People
Current PhD Students (Under construction, April 27, 2023)
Thomas Eckel
Thomas Eckel received his B.S. in Chemical Engineering from University of California, Riverside in 2019. His research is in maritime emissions studying primary emissions from large scale commercial ocean-going vessels in-use. He also serves as a Science to Policy Fellow for Congressman Calvert, of the 41st District in California, where he evaluates technology for narcotics detection, destruction, and protection. He has also done some research and consulting for tech startups in the carbon capture industry and ambient pollution control industry.
Ryan Drover
Ryan Drover received his B.A. Degree in Chemistry from Pitzer College in 2019 and is currently pursuing his Ph.D. in Chemical and Environmental Engineering at UC Riverside (exp. 2024). Ryan's research spans a range of topics in sustainability, emissions, chemistry, and health, including contractual projects, policy-related work, and anything else David will let him work on. His work in emissions primarily consists of evaluating emissions accounting and modeling from commercial ocean-going vessels. Alongside biomedical and microbiology collaborators at UC Riverside, he works to develop models of immune & inflammatory response and disease development from aerosol exposures, with an emphasis on health disparities.
Tianbo Tang
Tianbo received his B.S degree at Donghua University, China and M.S degree at University of Southern California, USA and is currently a 4th-5th year PhD student in Dr. Cocker’s group.
Tianbo's current research includes emissions testing of Tier 2, Tier 3 and Tier 4 tugboats and ferries using mini-PEMS systems. The objective of his study is to characterize and quantify in-service off-cycle emissions from various commercial harbor craft (CHC). The data collected will be used to gain a better understanding of off-cycle CHC emissions, and if necessary, to improve emission inventory estimates from CHC. This in-use emission testing will help identify and contribute to the technical feasibility of engine manufacturers meeting more stringent marine engine standards. He looks forward to continuing this work and further developing his own expertise in the field and in the meantime publishing his own findings in journals.
Daniel Gonzalez
Ayla Moretti received her B.S. in Environmental Science from Oregon State University in 2012. Her research focuses on creating an SOA predictive module for the EPA MOVES model.
Huawei Li
Huawei Li received his B.S. degree in Materials Science and Engineering from North China University of Technology in 2020. He is currently working on the study of SOA formation from Volatile Chemical Products (e.g., personal care products and household products).
Yanyu Zhang
Yanyu Zhang received her B.S. in Atmospheric Science (Atmospheric Physics) from Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology, China, in 2018, and M.S. in Earth and Environmental Engineering from Columbia University, in 2020. Her research focuses on estimating SOA formation under controlled atmospheric conditions through chamber experiments and modeling.
Kyah Gracia
Paul received his B.S. degree in Physics w/ minor in Mathematics from University of Wisconsin, Eau Claire and a B.S. degree in Civil and Environmental Engineering from University of Wisconsin, Madison in 2014. Paul's research focuses on photooxidation of agricultural emissions (amines and reduced sulfur species) and how these compounds interact to form secondary aerosol. Paul's favorite part of studying agricultural emissions is all the wonderful smells...
Current MS Students
Current UG Students
Brenda Blanco (APL)
Yesenia Cardenas (APL)
Allison Cocker (APL)
Juyhun Do (APL)
John Williams (APL and Panceria)
Charles Elliot (Panceria)
Sergio Gomez (Panceria)
Michelle Lau (Panceria)
Marisol Trujillo (Panceria)
PhD Alumni
Chen Le (Ph.D completed 3/2023, currently lecturer at UC Riverside)
Sahar Ghadimi (Ph.D completed 3/2023, currently at South Coast Air Quality Management District)
Hanwei Zhu (Ph.D completed 12/2022, currently at California Air Resources Board)
Qi Li (Ph.D completed 3/2022, currently at Spectrum Dynamic Research)
Weihan Peng (Ph.D completed 8/2020, currently at Google)
Ayla Moretti (Ph.D completed 8/2021, currently at California Air Resources Board)
Paul Van Rooy (Ph.D completed 7/2020, currently at Environmental Protection Agency)
Brandon Feenstra (Ph.D completed 6/2020, currently at South Coast Air Quality Management District)
Xinze Peng (Ph.D completed 2/2019, currently VP, ESG & Climate Risk Consulting at Marsh)
Jiachang Yang (Ph.D completed 9/2018, currently at California Air Resources Board)
Yu Jiang (Jade) (Ph.D completed 6/2018, currently at Cummins)
Weihua Li (Ph.D completed 6/2018, currently at Cummins)
Lijie Li (Sara) (Ph.D completed 6/2017, currently at Glaukos)
Mary Kacarab (Ph.D completed 6/2016, currently researcher, GeorgiaTech)
