Graduate Student Researchers
Group photo of the lab of Prof. Sangwon Suh, Dec 2014.
Jessica Perkins
2014 to Present, PhD student |
Jessica PerkinsJessica’s research interests lie in corporate environmental management and industrial ecology, with a focus on LCA to inform decision making. She’d like to develop the link between LCA research and industry application that can help inform decision makers in a way that creates sustainable business opportunities that minimize the impact to human health and the environment. Tools and resources are needed that can inform decisions with access to only limited information and without requiring a crippling amount of time or a financial burden. Jessica’s research focuses on the usability and practicability of these tools to inform industry decision makers. Collaboration and communication across sectors will be critical to achieve her research objectives.
Jessica has a background in environmental engineering, with a BS & MS from Tufts University. Before coming to Bren, she spent two years working on environmental footprint solutions at The Dow Chemical Company. |
Runsheng Song
2014 to Present, Graduate Student Researcher |
Runsheng SongRunsheng Song focuses on the research of Life Cycle Assessment and Industrial Ecology. extended his interests in data mining techniques.
Born and educated in China, Runsheng was trained in engineering and received his Bachelor degree in 2012 at Huazhong University of Science and Technology, China, major in Environmental Engineering. He researched on the mechanism to degrade the organic chemicals in industrial fly ash at there. After that, he studied at UC Santa Barbara and earned his Master degree in Environmental Science and Management (MESM) in 2014. He worked with a group in the project of assessing the land use impacts of apparel industry on biodiversity. He also worked on a project of estimating global plastic waste production by Material Flow Analysis (MFA) method. He obtained numerous valuable experiences during this time. Runsheng is currently working at Bren School as a research assistant with Prof. Sangwon Suh on the project of ‘Network for Rapid Assessment of Chemical Life Cycle Impact’. |
Yi Yang
2012 to Present, PhD Student |
Yi YangYi’s broad interests lie in understanding how society can transition from a fossil fuel–based society to one that is led and dominated by renewable like solar and wind with minimal environmental, social, and economic costs. Currently, his research is focused on evaluating the impact of shale gas on the development of such renewable technologies as wind, solar, geothermal, and bioenergy. In the past few years, he has studied the environmental aspects of agricultural systems, including biofuels derived from corn and soybean.
Yi has a background in environmental science, with a BS from Sichuan University, China, and a MS from University of Minnesota, Twin Cities. |
Mengya Tao
2014 to Present, PhD Student |
Mengya TaoMengya
Tao is a first year PhD student at Bren School of Environmental Science and
Management, UCSB. Her major advisor is Prof. Sangwon Suh. Mengya’s interest
lies in understanding the life cycle impacts of chemicals and materials by integrating
the concepts of pollution prevention, remediation, and risk assessments. In
the CLiCC project, her research is mainly focused on the study of QSAR
(Quantitative-Structure-Activity-Relationship) model and its application in predicting
a chemical’s physico-chemical properties, ecological and human health effects.
Mengya Tao received a Master’s degree in Environmental Science and Management at UCSB in June 2014, specializing in Pollution Prevention and Remediation. Her Master’s thesis group project is titled “Evaluating Offshore Wind Energy Feasibility off the California Central Coast”. She has also received her Bachelor of Science degree in Environmental Science and Management from Tongji Universiy, Shanghai, China. |
Yuwei Qin
2014 to Present, PhD Student |
Yuwei QinYuwei studies Life Cycle Assessment with a focus in implications
for use of LCA in policy-making process. She is interested in linking science
and policy in the field of environmental impact assessment, and applying
scientific tools to quantify impacts for better management and policy decisions.
Her current research emphasizes on uncertainty quantification and improvement
in LCA.
Yuwei received a Master’s of Environmental Science and Management from the University of California, Santa Barbara specializing in Economics and Politics of the Environment and Energy and Climate. She earned a BS degree in Environmental Policy and Management from the Ohio State University. |
Joe Bergesen
2011 to Present, PhD Candidate |
Joe BergesenJoe’s research focuses on the
environmental implications of rapidly-developing renewable energy and energy
efficiency technologies. As a PhD candidate studying with Professor Suh, Joe
has participated in the management of a series of reports for the United
Nations Environment Programme’s (UNEP) International Resource Panel (IRP) that
use an integrated hybrid life-cycle assessment model to evaluate the long-term
environmental and natural resource benefits, risks and tradeoffs of low-carbon
energy technologies. Joe is currently researching how technological learning,
or learning-by-doing, can lead to changing environmental impacts, and how these
effects can be incorporated into attributional and consequential life-cycle
assessment methodologies.
Joe has a unique interdisciplinary background, with an MS in Environmental Science & Management, a BS in Physics, and a BA in Slavic Languages & Literature. In his free time, Joe enjoys playing music on the guitar and drums, reading and watching science fiction and fantasy, learning languages (Russian, Swedish, and Spanish to name a few), fencing, birding, and travelling with his wife. |