Our Team

We are a group of curious and passionate researchers working together to make our habitats safer and water cleaner.  We collaborate and support each other and welcome new motivated members to join us!

Principle Investigator - Judy Yang

I am currently an assistant professor in the Department of Civil, Environmental, and Geo-Engineering and Saint Anthony Falls Laboratory at the University of Minnesota (UMN). I obtained my M.Sc and Ph.D. degrees in Environmental Engineering at MIT in 2015 and 2018, respectively. Before joining UMN, I was a postdoctoral researcher at Princeton University from 2018 to 2020. I am a passionate environmental scientist interested in developing multiscale and interdisciplinary research to unravel the complex interactions among biota, fluids, and particles (sediment, soil). My group designs multiscale experiments, ranging from microfluidics to flume experiments, to address critical environmental questions related to coastal erosion, harmful algal blooms, soil carbon dynamics, and pathogen and contaminant transport in soil and sediment. I am also a proud first-generation college graduate, teacher, and mentor. As a teacher, my greatest pleasure would be to help empower students from various backgrounds to reach their full potential.  Learn more 

Graduate & Undergraduate Students 

Shih-Hsun Huang

PhD-candidate

(2020-present) 

Yuan Li


PhD-candidate

(2021-present) 

William Guanju Wei

PhD-candidate

(2021-present)  

Soukaina Benaich

Graduate Student

(2023-present) 

Kuan-Ying Lee


Graduate Student

(2023-present) 

Imtisaal Naeem


Undergraduate Student

(2024-present) 

Postdoc Associates

Jorge San Juan Blanco

Postdoc (2021-2023), currently  affiliated researcher 

Kaigang Yang


Postdoc (2023-present)

Willian Assis


Postdoc (2024-present)

Our Alumni

Postdocs and graduate students


Undergraduates