Dr. Sunny Jiang
Principal Investigator, Professor
sjiang@uci.edu

Dr. Sunny Jiang is a professor of Environmental Engineering in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering with joint appointment with the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of California, Irvine. Dr. Jiang teaches graduate and undergraduate courses in Environmental Processes, Microbiology for Engineers and Desalination & Water Reuse. She has over 20 years of experience in environmental microbiology research and is a leader in the field of water quality, pathogen detection, microbial risk assessment and membrane biofouling. She has authored over 70 research publications in the field of environmental microbiology (http://www.researcherid.com/rid/H-7702-2012). Dr. Jiang received her Ph.D. degree in Marine Science from University of South Florida and completed her postdoctoral training with Dr. Rita Colwell in University of Maryland. She is a recipient of several honors and awards including Excellent Research Mentor Award and Sacket Prize for Innovative Research. During her spare time, Dr. Jiang enjoys outdoor activities and has completed eight full marathons and many half marathons.

Current Laboratory Members

Dr. Samira Nahim-Granados
Postdoctoral Researcher, Visiting Scholar

Dr. Samira Nahim is currently a postdoctoral researcher (Juan de la Cierva Postdoctoral
Fellowship) in the Water Solar Treatment Unit at the Plataforma Solar de Almería in Spain (http://www.psa.es/en/areas/tsa). She has a multidisciplinary education: Degree in Chemistry, Master in Advanced Chemistry (extraordinary award and RSEQ award), Master in Quality Management and Safety in the Agro-food sector and PhD in Biotechnology and Industrial Bioprocesses Applied to Agrifood and Environment (extraordinary award and IPS-AOP award). Her professional activity began in 2015 in the field of Green Chemistry. After that, her research activity in Plataforma Solar of Almería is focused on the application of advanced oxidation and photocatalytic processes for the simultaneous disinfection and decontamination of industrial/urban wastewater and the assessment of their subsequent reuse for vegetable irrigation studying the translocation of the microbiological and chemical pollutants to the irrigated crops.

Katherine Brenner
Ph.D. Student

Katherine Brenner is a second-year Ph.D. student under Professor Sunny Jiang in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at UCI. During her undergraduate studies at UCLA, she was involved with the COVID-19 wastewater project, Natural & Working Lands California Air Resource Board Health Scenario Tool, and the Mahendra environmental engineering lab. Her interests include researching how microorganisms can be used to create bioremediation techniques to improve water quality. She is specifically interested in utilizing her public health background to address environmental engineering multifaceted problems, with an emphasis on improving health outcomes.

Jacquelynn Nguyen
Ph.D. Student

Jacquelynn Nguyen is a second-year Ph.D. student under Professor Sunny Jiang in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at UCI. She is currently involved in the development of hydrogel bio-beads, containing bacteria and biochar, as a media for the absorption, removal, and degradation of microcystins in surface water. Jacquelynn graduated in 2022 from Oregon State University (OSU) with a B.S in Environmental Engineering and a minor in Toxicology. At OSU, she was involved in a study investigating the antibiotic resistance E.coli trends in wastewater and biosolids in wastewater treatment plants across Oregon. In her free time, Jacquelynn loves to play video games, scrapbooking her various adventures, and embroider. LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jacquelynn-nguyen/

Aiswarya Rani Pappu, M.S.
Ph.D. Student

Aiswarya Rani Pappu is a third-year Ph.D. student supervised by Professor Sunny Jiang in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at UCI. She entered UCI in Fall 2021 in the Environmental Engineering program as a doctoral student. She is interested in understanding fate and transport of pathogens. She is currently involved in a wastewater SARS-CoV-2 monitoring project in the UCI campus communities. This project aims to provide an mechanism for early- and real-time warning of infection in the community, and use the outcomes to guide public health protection policy. Before UCI, Aiswarya received her Master’s degree in Civil and Environmental Engineering from the University of Utah, Salt Lake City. She also worked as an Associate Environmental Engineer at Stantec, Pasadena for a couple of years. In her free time she loves to paint, go hiking, listen to music, and do gardening.

