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Undergraduate Title

 

Dr. Sarina J. Ergas, PhD, PE
Civil & Environmental Engineering
Professor and Graduate Program Coordinator
4202 E. Fowler Avenue
Tampa, FL 33620-5350
Phone: (813) 974-1119
Fax: (813) 974-2957
E-mail: sergas@usf.edu

 

Appointments
Graduate Program Coordinator, Dept. Civil & Environmental Engineering, USF
Professional Engineer, Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Civil Engineering, 1995-present
Member, Association of Environmental Engineering & Science Professors Board of Directors
International Water Association, Board Member, Membrane Specialist Committee

 

Education
Ph.D. Civil & Environmental Engineering, University of California, Davis
M.S. Civil Engineering, University of California, Davis
B.S. Environmental Engineering, Humboldt State University

 

Areas of Interest: Biological treatment processes including wastewater treatment, nutrient removal, membrane bioreactors, bioremediation systems, water reuse, low impact development technologies, and sustainable algal biofuel systems.

 

Biosketch
Dr. Ergas is a professor and graduate program coordinator in the Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering at the University of South Florida.  She received a BS in Environmental Engineering from Humboldt State University and MS and PhD degrees from the University of California, Davis.  She was a 2007 Fulbright Fellow at the Technion Israel Institute of Technology and a 1995 ASCE Excellence in Civil Engineering Education (ExCEEd) Fellow.  She teaches classes in Biological Principles, Air Pollution Control and Environmental/Water Resources Capstone Design.  Dr. Ergas is a registered professional engineer in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

 

Recent projects include:

  • Sustainable algal biofuel production from wastewater nutrients,
  • Bioretention systems for nitrogen removal from stormwater,
  • Treatment of perchlorate contaminated groundwater using sulfur oxidizing bacteria,
  • Biological treatment of ion exchange brines,
  • Bioremediation of acid mine drainage sites,
  • Sulfur oxidizing and hydrogenotrophic denitrification.

 

Selected Publications

  • Yuan, X., Kumar, A., Sahu, A.K., Ergas, S.J. (2011) Impact of Ammonia Concentration on Spirulina platensis Growth in an Airlift Photobioreactor, Bioresource Technology, 102(3): 3234-3239.
  • Ergas, S.J., Sengupta, S., Siegel, R., Yao, Y., Pandit, A., Yuan, X. (2010) Denitrifying bioretention systems for control of non-point nitrogen sources, J. Environmental Engineering-ASCE, 136(10):1105-1112.
  • Kumar, A., Yuan, X., Sahu, A.K., Zhang, Q., Ergas, S.J., Malcata, F. X., Van Langenhove, H.  (2010) Strategies for CO2 sequestration using microalgae and cyanobacteria: Recent developments and future directions, Trends in Biotechnology, 28(7): 371-380.
  • Kumar, A., Yuan, X., Sahu, A.K., Ergas, S.J., Van Langenhove, H. (2010) Hollow fiber membrane photo-bioreactor for CO2 sequestration from combustion gas coupled with wastewater treatment: A process engineering approach, J. Chemical Technology and Biotechnology, 85(3): 387-394.
  • Sahu, A.K., Conneely, T., Nüsslein, K., Ergas, S.J. (2009) Hydrogenotrophic denitrification and perchlorate reduction in ion exchange brines using membrane biofilm reactors, Biotechnology & Bioengineering, 104(3): 483-491.
  • Sahu, A.K., Sengupta, S., Ergas, S.J. (2009) Onsite hydrogenotrophic wastewater denitrification using a hollow fiber membrane biofilm reactor, Water Environment Research, 81(7): 680-686.
  • Sahu, A.K., Conneely, T., Nüsslein, K., Ergas, S.J. (2009) Biological perchlorate reduction in packed bed reactors using elemental sulfur, Environmental Science & Technology, 43(12):4466–4471.
  • Becerra, C.A., López-Luna, E.L., Ergas, S.J., Nüsslein, K. (2009) Microcosm-based study of the attenuation of an acid mine drainage-impacted site through biological sulfate and iron reduction, Geomicrobiology J., 26(1):9-20.
  • Min, K-N, Ergas, S.J., Mermelstein, A. (2008) Impact of dissolved oxygen concentration on membrane filtering resistance and soluble organic compound characteristics in MBRs, Water Science & Technology, 57(2):161-165.
  • Sengupta, S., Ergas, S.J., Lopez-Luna, E. (2007) Investigation of solid-phase buffers for sulfur-oxidizing autotrophic denitrification, Water Environment Research, 79(13): 2519-2526.
  • Ergas, S.J., Therriault, B.M., Reckhow, D.A. (2006) Evaluation of water reuse technologies for the textile industry, J. Environmental Engineering, ASCE, 132(3):315-323.

Resume

Dr. Ergas' Research Interests