Dr. Rahil Changotra

From trash to treasure: Sustainable solutions for wastewater treatment

From trash to treasure: Sustainable solutions for wastewater treatment

The Bioenergy and Bioproducts Research Lab on the Agricultural Campus focuses on converting abundantly available and low-valued biomass waste into high-value materials for environmental remediation applications, primarily on wastewater treatment. “We are working with organic waste and turning it into something useful,” says Sophie He, Department of Engineering. For example, Dr. He and her team are converting spent coffee grounds, flax shives, barley straw and sawdust to biofuels or biocarbon materials.