NES Team Awards

Negative Emissions Science

Goal: to catalyze multidisciplinary research from chemistry, materials science, engineering, and other relevant disciplines to advance fundamental science in the design of novel approaches for rapidly removing and utilizing or sequestering greenhouse gases.

Team Awards 2023

Fani Boukouvala, Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology ²  
Kyriakos Stylianou, Chemistry, Oregon State University ²  
Liang Feng, Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science, Duke University ²  
Understanding, Quantifying and Mitigating Adsorbent Degradation: From Fundamental Understanding to Techno-economic Analysis

Rachel Davidson, Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Delaware ²  
Michael Ross, Chemistry, University of Massachusetts Lowell ²  
Wen Song, Center for Subsurface Energy and the Environment, University of Texas at Austin ²  
ML-ROCKS: Machine Learning Reaction Optimization of Carbonation KineticS

Douglas Reed, Chemistry, University of Washington ³  
Eva Nichols, Chemistry, University of British Columbia ³  
Xin Xu, The Polytechnic School, Arizona State University ³  
Gas Capture by Tuning Electric Fields in Conductive MOFs

Michael Ross, Chemistry, University of Massachusetts Lowell ¹  
Ariel Furst, Chemical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology ¹  
Joshua Jack, Civil & Environmental Engineering, University of Michigan ¹  
Cow Burps to Butanol: Bio-electrocatalytic Valorization of Methane to Butanol

Zhe Qiang, Polymer Science and Engineering, University of Southern Mississippi ²  
Marc Porosoff, Chemical Engineering, University of Rochester ²  
Yuan Yao, School of the Environment, Yale University ²  
Modular Production of Aviation Fuel from Point Source Biogas Via Zoned Joule Heating

Benjamin Snyder, Chemistry, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign ¹  
Caroline Saouma, Chemistry, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University ¹  
Yuzhang Li, Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of California, Los Angeles ¹  
Achieving Speed and Scale: Self-Amplifying Adsorbents for Negative Carbon Emissions

Rebecca Ciez, Mechanical Engineering & Environmental and Ecological Engineering, Purdue University ²  
Michael McGuirk, Chemistry, Colorado School of Mines ¹  
Plastic Waste to DAC: A Study of the Chemical and Lifecycle Feasibility of Converting Polyolefin Waste to Aminopolymers for Direct Air Capture

¹  Funded by RCSA
²  Funded by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation
³  Funded by ClimateWorks Foundation

Team Awards 2022

BioDAC: Integrating Enzyme Engineering & Electrochemistry for Sustainable Acrylate Production
Ahmed Badran, Chemistry / Integrative Structural and Computational Biology, Scripps Research Institute *
Jimmy Jiang, Chemistry, University of Cincinnati *
Shaama Mallikarjun Sharada, Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, University of Southern California *

Electro-swing Modulation of Lipophilic Environments for Direct Air Capture of Methane
Yuanyue Liu, Mechanical Engineering, University of Texas at Austin ^
Phillip Milner, Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Cornell University ^
Marcel Schreier, Chemical and Biological Engineering, University of Wisconsin - Madison ^

Surface Charge-induced CO2 Solvent Regeneration Via Free Volume Manipulation
Chibueze Amanchukwu, Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering, University of Chicago *
Yayuan Liu, Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Johns Hopkins University *
Houlong Zhuang, Engineering of Matter, Transport & Energy, Arizona State University ^

Sunlight Driven CO2 Capture and Release
Kandis Leslie Abdul-Aziz, Chemical and Environmental Engineering, University of California, Riverside*
Mita Dasog, Chemistry, Dalhousie University *

Robust Scalable Multifunctional Electrode for CO2 Reduction and C-C Coupling in Seawater
Will Bowman, Materials Science and Engineering, University of California, Irvine †
Jose Mendoza, Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, Michigan State University †
Hang Ren, Chemistry, University of Texas at Austin †    

Triple-intensified Process for Direct Carbon-negative Methanol Synthesis from Biogas
Anindita Das, Chemistry, Southern Methodist University *
Simona Liguori, Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering, Clarkson University *
Rafael Santos, School of Engineering, University of Guelph *

A Radical Approach to Negative Methane Emissions
Adam Holewinski, Chemical & Biological Engineering, University of Colorado Boulder ^
Anna Wuttig, Chemistry, University of Chicago ^

* Funded by Alfred P. Sloan Foundation
^ Funded by RCSA
† Funded by ClimateWorks Foundation

