Chemical Engineering Student Earns Fellowship from EPA

Photo Submitted

Ali McAtee inspecting a piece of algae while adviser Jamie Hestekin looks on. (Photo courtesy of Bryan Hill, Assistant Dean of Student Recruitment & International Programs, College of Engineering.)

Ali McAtee, a chemical engineering junior, has received a Greater Research Opportunities Undergraduate Fellowship from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for the 2010-2012 academic years. In addition to her fellowship, McAtee will participate in a paid summer internship at an EPA research laboratory or another EPA facility in the United States.

McAtee's undergraduate research focuses on the addition of carbon dioxide to enhance algae growth, with an overall goal of extracting oils and carbohydrates from algae for production into both biodiesel and butanol. Her advisor, Jamie Hestekin, assistant professor of chemical engineering, is currently researching ways to allow removal of organic ions even at very low concentrations through the use of wafer-enhanced electrodeionization.

More than 150 undergraduate students applied for GRO Fellowships, and 34 were selected, based on academic merit and intended research in an environmentally related field of study. Students awarded GRO Fellowships receive support for their junior and senior years of undergraduate study and for an internship at an EPA facility during the summer prior to beginning their senior year. The fellowship provides up to $17,000 per year of academic support and $7,500 of internship support for the three-month summer period.