Professor Annalisa Onnis-Hayden is a Teaching professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Northeastern University, where she has been teaching since 2005. She has received her MS and PhD in Environmental Engineering at Northeastern University and University of Cagliari, Italy. Her main research interest and activity focus on the use of microbes for environmental sustainability. Specifically, she works on biological nutrient removal and recovery from wastewater, removal of emerging contaminants, water reuse, as well as energy and material recovery from waste. She is passionate about teaching environmental engineering to students and always looks for creative ways to engage her students. She is the author of many peer-reviewed publications, and her students have won multiple regional, national, and international design competitions.
Organized and hosted by Kunsang Tenzin Wogthing, a senior at Melrose High School.
#WomeninSTEM #womeninSTEM #stemeducation #steminist #tenzin
[Music] hi I’m Kang and I’m a senior at Melrose High School this is the seven talk in my woman and stem speaker series featuring accomplished women Professionals in stem with the goal of educating and inspiring youth our speaker will talk for about 20 to 25 minutes about her education and career and we’ll leave our questions until the end with 10 minutes or so of a Q&A session this meeting is being recorded so that we can get the most out of the talk our speaker today is Dr Analisa Onis Hayden Analisa Onis Hayden is a teaching professor in the Department of Civil and environmental engineering at North Eastern University where she has been teaching since 2005 she has received her master of science and PhD in environmental engineering at nor Eastern University and University of calary Italy her main research interest and activity focus on the use of microbes for environmental sustainability specifically she works on biological nutrient removal and recovery from Wastewater removal of emerging contaminants water reuse as well as energy and material recovery from waste she’s passionate about teaching environmental engineering to students and is always looking at creative ways to engage her students she’s the author of many peer-reviewed Publications and her students have won multiple Regional National and international design competitions now I’ll hand it over to Analisa thank you very much for that nice presentation an introduction I’m going to be sharing my screen all right good evening everyone as um mentioned my name is Analisa on and I’m a professor at Northeast University and uh I’m going to tell you a little bit about my journey um where I started and where I’m not right now so I’m actually originally from Italy uh from Sardinia an island surrounded by uh clear water and the Mediteranean and I’ve always loved uh the outdoor I’ve always loved math and science and I since a young age I’ve always been excited and um to protect natural resources so I decided to study environmental engineering at the University of c and uh and that’s where I and where I started uh long time ago H and uh and I’m still today an environmental engineer professor at the North Eastern um so what uh a person from an island in theeran hands up in the in the United States and doing environmental engineering well throughout my uh career I’ve so I started as I mentioned um started environmental engineering and um through my college uh I was able actually to travel and do some uh research and uh um study abroad um so so I studied in K uh but I studied for a year in b um during doing my master uh I had the opportunity to study in France uh at the University de M uh where I did um s research on um with the company leono at that time um then I started my PhD uh and um France was a part of that journey and I was able also to um to do a a short um summer program at a UMass in h um I got married uh with a an American uh which I met in France so that was a it was not part of my plan moving to the United States but uh I Found Love and uh and I moved to the US um and uh so I did a additional School work at Northeastern and um as a postto research and I started start teaching Northeastern and I’ve been uh uh teaching U now for almost 20 years uh and um being in the civil and environmental engineering department um in addition of teaching I also have cover other role um as a undergraduate studies Vice chair so I look at programming and uh and um especially in the environmental engineering field and how uh students can learn and uh um how we can um better make a program that it’s a more of an interest to uh to student but also to critical solve um issue that we as a society are facing so uh I have two passion in my life um and uh I think uh one passion it’s on clean water uh bugs uh microbes and biotechnology and sustainability and I am really passion I’m a teaching Professor I’ve um passionate about teaching students and uh trying really to use all alternative way to teach them and to make sure that they understand the material and they get passion for um for the material that they are studying um so let me tell you a little bit about a uh clean water biot technology and sustainability and how they Fe with my life and with my career so um not sure if you’re all familiar with but uh um there are still uh 3.4 million uh people that died each year from a water related disease and this is almost the entire city of Los Angeles and uh water and Water Sanitation it’s still a critical uh component um not a that still million people that do not have access to clean water and uh in order to have um a world that is a develop in the right direction with sustainable development uh clean water and sanitation it’s a it’s a critical component uh there are a lot of other things that as a um an environmental Engineers I get to tackle and uh especially related to sustainable development goal and I’ll talk a little bit about that but uh my uh main focus for the last 20 years has been on uh uh on water and I’m making water uh clean uh for people to be to use not only uh for drinking but also for all sort of use of water from recreational um to um agricultural use and so forth so this is why clean water we need a it’s essential to life um and uh though often time we take it for granted especially in developing Nation develop