco (Pancho) Suarez has been a Ph.D. student in the Hydrologic Sciences Program since Fall 2006. He holds B.S. (2001), C.E. and M.S. degrees in Civil Engineering (2006) from the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile. He is investigating the design and testing of solar ponds for salinity reduction and renewable energy generation. His research focuses on: (1) the use of computational fluids dynamics to model double diffusive convection and other interfacial transport phenomena; and (2) to evaluate experimentally the performance of a pilot-scale salinity-gradient solar pond coupled to a membrane distillation unit.
Co-advised by Prof. Scott Tyler
Phone. 775.784.4986
e-mail. suarezf@unr.nevada.edu

Serife Ozger has been a Ph.D. student in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering department since Fall 2008. She holds a B.S. degree in Environmental Engineering from Fatih University, Turkey. Her research will focus on membrane distillation processes.
Phone. 775.784.1189
e-mail. ozgers@unr.nevada.edu

Sarah McCormick

Sarah McCormick is an undergraduate student in the Environmental Engineering program (graduating in 2009).
Phone. 775.784.1189
e-mail. mccorm16@unr.nevada.edu

Kerri Hickenbottom is an undergraduate student in the Civil Engineering program (graduating in 2009).
Phone. 775.784.1189
e-mail. hickenb2@wncc.edu

Jeffrey Ruskowitz

Jeffrey Ruskowitz is an undergraduate student in the Chemical Engineering program (graduating in 2010) with an emphasis in Environmental Studies.
Phone. 775.784.1189
e-mail. ruskowit@unr.nevada.edu