Team Awards 2021

Electrocatalytic Activation and Cycling of Moisture-Swing Direct Air Capture Materials
Matthew Green, Chemical Engineering, Arizona State University †
Gary Moore, School of Molecular Sciences, Arizona State University †
Emily Ryan, Mechanical Engineering, Boston University †

Carbon Dioxide-Methane Coupling with Electric-Field-Polarized Microelectrodes
Zhou Lin, Chemistry, University of Massachusetts Amherst *
Yayuan Liu, Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Johns Hopkins University *
Sen Zhang, Chemistry, University of Virginia *

Photochemical Amine Production from N2 and CO2
Marta Hatzell, Mechanical Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology †
Kathryn Knowles, Chemistry, University of Rochester †
Jose Mendoza, Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, Michigan State University †

Carbon Dioxide Removal from Seawater Driven by a Visible Light-Induced pH Gradient
David Kwabi, Mechanical Engineering, University of Michigan †
Michael Nippe, Chemistry, Texas A&M University, College Station †

Novel Membrane Design for Hybrid Ocean Capture and Desalination
Matthew Green, Chemical Engineering, Arizona State University *
Katherine Hornbostel, Mechanical Engineering & Materials Science, University of Pittsburgh *
Jenny Yang, Chemistry, University of California Irvine *

Electrified Low-Temperature Process for CO2 Capture and Conversion (e-LT-C3)
Charles McCrory, Chemistry, University of Michigan †
Carlos Morales-Guio, Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of California, Los Angeles †

CO2 Conversion to Bioplastics via Electrochemical-Bio Synthesis
Andrea Hicks, Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Wisconsin - Madison *
Chong Liu, Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of California, Los Angeles *
Haotian Wang, Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Rice University *

Electric-Swing Solid State Sorbents for Direct Air Capture of CO2
Adam Holewinski, Chemical & Biological Engineering, University of Colorado Boulder *
Katherine Hornbostel, Mechanical Engineering & Materials Science, University of Pittsburgh †
Yuanyue Liu, Mechanical Engineering, University of Texas at Austin *

* Funded by RCSA
† Funded by Alfred P. Sloan Foundation

Team Awards 2020

Electrifying Humidity-Swing Adsorption for DAC by Modulation of Redox-Polymer Hydration
Shaama Mallikarjun Sharada, Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, University of Southern California †
Burcu Gurkan, Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Case Western Reserve University †
Xiao Su, Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign †

Using Electrochemistry to Improve Selectivity of Plasma-Assisted CO2 Reduction
William Bowman, Materials Science and Engineering, University of California, Irvine †
Eva Nichols, Chemistry, University of British Columbia †
Robert Coridan, Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Arkansas †

Integrated Low-Temperature Electrified Process for CO2 Direct Air Capture and Transformation to Solid Carbon
Kathryn Knowles, Chemistry, University of Rochester *
Carlos Morales-Guio, Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of California, Los Angeles *
Robert Coridan, Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Arkansas *

Investigation of the Carbonation Dynamics of Synthetic Silicates: Guiding the Development of Net-Negative Production Process and Deployment in Enhanced Rock Weathering
Rafael Santos, School of Engineering, University of Guelph ††
Pratik Dholabhai, Physics and Astronomy, Rochester Institute of Technology *
Andrea Hicks, Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Wisconsin - Madison *

Bricks from The Ocean: Hybrid Microbial-Electrochemical Mineralization of CO2
Nanette Boyle, Chemical & Biological Engineering, Colorado School of Mines *
Shu Hu, Chemical and Environmental Engineering, Yale University ††

Solar-Augmented Direct Air Capture of Methane Using Methanotrophic Bacteria
Nanette Boyle, Chemical & Biological Engineering, Colorado School of Mines *
Chong Liu, Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of California, Los Angeles *

Envisioning a Low Carbon Built Environment through Innovative Electrochemical and Chemical Processing of Construction Materials and Enhanced Circular Reuse
Greeshma Gadikota, Civil and Environmental Engineering, Cornell University ††
Venkat Viswanathan, Mechanical Engineering, Carnegie Mellon University ††

Electrochemically Driven Reactive Capture of CO2 from Air Using Azolium-Carboxylates
Wilson Smith, Chemical and Biological Engineering, University of Colorado Boulder *
David Kwabi, Mechanical Engineering, University of Michigan *
Robert Gilliard, Department of Chemistry, University of Virginia *

* Funded by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation
† Funded by RCSA
†† Funded by the Thistledown Foundation