Principal Investigator
Taylor L. Weiss
Current Students/Associates
Prabuddha Gupta, PhD (Postdoc)
Prabuddha holds a M.Sc. in Botany and PhD in Energy and Environment Convergence. In addition to helping manage the lab and coordinate student researchers, his research efforts are supported by the Department of Energy. He is currently focused on examining the algae-bacterial consortial interactions of Scenedesmus obliquus UTEX 393, especially in the context of the implications of integrated pest management techniques for the production of biofuels, as well as evaluating the consortial impacts of phycosphere bioengineering.
Left: Scott Burge and David Hoffman (Burge Environmental, Inc.) Right: Vanessa Moldanado and Keval Shah (both Environmental and Resource Management; MS
New picture, hot off the presses (to be updated when it isn’t so windy!).
Scott and Dave are our commercial collaborators, and creators of the MiProbe sensor systems, which are deployed on both CAP canals as well as many of the AzCATI testbed ponds. Vanessa and Keval are both ERM MS students who have just joined the CAP project, and will be collecting field samples for correlation with MiProbe sensor signals.
Evan Taylor (Environmental and Resource Management; MS)
As both an ASU graduate and current Burge Environmental employee, Evan is deeply involved in all aspects of developing the MiProbe technology. His academic thesis, however, focused primarily on developing the novel data analysis aspects of the technology which produce the greatest operational meaning and confidence in both cultivation and environmental monitoring scenarios.
Former Students/Associates
Brendan Wacenske (Mechanical Engineering; MS)
Brendan graduated with a BS in Mechanical Engineering, which included an applied project in the Weiss lab, working toward developing precision CO2 controllers for algae cultivation using off-the-shelf components and the Burge Environmental sensor platform. He continues this work now as a collaborator on a Department of Energy project, though under a new advisor while he pursues his MS in Mechanical Engineering–while still hanging out with us at AzCATI!.
Jordan Coulam (Microbiology; BS)
Jordan is student in the ASU Barret Honors College. Her Honors Thesis research includes using MiProbes to observe plant seedling rhizosphere development in response to nutrition, salinity stress, and/or algae-based biostimulants. These observations are important in a state like Arizona, where soil salinity rises with increasing temperatures and well-water irrigation lacks the infusion of microalgae that comes with surface-water irrigation.
Harrison Meyer (Civil, Environmental, and Sustainable Engineering; MS)
Harrison completed his MS in 2021, titled “Monitoring Algal Abundance, Water Quality, And Deploying Microbial Sensors Along the Central Arizona Project.” Over two years, he conducted field surveys of the Central Arizona Project canal system, helping to identify and isolate nuisance algae, track algae bloom events, and assist in the deployment of autonomous sensor platforms to remotely monitor these events across nearly 200 miles. He also completed preliminary studies of encapsulating algae in microbeads, which contributed to Department of Energy proposals.
Jordan Ottesen (Human Systems Engineering; PhD)
Jordan is a current ASU student. Over one semester, Jordan designed the foundational elements of the graphics interface that will enable remote sensor data accessibility to a wide array of users, especially those who wish to make routine operational decisions without delving into the complex data outputs.
Deyang Qi (Environmental and Resource Management; MS)
Deyang completed his MS in 2021, titled “The Application of a Novel Microbial Sensor on Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.).” Over one year, he conducted experiments using the autonomous sensors we routinely apply to algae cultures to monitoring plants in response to fertilization with algae extracts. Sensor functionality during early seed development was also significantly enhanced by the incorporation of algae-derived biopolymers.
Hannah Cherry (Environmental and Resource Management; MS)
Hannah expects to complete her MS in 2022. She completed an Applied Project over six months evaluating the methodology of sampling (harvesting, storage, processing) for N and P quantitation from Arizona surface waters. Hint: the process matters and it’s actually really difficult to be accurate!
Left: Dorsa Daeizadeh (Biological Design, PhD). Right: Nilanjana Mazumdar (Postdoc)
From 2021-2022, Dorsa and Nilanjana Mazumdar worked on the Central Arizona Project canal project, recording observations of the involved ecosystems, collecting water samples, and identifying samples pertinent to nuisance algae mitigation.