Meet the Team!
Graduate Students
Aliya Ehde
Aliya is an Environmental & Ecological Engineering Ph.D. candidate investigating the chemical and microbial dynamics of drinking water quality within building plumbing infrastructure. She received her B.S. in Civil Engineering from the University of California, Berkeley where she participated in the nationwide research efforts investigating the water quality within buildings shutdown during the COVID-19 Pandemic.
In her free time, Aliya loves to backpack, rock climb, play board games, and hang out with her dog, Sadie.
Jorge Martinez Del'Angel
Jorge Del'Angel is pursuing a Ph.D. in Agricultural & Biological Engineering, with research centered on developing fertilizers from landfill leachate. He earned his B.S. in Biological & Agricultural Systems Engineering with a minor in Global Agriculture from Florida A&M University and M.S. in Civil Engineering at the joint Florida A&M University-Florida State University College of Engineering, where his thesis focused on correlating landfill surface methane concentrations with total landfill methane emissions (flux).
Jorge is actively involved in the Black Graduate Student Association, the Agricultural & Biological Engineering Graduate Student Association, and his church Acts 2 Fellowship amongst other organizations as well. Whenever Jorge is not in lab he enjoys grilling and cooking in general, being outdoors, and traveling to new places.
Emily Spicuzza
Emily received her B.S. in Soil & water Sciences from Purdue University in 2023 and is a current Master's Student in Ecological Sciences & Engineering. Her research focuses on the development of biofilm and water quality management in hydroponic systems, where plants are grown in a nutrient rich solution.
Outside of research, Emily is an active member of Purdue's Bowling Team, traveling across the country to compete!
Daniel Ceglio
Daniel graduated from Purdue in 2024 with a Bachelor's of Environmental and Ecological Engineering, where he was a member of the Proctor lab group for 3 years. He continued at Purdue, and is now pursuing his Master's of Environmental and Ecological Engineering. His research focuses on using 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing data to explore and analyze the microbiome of drinking water inside buildings and homes. Daniel also works part-time for the EPA's office of transportation and air quality.
When not doing school work, Daniel enjoys watching basketball and going to the movies.
Addrita Haque
Addrita Haque is pursuing her Ph.D. in Environmental and Ecological Engineering at Purdue University. She completed her B.S. in Water Resources Engineering from Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET) in May 2022 and her M.S. in Civil and Environmental Engineering from Clarkson University in August 2024. Currently, Addrita's work focuses working on biofilm detachment within drinking water systems.
In her free time, Addrita may pick up her canvas and paint a landscape!
Steph Heffner
Steph is a Master's student in Environmental and Ecological Engineering (EEE) at Purdue. She began doing research in the Whelton lab group as an undergraduate in EEE, where she explored the impacts of thermal degradation of plumbing materials on water quality and collected water samples from houses and creeks in East Palestine, Ohio, after the train derailment and chemical spill. During her senior year of her undergraduate studies, Steph began working on a Master's thesis, co-advised by Dr. Whelton and Dr. Proctor. Her thesis focuses on water quality in stagnant plumbing systems with a focus on microbial communities and forms of sulfur. She also works part-time in the water services group at CDM Smith.
Outside of school, Steph enjoys roller blading and playing pickleball.
Undergraduate Students & Research Technicians
Katie Smith
Katie is a junior majoring in Biological Engineering with a concentration in Cellular and Biomolecular Engineering and a minor in Biotechnology. Her current research interests are detecting and disinfecting pathogenic amoebas in biofilm reactors for applications in plumbing systems. She has previously worked with the “Tentacles” plumbing system, studying the impacts of long-term system disuse on pipe wall biofilms. She is actively involved in the Women in Engineering Program at Purdue, where she serves as a mentor to first year engineering students and engages in outreach. In her free time, she enjoys hiking and playing volleyball.
Past grad members:
Madeline Larsen (Grad, MSc Dec 2023)
Liam Johnson (Grad, MSc May 2024)
Past undergrads (Purdue students unless noted):
Madelyn Whitaker
Gavin Duffy
Salomon Caro Castillo (Universidad de los Andes, Colombia, SURF 2024)
Ruth Wei
Aanya Doshi
Catie Fleming
Adelle Holder (Valparaiso University, Indiana, SURF 2022)
Samantha Langdon
Madeline Rockey
Rylan Elliott
Alexis Lowe
Monique Watson
Danielle Angert
Alex Mate