Chia-Li Chen (Candace) (Ph.D completed 6/2016, currently at California Air Resources Board)
Ji Luo (Jill) (Ph.D completed 6/2016, research engineer, UCR)
Nick Gysel (Ph.D completed 6/2015, engineer, Yorke Engineering)
Tanfeng Cao (Sam) (Ph.D completed 6/2015, engineer, Cummins)
Derek Price (Ph.D completed 6/2014, currently Colorado Department of Public Health)
Poornima Dixit (Ph.D completed 6/2013, consultant, Trinity Consultants)
Miriam Hajbajai (Ph.D completed 6/2012, engineer, California Air Resources Board)
Mohammed Yusof Khan (Ph.D completed 6/2012, engineer, Cummins)
Xiaochen Tang (Esther) (Ph.D completed 6/2012, researcher, LLNL)
Ping Tang (Annie) (Ph.D completed 6/2011, currently researcher, Proud MOM, previously AQMD)
Christopher Clark (Ph.D completed 6/2011, currently engineer, Naval Sea Warfare Center, Corona)
Seyed Hosseni (Ehsan) (Ph.D completed 6/2011, engineer, California Air Resources Board)
Shunsuke Nakao (Ph.D completed 6/2011, currently at California Air Resources Board)
Kent Johnson (Ph.D completed 6/2010, currently Research Engineer, CE-CERT/UCR)
Varalakshmi Jayaram (Lakshmi) (Ph.D completed 6/2010, currently Principal, Ramboll)
Qi Li (Ph.D completed 6/2010, analytical chemist, China)
Harshit Agrawal (Ph.D completed 6/2009, manager, Shell Global Solutions)
Ajay Chaudhary (Ph.D completed 6/2009, independent contractor, India)
Quentin Malloy (Ph.D completed 6/2008, manager, BAAQMD)
Bethany Warren (Ph.D completed 6/2008, Pacific Air & Environment in Brisbane, Australia)
Abhilash Nigam (Ph.D completed 10/2007, pharmaceuticals)
Ph.D Dissertation Title “Emissions Assessment of Selected Diesel Sources at Ports: Baseline Conditions and Benefits Through Use of Control Technologies”
Aniket Sawant (Ph.D. completed 6/2006, currently at Johnson-Matthey)
Ph.D. Dissertation Title “Analyses and Impacts of Selected Emission Sources”
M.S. Dissertation Title “Characterization of Indoor and Outdoor Gas- and Particle-Phase Compounds in Western Riverside County, California”
Chen Song (Ph.D. completed 6/2006, currently at RJR)
Ph.D. Dissertation Title “Secondary Organic Aerosol Formation from Aromatic Hydrocarbons”
Sandip Shah (Ph.D. completed 6/2005, currently at Drexel)
Ph.D. Dissertation Title “A Study of the Physical and Chemical Properties of Exhaust Emissions from Heavy-Duty Diesel Engines”
Assistant Research Engineer and visiting scientists Alumni
Kwangsam Na (ARB)
Hiroyuki Hagino (JARI)
Kei Sato (NIES)
Masters, Undergraduates, and High School (Alumni, in alphabetical order)
Masters: Aniket Sawant, Jinwei Zhang, Miles Simkins, Yuehua Gu
Undergraduate: Lorelai Adams, Danh Alkurdi, Jose Alvarez, Greg Aniol, Brandon Aparacio, Julien Araiza, Rebecca Austin, Sarah Bates, Damini Bhana, Phillip Brendecke, Sheraz Butt, Tanfeng (Sam) Cao, Guadalupe Castro, Joanna Collado, Heather Donley, Doug Duchon, Jesus Duran, Matthew Ealy, Thomas Eckel, Nicholas Elliot, Robert Espinoza, Nolan Fan, Richard Findlay, Shannon Flor, Rina Gohil, Laura Grigoryan, James Guiterrez, Christina Hall, Samantha Hanson, Melissa Henrich, Katrina Hess, Norman Ho, Alexis Illich, Igor Irrianto, Karel Jansen, Daisy Jimenez, Jordan Jones, Joon Jung, Mary Kacarab, Daisy Kim, Ravi Kumar, Dustin Kwon, Mai Le, Michelle Le (H), Marqel Armani Lee, Kevin Lim, Shunhua Lin (H), Raymond Logan (H), Eber Lopez, Shannon Lopez, Amy Lu, Wendy Lucero, Dana Maxie, Sean McClanahan, Kelly McCoy, Jesse Mendoza, Faith Morel, Alejandra Moreno, Berenice Munoz, Carlton Nguyen, Dennis Nguyen, Duc Nguyen, Hanphuc Nguyen, Kevin Nguyen, Temitope Ogunyoku, Jonathan Parker, Elizabeth Gonzalez Parra, Luis Perez, Bao Pham (H), Paul Phartho, Karla Pimentel, Shrey Prajapati, Adam Rodriguez, Edwin Rodriguez, Richard Rojas, Jesus Sahaguran, Kyle Schaefer, Eric Seo, Mary Sheppe, Letia Solomon, Stephanie Stasiuk, Clayton Stothers, Wenfu Sun, Christian Surdilla, Cameron Switzer, Dylan Switzer, Shimkiri Syiem, Israel Tamiru, Sampson Tang, Justin Tao, Ryan Thomas, David Torres, Marisol Torres, Yun (Geoffrey) Tsai, Anthony Turgman, Nicholas Valencia, Fabian Villalabos, Tiffany Virgiano, Christian Walker, Josiah Wallis, Jean Wang, Charles Wardle, Nathaniel Wilde (H), Jianyu Xu, Henry Yang, Jing Yang, Ran Ye, Lindsay Yee, Christina Zapata, Melanie Zecca (H) designates Honors Capstone Student Completed
GPP: Qi Li, Chen Le, Weihan Peng, Xinze (Eric) Peng
non-UCR: Lou Dingjun, Valeria Cristal, Rachel Durant, DeAngelo Wooley, Aaron Aguirre, Micah Mekbib, Zhihua Liu (Dash), Keng (Austyn) Low, Nicolette Ramirez, Carlotta Schudeler, 12 community college students (2009), Arturo Ayala, Lara Miguel, Enrique Rivera, Tracey Bailey, Billie Lance, Mark Ruiz, Arturo Ramirez, Manuel Barrios, Taylor Malone, Katherine Gobales, Erik Thomas, Alma De Haro, Arlene Chandar, Isaac Lino, Nancy Alvarado, Gustavo Barraran, John Rojas, Juan Pablo, Ethan Amezcua, Richard Rojas, Nathaly Hasbon, Arthur Retana
HS: Alex Ethell, Sasha Itkis, Daniel Na, Yunji Oh, Hanna Shon