Yen Hsiang Huang, M.S.
Ph.D. Candidate

Yen is a six-year Ph.D. candidate supervised by professor Sunny Jiang in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at UCI. He entered UCI in Fall 2017 for his M.S. study, and he transferred doctoral program in Fall 2018. His research aims to develop rapid detection methods for antibiotics and pathogens in the complex water matrix. He developed a rapid and label-free strategy by selective intensifying the SERS signals of antibiotics among complex matrices using SERS substrates that have carefully designed nano-gap spacing. He is currently working on Integrating the entire workflow needed for pathogens detection, including sample preparation and nucleic acid amplification techniques (NAATs), onto a single centrifugal microfluidic disc. Before UCI, he got his bachelor’s degree in Environmental Engineering from National Cheng Kung University in Taiwan. In his free time, he loves watching movies, hanging with his dog Benny, and traveling.

Ashley Green, M.S.
Ph.D. Student

Ashley Green is a fourth-year Ph.D. student supervised by Professor Sunny Jiang in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at UCI. She entered UCI in Fall 2020 in the Environmental Engineering program as a doctoral student. She is currently involved in a wastewater surveillance project for SARS-CoV-2 locally in Southern California. This project aims to quantify the concentration of viral RNA in the wastewater and improve the sampling design for SARS-CoV-2 from wastewater collection systems. Before UCI, she got her bachelors degree in Environmental Engineering from California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo and interned for the Central Coast Water Board and City of Los Angeles Sanitation. In her free time she loves cooking, hanging with her dog Ema, staying involved with the National Society of Black Engineers, and playing (and hopefully winning) board games.

Alexis Guerra
Ph.D. Student

Alexis Guerra is a fourth-year Ph.D. student in the Environmental Health Sciences Program under Dr. Sunny Jiang’s supervision at UCI. She joined the lab in Fall 2020 to work on her doctoral degree. Her current project focuses on coastal ocean microbiomes and water quality along urban communities, including Southern California. This project aims to identify how human pathogens carried by waste flowing to the ocean contribute to the population of bacteria, fungi, and viruses in ocean water and beach sand. She collaborates with research teams across the U.S., Europe, and Australia to spearhead a publication on an international coastal water quality project. Before entering Dr. Jiang’s lab, Alexis earned her bachelor’s degree in Biological Sciences at UCI. She worked on antibiotic resistance research as an undergraduate in the UCI Minority Science Program. She enjoys hiking, photography, Polynesian dancing, and going to the beach during her free time.

Mengyuan (Rayna) Guo
Undergraduate Researcher

Rayna is a fourth-year undergraduate student in the School of Biological Science under Dr.Jiang’s supervision at UCI. She joined Jiang’s lab in the Summer of 2022 as an undergraduate student. She is currently assisting Alexis in a coastal fungal detection and sand quality study in Southern California. The aim of this project is to investigate fungal contamination and anti-fungal resistance in sand and water. In her free time, she likes playing video games, archery, listening to Kpop music, going to concerts, and knitting.

Matthew Hileman
Undergraduate Researcher

Matthew Hileman is a fourth-year UCI undergraduate pursuing a major in Public Health Sciences with a minor in Health Statistics. He joined the Sunny Jiang Lab in Summer 2023 as part of his acceptance into UCI’s Public Health Research Honors Program. Underneath the mentorship of Ph.D. student Ashley Green, his primary project consists of contributing new virus data to and analyzing trends in The Jiang Lab’s 2020-2021 wastewater surveillance database. Prior to this work, in Fall 2023 Matthew joined and remains a researcher in the UCI German Lab, through which he presented his research at UROP and co-authored: [1] “Can you stomach it? Comparative transcriptomics and biochemistry of the stomachs of prickleback fishes consuming different diets” & [2] “Guiding the Direction of Future Organotin Research on Marine Invertebrates”. When not busy, Matthew enjoys writing, playing the piano, singing, writing and listening to music, crocheting, embroidering, reading, and gaming. His current goals are to finish his Bachelor’s, pursue a Ph.D. in Environmental Sciences, and eventually attain a government position where he will specialize in water quality, protection, and pollution-prevention.

Javin Chung
Undergraduate Researcher

Javin Chung is a second-year undergraduate student pursuing a major in Biological Sciences and joined Dr. Jiang’s lab in Winter of 2023. He is currently assisting Jacquelynn Nguyen in the development of hydrogel bio-beads as a media for the adsorption, removal, and degradation of microcystins. Javin loves to surf at Huntington Beach and go on hikes in his free time.