The SyracuseCoE Faculty Fellows Program provides seed funding for research in SyracuseCoE’s core technical areas of clean and renewable energy, indoor environmental quality and water resources. 

The program promotes new research that will lead to future opportunities, including funding from federal agencies or commercial sources. Beginning in 2015, the program has supported 59 researchers with 87 awards with approximately $923,500 in project funding. Members are appointed to a three-year term as a SyracuseCoE Faculty Fellow and have opportunities to engage with cross-disciplinary faculty or industry members. 

The Faculty Fellows Program is open to full-time faculty members at SyracuseCoE’s current academic Partner institutions: Syracuse University, SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry (SUNY-ESF), SUNY Upstate Medical University and SUNY Oswego. 

The following faculty members have been closely engaged in research with SyracuseCoE and have been designated as Faculty Fellows. Click on a Researcher’s name to learn more about their projects and areas of focus.


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Click on a name to learn more about their research, projects and areas of focus.

Jeongmin Ahn

Associate Professor, Department of Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering, College of Engineering & Computer Science, Syracuse University

Focus Areas: Advanced energy conversions; fuel cells; batteries; combustion; thermal management; powerMEMS


Professor Akih-kumgeh teaching in the lab

Ben Akih-Kumgeh

Associate Professor, Department of Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering, College of Engineering & Computer Science, Syracuse University

Focus Areas: Combustion physics and chemistry; fuel technology; thermodynamic analysis of energy systems


Photo of Amber Bartosh in the Syracuse Center of Excellence Visualization Lab Using an Oculus Development Kit 2 Visualization Device

Amber Bartosh

Assistant Professor, School of Architecture, Syracuse University

Focus Areas: Resilient architecture; integrated façade systems; responsive environment simulation via virtual and augmented reality


Photo of Tristan Brown

Tristan Brown

Associate Professor, Forest and Natural Resources Management, SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry

Focus Areas: Sustainable energy law & policy; bioenergy systems analysis; techno-economic analysis; climate policy


Photo of Biljana Bujanovic

Biljana Bujanovic

Associate Professor and Associate Chair, Paper and Bioprocess Engineering, SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry

Focus Areas: Lignocellulosics in pulp, paper and biorefinery industry; lignin isolation, characterization and valorization


Tomislav Bujanovic

Associate Teaching Professor, College of Engineering & Computer Science, Electrical Engineering & Computer Science, Syracuse University

Focus Areas: Sustainable microgrid infrastructure with renewable energy sources; microgrid secure communication and cybersecurity


Don Carr

Professor, College of Visual and Performing Arts, School of Design, Syracuse University

Focus Areas: Biomimicry; biophilia


Elizabeth Carter

Assistant Professor, Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering, College of Engineering & Computer Science, Syracuse University

Focus Areas: Disaster response and mitigation; hydrometerology and hydroclimatology; detection of water from space; space/time statistics; machine learning; high-performance computing


Jiajue Chai

Assistant Professor, Department of Chemistry, SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry 

Focus Areas: Indoor air quality; optical spectroscopy and mass spectroscopy; reactive nitrogen cycling; wildfire smoke chemistry and urban air quality


David Chandler

Associate Professor, Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering, College of Engineering & Computer Science, Syracuse University

Focus Areas: Hydrology; climate change; green infrastructure; sustainable development


Heather Coleman

Associate Professor, Biology, Biotechnology, College of Arts & Sciences, Syracuse University

Focus Areas: Genetic and environmental control of cell wall formation; xylogenesis; plant biotechnology; molecular farming; functional genomics


Judy Crawford

Visiting Researcher, SUNY Upstate Medical University

Focus Areas: Air sampling; atmospheric pollution; environmental analysis; health risk assessment


Paul Crovella photos

Paul Crovella

Assistant Professor, Forest and Natural Resources Management, SUNY College of Environmental Science & Forestry

Focus Areas: Sustainable construction; environmental performance measure for buildings; sustainable energy systems for buildings; historic preservation


Thong Dang

Professor, Graduate Affairs Committee Chair, Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Graduate Program Director, College of Engineering & Computer Science, Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering, Syracuse University

Focus Areas: Fluid Mechanics; aerodynamics; propulsion; turbomachine; energy and indoor environmental quality


Photo of Professor Cliff Davidson

Cliff Davidson

Thomas C. and Colleen L. Wilmot Professor of Engineering, Environmental Engineering Program Director, Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering, College of Engineering & Computer Science, Syracuse University

Focus Areas: Factors influencing municipal government decisions to adopt or reject green infrastructure for stormwater management; monitoring the performance of green infrastructure; deposition of atmospheric particles onto urban hardscape such as building roofs


Jason Dedrick

Professor, School of Information Studies, Syracuse University

Focus Areas: Smart grid adoption by electric utilities; economic impacts and job creation in the wind energy industry


