CEEES GRADUATE STUDENT

NEWSLETTER
December 2018
Volume 7, issue 3

FROM THE EDITORS

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Well, Christmas is almost here along with a well-earned
break. Kick back and relax for a couple of days while From the Editors…..….…….….1
eating and drinking with family and friends. Most of us Announcements...................2
Student Spotlight…...............2
will be able to get back home for a couple of days but Group Spotlight….................3
let’s make sure we keep in mind those students who Deadlines……………………….....5
don’t have that opportunity. Make sure to ask around Contacts……………………….…….6

and check that nobody is going to spend the holidays

alone. We should also keep in mind the students who can’t take that much time to
relax due to looming deadlines or qualification exams. Any Christmas Eve left overs
or friendly chats would be greatly appreciated by those who are feeling extra stress
this time of year. Lastly, a new year is on the horizon which gives us all a chance to
reflect on 2018. Think of what you can do to make your 2019 better than your 2018.

Cheers, Merry Christmas and Happy New Years!

Dave Burney, and Thomas Sherman Newsletter editors

REMINDER
All graduate students have a mailbox in the copy room next to the main office. All
of us graduate students share this one basket, so please remember to check it
regularly!

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ANNOUNCEMENTS

The only announcement this issue is that we’ve all survived the semester, congratulations!

GRADUATE STUDENT SPOTLIGHT

Mike Torcivia is a third year PhD student working with Dr. Clive
Neal in the field of earth, or more accurately, lunar sciences.
Specifically, his research is focused on studying the formation
and evolution of the Moon’s crust.
Mike’s research is mainly concerned with a group of ancient
lunar samples called the Ferroan Anorthosite Suite or FANs
brought back from the Apollo missions (mostly Apollo 16) which
are believed to represent some of the very first pieces of the
Moon’s primordial crust. He takes these samples and conducts
both destructive and non-destructive in-situ analyses to
determine exact concentrations for a wide range of elements in
different minerals – mostly plagioclase feldspar and pyroxene.
As a petrologist, he then uses these concentrations to model
the crystallization history of these minerals and relate them back to the sample’s provenance. In
this way, he hopes to be able to shed some light on the greater geologic history of the lunar crust
and the Moon as a whole. Currently he has four two-page abstracts available on his research
which highlight the specific Apollo sample 60025:
Torcivia, M. A., & Neal, C. R., 2017, Ferroan Anorthosite 60025: Magma Ocean Product-and
More!. In Lunar and Planetary Science Conference 48.
Torcivia, M. A., & Neal, C. R., 2017, Positive Europium Anomalies in Pyroxenes in Ferroan
Anorthosite 60025: Implications for FAN Ages. In Lunar and Planetary Science
Conference 48.
Torcivia, M. A., & Neal, C. R., 2018, Investigating the Ages and Formation of the Lunar Crust. In
Lunar and Planetary Science Conference 49.
Torcivia, M. A., & Neal, C. R., 2018, Ferroan Anorthosite 60025---A Lunar Breccia. In Lunar and
Planetary Science Conference 49.

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Group Spotlight: The Nerenberg Group

Population growth and climate change are increasing the need for more sustainable and energy-
efficient water management technologies. The Nerenberg research group focuses on biological
processes for water and wastewater treatment and reuse. A major focus of the Nerenberg group is on
biofilms, especially membrane-biofilm reactors (MBfRs). Currently Nerenberg group has 1 postdoctoral
researcher (Patricia PerezCalleja), 3 visiting Scholars (Claudia SanchezHuerta, Minmin Jiang, Eduardo
LeivaLlanten) and 6 graduate students

Mengfei Li: Her research focuses on the mechanical properties of biofilms and their impacts on
water/wastewater treatment. To reinforce beneficial biofilms and remove harmful biofilms, a better
understanding about biofilm mechanical behaviors is needed. Specifically, she is interested in the effects
of chemical weakening agents on biofilm strength, with the combination of experimental techniques
and numerical models.

Bumkyu Kim: He is working on Eukaryotic biofilm predation on Membrane aerated biofilm reactor.

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Marcela Vega Muñoz: Her research is focused on the biological reduction of perchlorate, a drinking
water contaminant that can lead to hypothyroidism in child and newborns. The biological treatment is a
promising technology to transform perchlorate into two innocuous compounds (O2 and Cl-), but still,
there are some challenges. In particular,She is studying the effect of other anions that are present
together with perchlorate (nitrate, sulfate, and chlorate) and she is evaluating how to manage the
microbial communities to improve the performance of the current biological treatments.

Sarajane Roenke and Yanina Nahum: They are studying the effect of hydroxylamine on nitrifying
bacteria with the hope that it will inhibit nitrite oxidizing bacteria (NOB) and allow the use of partial-
nitrification anammox(PNA) in wastewater treatment. PNA is more cost-effective than currently utilized
nitrogen removal processes because it decreases aeration requirements and removes the need for
additional organic matter during denitrification. Currently, they are running preliminary tests on
suspended liquid cultures and will progress to studying the effects in biofilms.

Meenu Garg: She is working on increasing the productivity of Algal biomass using hollow fiber
membrane with novel technology of membrane carbonated phototropic biofilm (MCPB). In this
technology the CO2 is used as carbon source and converted into oxygen. The algal biomass will be used
for biofuels.

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THE GRADUATE SCHOOL – SCHEDULE OF DEADLINES

*Formatting checks should be submitted to the Graduate School when the document is given to
readers at least two to four weeks prior to the defense.

**Reader’s reports must be submitted to the Graduate School at least two days before the
defense takes place.

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NEWSLETTER CONTACTS

If you wish to include or contribute news items for the next issue of the newsletter, please contact
one of the editorial members below:

David Burney, PhD student, David.C.Burney.2@nd.edu

Thomas Sherman, PhD student, tsherma3@nd.edu
Mollie Dash, Department Administrator, dash.1@nd.edu