Spring 2015 Team

Professor Jaehong Kim

I am totally thrilled to lead this group of highly motivated students in this problem-based learning class for the first time at Yale University. It is not only a fun and rewarding experience, but a great learning opportunity for me too. Remember, professors also need to learn. I look forward to offering this class many years to come and traveling around the world with Yale’s next generation environmental engineers and scientists.

Anna Hagstrom (TA)

Anna Hagstrom is a second-year graduate student in Jaehong Kim's lab. Before coming to Yale, she studied chemistry at Amherst College, during which time she performed research in computational chemistry, molecular biology, and organic synthesis. She looks forward to getting hands-on environmental engineering experience in the field and to fruitful and meaningful engagement with communities in Nicaragua.

Kyle Moor (TA)

Kyle Moor is a Ph.D. student in the Environmental Engineering program and is working with Jaehong Kim on developing materials for new photon-based disinfection technologies. In the scope of this course, he assists students with a focus on microbial measurements and experiments. In his spare time, he enjoys adventures with other microorganisms – namely Saccharomyces cerevisiae, which he uses to brew his own beer.

Benjamin Bartolome

Ben Bartolome is a Junior majoring in Chemical Engineering from New Orleans, LA. He chose Chemical Engineering because he wanted to apply his knowledge of Chemistry to solar cell development. He pursued research here at Yale in Prof. Andre Taylor's Laboratory, working on the synthesis of translucent and flexible solar cells. For the class project, his job is to find whether the silver applied to the ceramic water filters as a bacteriacide is present over time and is effective.

Hannah Fornero

Hannah Fornero is a senior in Silliman College double-majoring in Economics and Environmental Engineering. Her interests lie in the intersections between the two majors, particularly with respect to the economic feasibility of developing alternative energies. Her research for ENVE 410L concerns the use of fluorescent microspheres to measure filter effeciveness of ceramic pot filters in Nicaragua.

Dhyan Valle

Dhyan Valle is a senior in Morse College. The growing global demand for clean drinking water motivated him to study environmental engineering. He has spent time in Professor Jaehong Kim's lab working with Kyle Moor on novel water disinfection technologies, particularly amine-functionalized fullerenes in their application to sunlight-activated water disinfection. Outside of the classroom, Dhyan spends his time playing on the Yale C2 Club Soccer team. For this class, Dhyan will be leading the testing of ceramic pot filter efficacy in the laboratory using surrogate microorganisms such as E. coli and MS2 bacteriophage.

Maddy Landon

Maddy Landon is a junior in Silliman College pursuing an environmental engineering degree. Her academic interests include green product design and marketing as well as water quality in developing nations. She is a member of Yale's Solar Decathlon team, works as Silliman's Sustainability Coordinator, and is a FOOT leader on campus. She is so excited to go to Nicaragua for the first time!

Joel Li

Joel is a senior majoring in Economics and Environmental Engineering who has a passion for sustainability. He is very excited to be applying the knowledge he learned from the classroom to the real world. In this trip, he is the Air Quality Analyst and also the System Analyzer, responsible for testing CO/PM2.5 in the communities and performing cost benefit analysis of various water filtering systems.

Rahul Kini

Rahul Kini is a senior pursuing a chemical engineering degree. His academic interests include energy storage, sustainable energy, and developing novel ways to treat water. He is a member of Yale's American Institute of Chemical Engineers chapter, works actively with the Ezra Stiles College Council, and maintains the social media for our team. He will be investigating and analyzing microbes in water samples upon arriving in Nicaragua!