Theodore Dibble

Theodore S. Dibble

Professor, Chemistry, SUNY College of Environmental Science & Forestry

Focus Areas: Chemistry of the atmosphere; combustion; irradiation; atmospheric mercury


Bing Dong

Associate Professor, Department of Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering, College of Engineering & Computer Science, Syracuse University

Focus Areas: Grid-interactive efficient buildings; buildings-to-grid integration; intelligent building operation; modeling occupant behavior in buildings


Charles Driscoll

University Professor of Environmental Systems and Distinguished Professor, Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering, College of Engineering & Computer Science, Syracuse University

Focus Areas: Aquatic chemistry; acid rain; biogeochemistry; climate change science and engineering; ecosystem restoration; stormwater management; health impacts of climate change


Sara Eftekharnejad

Sara Eftekharnejad

Assistant Professor, Department of Electrical Engineering & Computer Science, College of Engineering & Computer Science, Syracuse University

Focus Areas: Integration of renewable energy into power systems; power system stability and control; power system reliability and security


Nosa Egiebor

Environmental Resources Engineering, SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry

Focus Areas: Environmental science and engineering in energy and natural resources exploitation, processing and utilization


John Hassett

Professor, Chemistry, SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry

Focus Areas: Behavior of organic chemicals in the environment


Professor Gregory Hoke

Gregory Hoke

Assistant Professor, Department of Earth Sciences, College of Arts and Sciences, Syracuse University

Focus Areas: Tectonic geomorphology; interactions between landscapes; climate and tectonics; isotopic records of terrestrial surface conditions


Professor Ian Hosein

Ian Hosein

Assistant Professor, Department of Biomedical& Chemical Engineering, College of Engineering & Computer Science, Syracuse University

Focus Areas: Materials synthesis and processing; sustainable energy production and storage; environmental remediation and water resource protection; stimuli-responsive and smart materials


Mohammad Islam

Associate Professor, Physics, SUNY Oswego

Focus Areas: Nanoparticle synthesis; electrodeposition; spectroscopy


Chris Johnson

Chris Johnson

Associate Provost for Academic Affairs, Professor, Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering, College of Engineering & Computer Science, Syracuse University

Focus Areas: Soil chemistry; biogeochemical processes in terrestrial ecosystems; chemistry of natural organic matter; trace metals in the environment


H. Ezzat Khalifa

H. Ezzat Khalifa

NYSTAR Distinguished Professor, Department of Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering, College of Engineering & Computer Science, Syracuse University

Focus Areas: Personalized environmental control systems; transport in microenvironments; distributed energy-efficient control of indoor environments; cooling and energy supply systems for high-efficiency data centers


Meng Kong

Research Assistant Professor, Department of Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering, College of Engineering & Computer Science, Syracuse University

Focus Areas: Building environmental and energy management and control


Photo of Bess Krietemeyer

Bess Krietemeyer

Assistant Professor, School of Architecture, Syracuse University

Focus Areas: Urban energy visualization and design decision-making tools; building envelope technologies and simulations for human interaction and design; virtual and augmented reality energy simulations


Deepak Kumar

Assistant Professor, Department of Chemical Engineering, SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry 

Focus Areas: Bio-based circular economy; novel fermentation technologies; enzyme application and kinetics; modeling and multi-objective optimization of biological and chemical processes; techno-economic analysis (TEA) and life cycle assessment (LCA)


Gyu Leem

Associate Professor, Department of Chemistry, SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry 

Focus Areas: Photoelectrocatlaysis; chemoselective C-C/C-O bond cleavage; degradation of  hazardous chemicals in wastewater/drinking water; novel synthetic polymerization methods


Photo of Zunli Lu

Zunli Lu

Associate Professor, Department of Earth Sciences, College of Arts & Sciences, Syracuse University

Focus Areas: Freshwater quality; hydrological tracers; climate change; geochemistry


Professor Robert Malmsheimer

Robert W. Malmsheimer

Professor and Associate Chair, Forest and Natural Resources Management, SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry

Focus Areas: Land-use policies; energy policy


Professor Shalabh Maroo

Shalabh Maroo

Associate Professor, Department of Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering, College of Engineering & Computer Science, Syracuse University

Focus Areas: Energy and thermal management; water desalination and filtration; bio-mechanical systems


Jaime Mirowsky

Assistant Professor, Chemistry, SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry

Focus Areas: Health effects of air pollutants and non-pollutant stressors


Photoof Daekwon Park

Daekwon Park

Assistant Professor, School of Architecture, Syracuse University

Focus Areas: The intersection of design, material technology and environmental science, and its impact on the built environment


Zhao Qin

Assistant Professor, Civil & Environmental Engineering, College of Engineering & Computer Science, Syracuse University

Focus Areas: Developing advanced computational modeling methods; designing new materials of advanced mechanical functions


Quinn Qiao

Professor, Department of Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering, College of Engineering & Computer Science, Syracuse University

