Dr. Erica Marie Hartmann began her research career at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, where she worked as on mass spectrometry-based methods for detecting microbial enzymes necessary for bioremediation. From Hopkins, she moved to Arizona State University where she was the first graduate of the interdisciplinary Biological Design PhD program. Following her graduation, she was awarded a Fulbright to study microbes that degrade the toxic, carcinogenic pollutants known as dioxins in France at the Commission for Atomic Energy. She began leading studies on the effects of antimicrobial chemicals on the microbes found in indoor dust at the Biology and the Built Environment Center at the University of Oregon and is currently continuing that work as an associate professor at Northwestern. You can contact her via LinkedIn, Twitter or Instagram.
Dr. Weitao Shuai is a Research Associate in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Northwestern University. She is interested in environmental microbiology, especially how microorganisms interact with pollutants and nutrients as well as natural systems. Previously, Weitao worked on anaerobic ammonium oxidation coupled to iron reduction (Feammox) in constructed wetlands and microbial electrolysis cells during her Ph.D. study at Princeton University, where she graduated in January 2021.
Aishvarya Agrawal is a Research Technician who received her undergraduate degree in Biotechnology from Pune University in India and M.S. in Biotechnology from Northwestern University. During her Masters she joined the Hartmann lab to further her curiosity about microbial interactions and their impact on society by studying quorum sensing in Pseudomonas aeruginosa. She is interested in learning molecular biology techniques to improve her understanding of bacterial interactions, pathogenesis and virulence.
Graduate Students
Stefanie Huttelmaier is a PhD student in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering working under the guidance of both the Hartmann and Wells Labs. She received her B.A. in Biology and Environmental Science at Carthage College in 2018. Her research interests revolve around the potential to manipulate microbial communities in engineered systems to mitigate environmental impacts of human activity. She is currently exploring the use of bacteriophage as process control for nutrient removal systems in wastewater treatment and the potential applications of wastewater-based epidemiology as an early detection method for the outbreak of infectious disease.
Jack Thomas Sumner is a curiosity-driven scientist who seeks to understand biological systems from a holistic perspective. During his undergraduate career, he researched rapid genome evolution and studied molecular and cellular biology at California Polytechnic State University. Jack is currently a PhD student in the Interdisciplinary Biological Science Program at Northwestern University. He aims to distill factors that drive biological innovation in human microbiomes by first exploring their structure, function, and dynamics with integrative multi-omics.
Anahid Amani Moghadam is a PhD student in the Civil and Environmental Engineering Department. She received a bachelor’s in microbiology in 2016 and a master’s in microbial biotechnology in 2019, both from University of Tehran. During her bachelor’s, she worked with extremophile bacteria. Her master’s project was on microbial bioremediation of agricultural pesticides. As well as learning new wet lab skills, she is working on dry lab skills and learning how to be a bioinformatician. She is interested in trying new projects in different areas, even though they might be challenging at first, because that’s how we find what we truly are passionate about.
Shelby Tillema is a PhD student and NSF Graduate Research Fellow in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Northwestern University. She received her B.S. in Environmental Engineering from the University of Colorado Boulder in 2021. Shelby is interested in how occupant health is affected by perturbations in indoor environmental quality, such as from emerging contaminants and natural disasters. She works to mitigate the resulting harmful effects through engineered solutions, community engagement, and scientific communication. For fun, Shelby likes to travel, make pottery, play video and tabletop games, and find new restaurants and bookstores in Chicago. You can contact Shelby or find her on LinkedIn and X.
Yilin Feng is a PhD student in the Interdisciplinary Biological Sciences program. He received his bachelor’s degree in Molecular & Cellular Biology from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. He is interested in manipulating microbial populations through engineered bacteriophages to facilitate the control and utilization of environmental microbiomes. He is enthusiastic in learning and trying new techniques, especially interdisciplinary ones, during his PhD study because these techniques could provide inspiration and expand the boundaries of existing research methods. You can find him on LinkedIn.
Katy Bond is a PhD student in the Interdisciplinary Biological Sciences Program, who received her B.S. in Cell and Molecular Biology from Northeastern University in 2023. During undergrad, she worked at the Regehr Lab at Harvard Medical School and Strand Therapeutics, researching novel non-motor cerebellum/forebrain pathways and lipid nanoparticle-mRNA cancer therapeutics. She is interested in in-vitro modeling of the human microbiome, specifically the lung microbiome in severe penumonia, to identify microbial dynamics driving disease pathogensis, progression, and health outcomes. You can find her on LinkedIn.
Jiahe Yu is a Master’s student in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Northwestern University. He completed his undergraduate studies at Penn State University. He is interested in how microbial communities respond to human-made chemical products, and particularly in indoor environments. He enjoys applying multi-scale technologies to investigate the behavior of microorganisms, and their interactions with human activities. He hopes his scientific research can have a positive influence and promote education. In addition, he is an enthusiastic amateur barista, enjoys watching anime, and loves exploring the beauty of nature.
Undergraduates
Andrew Watson is a recent graduate from Hollis, NH. In the Hartmann Lab, Andrew has previously worked on the phylogeny of perinatally transmitted ESBL-E. He is currently focused on investigating superinfection immunity and antiphage defense systems in virulent Pseudomonas aeruginosa. When he isn’t doing lab work, Andrew serves as treasurer of Northwestern’s outdoors club, likes to write music for the piano, and is an avid pizza enthusiast. He was profiled here, and you can find him on LinkedIn.
Simon Kissel is a senior from Madison, WI studying Math and Biology. Previously, he has done bioinformatics work on the monkey gut microbiome. He is excited to engage in projects pertaining to antimicrobial textiles as he continues to work in the lab. Outside of lab, Simon enjoys eating good food, being outdoors, and running with the Northwestern Track Club.
Ella Kharrazi is a junior from the Bay Area, California studying Biology, Global Health, and Art History. She previously worked in the Green Lab at the University of California, San Francisco, exploring novel treatments for multiple sclerosis and remyelination of axons. In the Hartmann Lab, she focuses on the defense mechanisms of Pseudomonas aeruginosa in response to bacteriophages to ultimately investigate phage therapy treatment. In her free time, she enjoys reading, playing intramural sports, and walking outdoors.