Nation like the us or Europe um we still have um problem of access to clean water and even in developed Nation like the US of Europe there are still um place where water uh become either scars uh because of uh the location if you think about people living in the southwest of the United States there is a there are drought and having access to water sometimes it’s a uh it’s an issue uh and there has been a um issue also to access to to clean water and issue of H environmental justice consideration if you think about I don’t know if you any of you have um see the news on a water crisis in in the US was from Flint uh Michigan uh to Jacksonville um there has been a lot of places where uh water um not being provided to all of it of the citizen um and water that it’s safe to drink so this is one of my passionate research on making sure that we can um that everybody has access to clean water uh but there are so many way to uh potential clean water um there are physical chemical processes that are uh useful um I like to um focus on the little tiny um things uh microbes so use a biotechnology and so trying to use uh really microbes in nature uh to uh clean up water and um there are many contaminant in water uh due to human activity uh industrial activity um that uh could affect water quality so uh the use of a um a lake or a river might be uh you cannot swim there uh because of a water quality issue but also a potential human health uh problem a lot of contaminant that are carcinogens or toxic to human life um so this is uh where my research has been focused um so as an environmental engineer research so I’ve been a professor in North Eastern and being a professor allowed me to do research uh in things that I’m passionate about um so what I’ve uh tried to do uh for many years is try to really understand understand microbes uh what do they like uh so what are the environmental condition that they need to drive uh do they need um special temperature uh uh special nutrients um so that we can really and they can help us to clean up water nature is uh wonderful and microbes the microbial life it’s very diverse H and um and so identifying uh microbes that are present already they have develop uh some uh function uh like clean up uh contaminants it’s it’s key um to design and operate system um so I’ve really research so the picture that you see uh there of that magazine water environment research that picture all those little red and yellow dots are actually microbs uh microbs that are present in waste water from plant uh and we identify them and we can give name to them but the most important things is not just giving them name but give them understanding what is their function and if we know what is their function and what they like we can better design system so um I typically do a lot of uh uh apply research uh so work a lot um understanding the microbial Ecology of engineering system uh mainly to help design better um treatment plant um if we know if we understand microbes they can do a lot of things for us if we make them happy they will be able to work free for us um different from a chemical or physical process microbes really and you make them happy they will do uh with very little resources so that’s what I I try to do as environmental engineering um and uh I do this through molecular work uh and and also engineering so building reactor uh building a pilot uh pilot system uh to optimize um process now um another things that I’m passionate about is uh when we are studying a different process uh we really wanted to understand the overall impact of that process so if I’m designing something to remove a contaminant uh I want to really to understand um adding that process into our system doesn’t have other indirect impact um so we did a a study also on looking at um how treatment process can impact uh for example um ozone depletion or global warming but also acidification uh all the way to carcinogenic risk uh when we are design process we need to think about our sustainability and uh it might be a process that get us clean remove one contaminant what but what are the impact on other things so this is a one that I really uh enjoy uh and trying to figure it out so we always have to look at it holistically a system not just a one single problem it’s it’s never just one thing we need to look at Sy system so that’s a a like to do um this uh this picture here that I’m just showing here it’s like waste water um I’ve always that connotation waste is something negative and people do not want to think about it both on the waste water or the solid waste uh but another passion of mine has been looking at resources within this waist stream um so there is plenty of of opportunity for recovering uh nutrients uh for for growing food for example for a growing population uh there are opportunity to recover energy uh from waste uh resources so uh this is another area where biotechnology and microbes can really help us so that’s a another area that I’m really passionate as an environmental engineer now this is a little bit of my um interest and love uh for the the science the math and the applied part um at the end of the day it’s providing uh recommendation for Designing A system that it’s um more sustainable uh easy to implement and that can be applied um both in a develop Nation as well um developing Nation um to solve those critical issue of water water infrastructure but how do I do that well I do research but honestly I’m not the one doing the the research my student are and H that’s where the second passion comes and that I’m a professor I love teaching um and I think um I have the greatest job in the world uh as um I can uh always be in contact with your mind passion uh students that care about the environment and uh um they’re going to be doing making a difference so um environmental engineer I think that’s what I love about it the fact that the things that we do make um change and the differences and the students that uh study are really passionate students but how do they get the passion in I think uh as a teacher um is not only just telling them but he showing them how things work and um one things that I love to do it’s taking students on field trip um to really uh teach them and see how the industry work how nature work how engineering works and make them really