Dr. Bipro R. Dhar | Associate Professor of Environmental Engineering | Canada Research Chair (Tier 2) in Microbial Electrocatalysis for Energy and Environment | University of Alberta Engineering Research Chair (UAERC) in Environmental Biotechnology
Romana has been awarded the Westmoreland Coal Company Graduate Scholarship in Environmental Engineering. Congratulations, Romana!
Monisha has been awarded the Westmoreland Coal Company Graduate Scholarship in Environmental Engineering. Congratulations, Monisha!
September 2024
Harveen successfully defended her M.Sc. thesis. Congratulations, Harveen!
Calvin has been awarded the ConocoPhillips Canada Limited Graduate Scholarship in Hydrocarbon Development from the Faculty of Engineering. This scholarship is awarded to 1 outstanding student registered in, or admissible to, a graduate degree program in engineering engaged in research related to the development of hydrocarbon energy resources in Canada. Calvin has been working on developing microbial electrochemical technologies to upgrade biogas to renewable natural gas.
Calvin’s paper on applying 3D printed cathodes for microbial electrolysis cell-assisted anaerobic digester. This is a collaborative work with Dr. Mohammad Khondoker, Assistant Professor of Industrial Systems Engineering, from the University of Regina. Congratulations, Team!
Qi’s paper on the microbial interactions and metabolic shifts at different COD/sulfate ratios in electro-assisted anaerobic digestion has been accepted for publication in the Journal of Hazardous Materials. Congratulations, Qi!
August 2024
Calvin’s paper on a microbial electrochemical sensor for detecting naphthenic acids in real oil sands process water has been accepted for publication in Sensors and Actuators B: Chemical. Congratulations, Calvin!
Dhar Lab is pleased to welcome Dr. Hassan Y. Alfaifi, a visiting professor from the King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology (KACST) in Saudi Arabia. Welcome, Dr. Hassan!
July 2024
Qi’s paper on the optimum configurations of electro-assisted anaerobic digester for sulfate-reducing conditions has been accepted for publication in ACS ES&T Engineering. Congratulations, Qi!
Romana’s first paper from her PhD work has been accepted for publication in Chemosphere. The manuscript focuses on the impact of polystyrene nanoplastics on the transmission of antibiotic resistance in anaerobic sludge fermentation. Congratulations, Romana!
May 2024
How can a month go by without Calvin receiving a scholarship? This time, Calvin received the Andrew Stewart Memorial Graduate Prize. Congratulations on your outstanding achievement, Calvin!
May 2024
Our paper on the impact of the aging of polystyrene nanoplastics on the transmission of antibiotic resistance in anaerobic digestion has been accepted for publication in the Science of the Total Environment. This was a collaborative work with Dr. Farner’s group. Nervana from our team and Elnaz from Dr. Farner’s team led the manuscript. Congratulations to all!
Raúl Mompó Curell from the Universitat Politècnica de València, Spain, has joined our group as a visiting researcher. Welcome, Raúl!
Harveen’s review article on integrating hydrothermal liquefaction and anaerobic digestion for waste biomass valorization has been accepted for publication in Chemosphere. Congratulations, Harveen!
Calvin received the Graduate Student Research Excellence Award in the Faculty of Engineering. This award recognizes the highest quality research being undertaken by graduate students enrolled in a doctoral program in the Faculty of Engineering at the University of Alberta. Congratulations on your great achievement, Calvin!
April 2024
Our review article on process performance and fate of emerging pollutants in low- and high-temperature thermal hydrolysis pretreatment for anaerobic digestion of sludge has been accepted for publication in Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews. Seyed, Nervana, and Alsayed led this article. Congratulations, team!
Calvin received the Graduate Student Teaching Award from the Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research (FGSR) for outstanding Teaching Assistant performance in 2023. He received this award for the 3rd time during his graduate programs at the UofA. Congratulations, Calvin!
February 2024
The final chapter of Seyed’s thesis has been accepted for publication in Chemosphere. The paper investigated the feasibility of using low-temperature thermal hydrolysis to mitigate the oxidative stress of polystyrene nanoplastics on anaerobic digestion.