Focus Areas: Solar cells; batteries; biomedical sensors; precision agriculture; micro/nano fabrication


Roxanne Razavi

Assistant Professor, Environmental Biology, SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry

Focus Areas: Ecotoxicology; limnology; environmental toxicology; mercury


Professor Suresh Santanam

Suresh Santanum

Associate Professor, Director of Industrial Assessment Center, Department of Biomedical & Chemical Engineering, College of Engineering & Computer Science, Syracuse University

Focus Areas: Built environment energy and indoor air quality (IAQ) improvement studies; health effects due to indoor air contaminants; indoor-outdoor contributions to IAQ


Usha Satish

Professor, Psychiatry and Behavior Sciences, SUNY Upstate Medical University

Focus Areas: Indoor air quality (IAQ), human factors, productivity and evaluation of cognition; complexity theory; stimulation technology


Fritz H. Schlereth

Associate Research Professor, Department of Electrical Engineering & Computer Science, College of Engineering & Computer Science, Syracuse University

Focus Areas: Instrumentation; FPGA applications; software-defined radio


Ralf Schneider

Assistant Professor, Industrial and Interaction Design, College of Visual and Performing Arts, Syracuse University

Focus Areas: Applying design thinking in solving complex problems with interdisciplinary teams; exploring opportunities in virtual, augmented and mixed reality technology


James Spencer

Laura J. and L. Douglas Meredith Professor, Department of Chemistry, College of Arts & Sciences, Syracuse University

Focus Areas: Inorganic chemistry; organometallic chemistry; materials chemistry and solid-state science; new sensor development; forensic science


Photo Of Art Stipanovic

Art Stipanovic

Professor Emeritus, Chemistry, SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry

Focus Areas: Conversion of renewable “woody” biomass for the production of fuels, chemicals and biodegradable materials


Wendong Tao

Associate Professor, Environmental Resources Engineering, SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry

Focus Areas: Ecological engineering and sustainable wastewater treatment; environmental engineering and resource recovery from bioresidues


Svetoslava Todorova

Professor of Practice and Environmental Engineering Program Director, Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering, College of Engineering & Computer Science, Syracuse University

Focus Areas: Transport, cycling, and bioaccumulation of metals in aquatic environments; sustainable engineering practices in built and natural environments; urban stormwater management; smart sensing for monitoring water and air quality; science for policy formation and effective implementation


Senem Velipasalar

Associate Professor, Department of Electrical Engineering & Computer Science, College of Engineering & Computer Science, Syracuse University

Focus Areas: Computer vision; video/image processing; embedded smart cameras; multi-camera multi-object tracking


Tim Volk

Senior Research Associate and Associate Chair, College of Forest and Natural Resources Management, SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry

Focus Areas: Biomass; sustainable energy; environmental science; short-rotation forestry systems; bioenergy; agroforestry; phytoremediation; international forestry


Peter Wilcoxen

Ajello Professor in Energy and Environmental Policy, Laura J. and L. Douglas Meredith Professor for Teaching Excellence, Director for Center for Environmental Policy and Administration, Senior Reseach Associate for Center for Policy Research, Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, Syracuse University

Focus Areas: Climate change; energy policy; environment and development; environmental economics and policy; indoor air quality; international trade and the environment


Professor Nina Sharifi

Nina Wilson

Assistant Professor, School of Architecture, Syracuse University

Focus Areas: Design technologies for resilience in buildings and infrastructure; net-zero deep energy retrofit systems; modular environmental controls design, simulation and visualization tools


Yaqi You

Assistant Professor, Environmental Resources Engineering, SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry

Focus Areas: Environmental microbiology and biotechnology; antibiotic resistome and mobilome; environmental health and pathogen exposure; sustainable food-energy-water nexus; sustainable nanotechnology


Teng Zeng

Assistant Professor, Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering, College of Engineering & Computer Science, Syracuse University

Focus Areas: Fate and transformation of emerging organic contaminants; formation and control of disinfection byproducts; harmful algal blooms; water quality; physical and chemical treatment processes; environmental impacts of energy production


Jianshun “Jensen” Zhang

Professor, Department of Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering, College of Engineering & Computer Science, Syracuse University

Focus Areas: Material emissions; indoor environmental quality; air purification; indoor air quality; hygrothermal performance of building materials and enclosure systems; combined heat, air, moisture and pollutant simulations (CHAMPS)


Weiwei Zheng

Associate Professor, Department of Chemistry, College of Arts & Sciences, Syracuse University

Focus Areas: Nanomaterials; solid state chemistry; inorganic chemistry; physical chemistry; biophysics; photocatalysis


SyracuseCoE is a unit of Syracuse University’s Office of Research. Awards under the Faculty Fellows Program are made possible by funding to support SyracuseCoE activities awarded by Empire State Development’s Division of Science, Technology and Innovation (NYSTAR).