critically thinking about um those process so a lot of this picture here are group of students that I’ve taken in a different field trip um so we uh we visit a waste water plant uh and uh here it’s the this picture on the left it’s seen where waste water goes waste water goes into a receiving water body in a river and I seen the impact on the river ecosystem it’s critical for the student to understand the importance of that the engineer process here we were looking at a um a planted that recover paper and transform into new product um so that’s understanding how the process work and the important of uh recycling uh here on the right we’re in Boston actually looking at how Green Space can be transformed to have a benefit impact on storm water and storm water quality to get a better uh Charles River if you are from this area uh and here on the bottom of this picture like we all dress up with this Asma we actually on top of a landfill and um trying to um show them how to uh how this system work and how the environmental impact now I do this I’m fortunate enough to work at nor Eastern that as you saw like in my experience I’ve travel h i loved my study abroad experience so I wanted to to bring this to the students so I take actually my student to Italy for a six week program um and we teach them all about sustainable waste management and so it’s a lot about field trip and uh learning and meeting with with people because I think it’s critical um to understand and to meet with other environmental engineering it’s not just a calculation it’s a understanding people needs and uh people impact uh from pollutant for example and so having that connection it’s critical and uh one of the things that students need I believe that hands-on experience are critical to learn so I do have a lot of students that work with me in the lab and we do a lot of research uh cool research uh the student come up with their idea and uh I always tell them as long as you come out with a a microbes a biological process or plant-based system uh that can fix we can try and see how that works and I’m more I Northeastern the other things that we do a lot it’s with the student are engaged with the community um so I’m involved with um um some student group uh that help for example build community garden um it engineer without border where we bring water um what system in um in remote Nation remote um Uganda Guatemala uh Panama um Honduras we have built a school and water system um um in different area and I also work a lot with the student on project uh the change community so work uh with local community uh that they need um a specific uh project done uh maybe they want to redevelop some land and so give it opportunity for the student to really uh put their skill um a good use for a community um again so those are all experience a great experience so as a um as you’re going through your high school uh it’s important to get involved and that’s what we always tell the student get involved in student organization student club uh one things that uh uh for those interested in science and engineering um and maybe water if I got you a little bit of my passion for water uh there are student design competition uh and um science competition like this stockold junior water price which is pretty much you are doing research on water related issue and submit a paper and you might end up going to um to Stockholm to to compete with other students uh I’m part of that um group that look at this uh um application and uh this year actually our one of our students uh won the New England region um she went and won the national competition in the US and and then she actually flew to Stockholm to participated the international competition and she was the winner so if you are passionate about water that’s another venue to get your passion out um think I’m okay think I’m on time we’re good um and uh I’m Gonna Leave It Up Now for for question for everybody that I have question I’m gonna stop share yes thank you so much we’ll start a Q&A session now so you can unmute if you have a question or send it through the chat we have a question already from Mia thank you for the inspiring talk having studied in both the u United States and Italy how has your International experience influenced your approach to environmental engineering research and teaching oh thank you for your question I think I mean as an Engineers especially environmental engineer we are always dealing with local but also Global issue so having both the European experience and the American Experience definitely help me seeing the problem from different perspective and there might be different local issue uh that might be I come from an island and so water has been water scared has always been an issue there not as much as water quality um but I think that’s what gave me the passion uh but um seeing the problem from different perspective it’s important um especially in this in this career we are trying to solve issue um and uh but we are solving issue for people and so how do the people perceive um for for example risk and contaminants and what is the impact on their life it’s important so uh communication be able to communicate be able to see the differ uh in people perspect perception of things it’s important and I think having studying in different places having living with different culture uh already open up a little bit your mind in that regard so I think that’s probably one advantage M um we have a question from Lydia what motivated you to choose to major in environmental engineering and did you have any doubts about it through your journey um actually growing up I always wanted to do law school I’ve always uh but I’ve always loved Math and Science and um I was a scout for many years and so the outdoor live the outdoors and so thinking about school I was like I don’t know I wanted to make a difference and uh wanted to be able to enjoy the outdoor for many years and really understanding that impact of people on on um on our water and our soil uh made me realize that maybe I could make a difference maybe and so that um probably major that thank you um what aspects of environmental engineering did you find most exciting to teach well environmental engineer it’s it’s a wide field I talked a little bit about just water but there are so many aspect