Calvin was awarded the William Boytzun Memorial Graduate Scholarship (2024). Congratulations, Calvin!
Former visiting professor Dr. Deng’s paper on phosphorus recovery from anaerobic digester centrate using waste eggshells has been accepted for publication in Science of the Total Environment. This work was done during her one-year tenure in our lab between 2022 and 2023. Congratulations, Dr. Deng!
January 2024
Seyed’s paper titled “Low-Temperature Thermal Hydrolysis for Enhancing Sludge Anaerobic Digestion and Antibiotic Resistance Management: Significance of Digester Solids Retention Time” has been accepted for publication in Science of the Total Environment. Congratulations, Seyed et al.!
Calvin was awarded the ConocoPhillips Canada Limited Graduate Scholarship in Hydrocarbon Development. Congratulations, Calvin!
Qi successfully defended her Ph.D. thesis on high-strength wastewater treatment using microbial electrolysis cell-assisted anaerobic digestion. She is co-supervised with Dr. Yang Liu. Congratulations, Dr. Huang!
Qi received the Chinese Government Award for Outstanding Self-financed Students Abroad (2022) from the Chinese Scholarship Council (CSC). This is a prestigious award granted to a select group of no more than 650 Ph.D. students or Post-doctoral researchers worldwide each year. Congratulations, Qi!
November 2023
Seyed has been selected to be featured in the Fall Convocation 2023 profile by the Faculty of Engineering. Read the story of his amazing journey at the University of Alberta here. Congratulations, Seyed!
October 2023
Qi received the Dr. Donald R Stanley Graduate Scholarship in Environmental (Civil) Engineering. Congratulations, Qi!
September 2023
Seyed defended his Ph.D. thesis on thermal hydrolysis of sludge for process intensification and mitigation of oxidative stress of nanoplastics in anaerobic digestion. Congratulations, Dr. Azizi!
Calvin received another prestigious scholarship, Ivy A Thomson and William A Thomson Graduate Scholarship. Congratulations, Calvin!
Parisa successfully defended her master’s thesis on the fate of biodegradable disposables in high-solids anaerobic digestion followed by hydrothermal liquefaction. Congratulations, Parisa!
Dr. Simran Kaur Dhillon joined the lab as a postdoctoral fellow. She completed her Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee, in 2023. Before joining us, she worked as a postdoc in UK. Welcome, Simran!
Monisha’s review article on boosting thermophilic anaerobic digestion with conductive materials has been accepted for publication in Chemosphere. Congratulations, Monisha!
Dr. Sherif Ismail joined the lab as a postdoctoral fellow. He completed his Ph.D. in Environmental Engineering from Egypt-Japan University of Science and Technology, in 2019. Before joining us, he worked as a postdoc in China. Welcome, Sherif!
August 2023
Calvin was awarded the Canada Graduate Scholarships – Michael Smith Foreign Study Supplements (CGS-MSFSS). This award is given to high-caliber Canadian graduate students in building global linkages and international networks through the pursuit of exceptional research experiences at research institutions abroad. This award will support his 3 months research visit to Stanford University. Congratulations, Calvin!
Seyed was awarded Dr. Donald R Stanley Graduate Scholarship in Environmental (Civil) Engineering for the second consecutive year. Congratulations, Seyed!
Parisa received the Chevron Graduate Scholarship in Natural Gas Engineering. Congratulations, Parisa!
Monisha received the Westmoreland Coal Company Graduate Scholarship in Environmental Engineering and the Petro-Canada Graduate Scholarship. Congratulations, Monisha!
Calvin received the Westmoreland Coal Company Graduate Scholarship in Environmental Engineering. Congratulations, Calvin!
Our paper on syntrophic microbial communities and their interactions with polystyrene nanoplastics in a microbial electrolysis cell has been accepted for publication in the Science of the Total Environment journal. Congratulations, Basem et al.!
June 2023
Seyed was awarded Andrew Stewart Memorial Graduate Prize (2023). This award is given in direct recognition of excellence in research at the doctoral level. Congratulations, Seyed!
Dr. Alsayed Mostafa joined the lab as a postdoctoral fellow. He completed his Ph.D. in Smart-city Engineering from Inha University, South Korea, in 2022. Before joining us, he worked as a postdoc in the USA. Welcome, Alsayed!
