I am currently a doctoral student, co-advised by Menachem Elimelech and Chinedum Osuji, in the Department of Chemical & Environmental Engineering. My research is focused on achieving greater nanoscale property control of membrane materials in order to facilitate more efficient membrane desalination and size-based separations. I am particularly interested in achieving nanoscale property control through directed molecular assembly techniques, including magnetic field-directed or surface-directed alignment of liquid crystals and molecular layer-by-layer assembly.

I also have an interest in engineering education and am working to develop into an effective, student-centered educator through participation in K-12 outreach initiatives, laboratory-based mentoring, university-level guest lecturing, and formal teaching workshops.

1. Squires, A.M., Akbar, S., Tousley, M.E., Rokhlenko, Y., Singer, J.P., Osuji, C.O. (2015). Experimental Evidence of Proposed Transformation Pathway from Inverse Hexagonal to Inverse Diamond Cubic Phase from Oriented Lipid Samples. Langmuir, 31 (28), 7707-7711.
2. Feng, X., Tousley, M.E., Cowan, M.G., Wiesenauer, B.R., Nejati, S., Choo, Y., Noble, R.D., Elimelech, M., Gin, D.L., Osuji, C.O. (2014). Scalable Fabrication of Polymer Membranes with Vertically Aligned 1-nm Pores by Magnetic Field Directed Self-Assembly. ACS Nano, 8 (12), 11977-11986.
3. * Tousley, M.E., Feng, X., Elimelech, M., Osuji, C.O. (2014). Aligned Nanostructured Polymers by Magnetic-Field-Directed Self-Assembly of a Polymerizable Lyotropic Mesophase. ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces, 6 (22), 19710-19717. *Cover article.
4. Zodrow, K.R., Tousley M.E., Elimelech, M. (2014). Mitigating Biofouling on Thin-Film Composite Polyamide Membranes Using a Controlled-Release Platform. Journal of Membrane Science, 453 (1), 84-91.
5. * Perreault, F., Tousley, M.E., Elimelech, M. (2014). Thin-Film Composite Polyamide Membranes Functionalized with Biocidal Graphene Oxide Nanoblades. Environmental Science & Technology Letters, 1 (1), 71-76. *Featured in Chemical & Engineering News and ES&T podcast Episode 16; ES&T Letters Letter of the Year Award 2014
6. Tousley, M.E., Wren, A.W., Towler, M.R., Mellott, N.P. (2012). Processing, Characterization, and Bacteriacidal Activity of Undoped and Silver-Doped Vanadium Oxides. Materials Chemistry and Physics, 137 (2), 596-603.
7. Nguyen, B.N., Meador, M.A.B., Tousley, M.E., Skonkwiler, B., McCorkle, L., Scheiman, D.A., Palczer, A. (2009). Tailoring Elastic Properties of Silica Aerogels Cross-Linked with Polystyrene. ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces, 1 (3), 621-630.