of environmental engineering um the major thing I think that I’m passionate about is that we make like civil and environmental engineer our field that you work on problem that affect everybody right as an environmental engineer you try to solve issue related to air quality water quality um Energy System so are all things that people need for for leaving and and and we’re we’re good at we have been very good at making a lot of pollution uh and not thinking about what is the impact of our action uh we’ve been a lot better the last 40 years but we still have a lot to go on H on that aspect so I love like I like to teach the students that whatever the impact that they can have a significant impact of life the life U life of people so um think understanding that um you’re going to work and what you’re doing is important I think that’s a one thing that I like to stress about I mean every job is important but uh um I think giv a more reason to for students yes so going off of that we have um another question how do you see the future of environmental engineering heading particularly in terms of new trends or areas of focus yeah um so I would say that environmental engineering in the past has always been fixing problem that existed just because we didn’t take care of much of like we use chemical and we dump it in the in the soil or in the water not understanding that potential impact we have recognized the impact that previous action has have and so in the past it was fixing the problem right cleaning to have less issue I think the future environmental engineer really being more proactive in terms of sustainability and trying to really see resources and there is no waste there is no waste water there is no Solid Waste everything it is part of a cycle and we should make sure that that we design process so that everything is circle back that we don’t we have to think about the afterlife of everything and um so really critically thinking our treatment process uh not just to do one single thing that it’s cleaning but how can I clean water but at the same time save energy or produce energy and so there is a lot that can be done and optimized so there is still a lot of work and of course climate change is only one of the element uh there are so many um so many topic and so many issue that need to be uh resolved and with more creative solution uh we have tried to fix put a um a Band-Aid on things so we have done at the maybe the most cost effective or most efficient solution at that time but I think efficiency and um cost of evoled as a terminology what is the Environmental cost what is the the benefit to community um just an example we could put stuff under under uh the soil and a pipe and carry it away and that solve the problem there but we should be looking at okay instead of putting it in the ground and sending it away for somebody else to fix it and how can we really learn from nature and redesign our system so that we are more in line with like with what our uh nature can can do um and not overly we are not the only one on this on this planet yeah um we have another question from Mia could you share a particularly memorable project from your students so well there it’s been so many um so I’ve worked a lot like recently um I’ve been working with a gr student she’s actually from Uganda and um she’s very passionate about environmental engineer so she came and then like what can we do to make a better life for students uh in Uganda um I’m a one of the advisor for engineer without border and we actually have a a group there in Uganda that works on water distribution but she was like okay what can we do differently I’ve visited school that have issue with the um with energy they use Uh Wood and um and they won’t be able to use that uh for a long time because there is not availability they also have a lot of issue with waste and uh um so we come up with an idea so I I mentioned to her I was like okay so let’s look at the issues the issue is waste and the issue is energy so we are working on making a studied anerobic digestion which is a process to convert uh food waste something that it’s produced at the cafeteria of that school into energy and uh from that process you also produce uh other byproduct like a um so you produce a biog gas so meane that you can burn to produce electricity uh and also liid liquid uh um stream that you can use as a fertilizer to grow crops um so we were trying to really to look at this this process as a way to to solve an issue waste and lack of energy but do it in a way that it’s a learning moment for the students and apply it all natural process just in an engineer way so I like that project a lot because it has a lot of different components the Community uh that it’s directly impacted that circularity of resources and making something that it’s an issue waste into a solution so that’s a project that I U we’re just working on so it’s nice thank you for that I think we’ll close up um with a question of my own can you share some examples of successful Solutions or Innovations in environmental engineering that you find inspiring oh so many um well the one area of U um inspiring for sure it’s like the issue of a um water scarcity and uh and also water pollution uh so there are several technology and people are working on using algy um so uh to harness uh the energy of the sun to grow algae and um and they need also algae need the nutrients so waste water produ plenty of nutrients so you can grow algae with waste water with the sun and those algae can be used for producing biofuel um that you can drive with so I think that’s one of those example of an environmental engineering solution that really look creatively at nature and how to use nature in a in a way uh we engineer the system so that it’s more efficient but that’s a good project that I that inspired and yeah thank you so much yeah no problem closes out this session um I would like to thank you for joining us today and sharing your story and career Journey with us yes thank you for having me thank you so much so the next confirmed session will be next month on Monday January 8th at 7 p.m. our featured speaker will be Kathy M planetary scientist at Southwest Research Institute at Nasa so thank you again Analisa thank you thank you everyone for joining bye [Applause] [Music] byebye