Our paper on pilot demonstration of the application of conductive additives for high-solids anaerobic digestion has been accepted for publication in Bioresource Technology. This was teamwork by Seyed, Basem, and Nervana. Several former and current team members assisted with the commissioning and operation of the pilot reactors. Congratulations, team!
Our paper on a bench-scale comparison of microaeration and iron dosing for in-situ biogas desulfurization has been accepted for publication in ACS ES&T Water. This was excellent teamwork by Seyed, Basem, Nervana, and Parisa in collaboration with EPCOR. Congratulations to the team!
Calvin received the Izaak Walton Killam Memorial Scholarship. This is one of the most prestigious graduate scholarships administered by the UofA. Clavin is the second recipient of this scholarship from our group. Since joining our lab in 2017, he has also received NSERC CGS, Alberta Innovates, and numerous prestigious internal/external scholarships. Congratulations, Calvin!
Calvin was awarded the Best Oral Presentation Award – 1st Place at the 2nd Canadian IWA Young Water Professionals Conference in Vancouver, BC, on June 1-3, 2023. Congratulations, Calvin!
Calvin and Seyed presented their work at the 2nd Canadian IWA Young Water Professionals Conference in Vancouver, BC, on June 1-3, 2023. Also, Parisa volunteered at the conference.
May 2023
A new Ph.D. student, Sami Khaskheli, joined the lab. Sami completed his MS in Environmental Engineering from the US Pakistan Center of Advance Studies in Water (USPCASW), Mehran UET Jamshoro, Pakistan. He is a recipient of Higher Education Commission (HEC) Pakistan Overseas Scholarship. Welcome, Sami!
Qi’s paper on improving microbial electrolysis cell-assisted anaerobic digestion of blackwater with granular activated carbon amendment has been accepted for publication in Bioresource Technology. Congratulations, Qi!
April 2023
Calvin and Seyed received the Graduate Student Teaching Award from the Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research (FGSR) for their outstanding performance as Teaching Assistants in Fall 2022. Congratulations, Seyed and Calvin!
Nervana’s article on antibiotic resistance genes proliferation under anaerobic degradation of bioplastics has been accepted for publication in Environment International. Congratulations, Nervana et al.!
March 2023
Seyed’s paper on the significance of solids content in sludge thermal hydrolysis for mitigating oxidative stress of polystyrene nanoplastics in anaerobic digestion has been accepted for publication in ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering. Congratulations, Seyed et al.!
Visiting professor Dr. Deng’s review paper on phosphorus recovery from wastewater via calcium phosphate precipitation has been accepted in Chemosphere. Throughout her one-year tenure in the Dhar lab, she focused on a sustainable approach to recovering phosphate from wastewater. Congratulations, Dr. Deng!
March 2023
Parisa and Seyed presented their work at the 58th CENTRAL Canadian Symposium on Water Quality Research in Toronto (March 20-21).
Dr. Dhar was elected as Vice-President (Western) of the Executive Committee of the Canadian Association on Water Quality (CAWQ).
Parisa’s paper on biodegradability and transformation of biodegradable disposables in high-solids anaerobic digestion followed by hydrothermal liquefaction has been accepted for publication in Resources, Conservation & Recycling. Congratulations, Parisa and the team!
Seyed’s paper on the application of granular activated carbon for remediation of antibiotic resistance propagation and methanogenic inhibition induced by polystyrene nanoplastics in anaerobic digestion has been accepted for publication in Bioresource Technology. Congratulations, Seyed et al.!
Our paper on an ensemble machine learning approach for examining critical process parameters and scale-up opportunities of microbial electrochemical systems for hydrogen peroxide production has been accepted for publication in Chemosphere. It was a collaboration between our team and the 4S Analytics and Modeling Team. Congratulations, Calvin et al.!
February 2023
Seyed was awarded the Martha Piper Award in recognition of his research communication excellence. Congratulations, Seyed!
Dr. Dhar joined the editorial board of the Water Environment Research (WER) journal.
January 2023
M.Sc. student Anindya Amal Chakrabarty joined the lab. Welcome, Anindya!