New Faculty

Dr. Hua Cai joined the faculty of Purdue University with a joint appointment in Environmental and Ecological Engineering and Industrial Engineering in August 2015. Dr. Cai's research interests include environmental impacts of emerging transportation systems, energy-water nexus, energy policy, and urban sustainability. Dr. Cai received her B.S. in 2005 from Tsinghua University and M.S. in 2007 from The Pennsylvania State University, both in Environmental Engineering. She was an environmental engineer and laboratory manager at CDM Smith from 2007 to 2011. Dr. Cai received her Ph.D. in 2015 from University of Michigan in Natural Resource and Environment and Environmental Engineering (jointly conferred).

Dr. Brady Hardiman will join the faculty of Purdue University in January 2016 with a joint appointment in Environmental and Ecological Engineering and Forestry and Natural Resources. Dr. Hardiman’s research interests focus on understanding the interaction of structure and function in coupled natural and human ecosystems. Specific interests include the role of vegetation in urban carbon cycling and the influence of forest canopy structure on carbon sequestration rates. His research is directed toward improving management strategies for urban and rural forests to optimize provision of ecosystem services such as carbon storage and climate mitigation. Dr. Hardiman received a B.S. in Biology from Ashland University in 2003. In 2012, he earned a Ph.D. in Evolution, Ecology, and Organismal Biology from The Ohio State University. Prior to joining Purdue, he was a postdoctoral associate at Boston University.

Dr. Michael Mashtare joined the faculty of Purdue University with a joint appointment in Environmental and Ecological Engineering and Agronomy in August 2015. He was a USDA AFRI NIFA Postdoctoral Fellow at Purdue University until fall 2015. He received a B.S. from the Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences Program and a Ph.D. from the Interdisciplinary Ecological Sciences and Engineering Graduate Program and Department of Agronomy at Purdue University in 2009 and 2013, respectively. His research interests center around two complimentary areas: (1) understanding the biogeochemical interactions regulating the fate, availability/bioaccessibility, and transportation of emerging organic and inorganic chemicals in urban-and agro-ecosystems; and (2) the use of municipal, industrial, and manufacturing residuals/wastes to reclaim, remediate, or restore degraded soil and water at the field and landscape scales.

Dr. Roshanak Nateghi joined the faculty of Purdue University with a joint appointment in Environmental and Ecological Engineering and Industrial Engineering in August 2015. Dr. Nateghi uses an interdisciplinary approach to address the sustainability challenges of critical infrastructure systems. Her main areas of focus include multi hazard risk assessment, disaster risk management, infrastructure safety, reliability and resilience analysis, and climate change adaptation. Prior to joining Purdue she was a National Science Foundation Science Engineering and Education for Sustainability (NSF SEES) Fellow working jointly between Johns Hopkins University and Resources for the Future. She received her MEng degree in Mechanical Engineering from Imperial College London and her MSE and Ph.D degrees in Environmental Engineering from Johns Hopkins University.

New Staff

Patti Finney joined the EEE staff as an administrative assistant for the new graduate program.  She is excited to see how the new graduate program will develop and grow in the next few years.  Patti has worked 11 years at Purdue.  Patti started her career at Purdue in the Speech, Language and Hearing Sciences Department as a secretary in their clinic for 2 years.  Patti transferred to the Materials Science Engineering Department where she served 9 years as the department graduate assistant in processing applications for new incoming students and assisting students with their graduate needs.  She also served on several faculty search committees and supported the faculty in the department.   Prior to working at Purdue, she had her own insurance agency in Orland Park, IL.  Patti enjoys working with the staff and interacting with students and faculty here at the university.