Expertise
Wastewater Treatment
Research Interests
Biological wastewater treatment, water quality monitoring, nutrients removal, biofilm structure and properties (e.g., EPS), stormwater management, emerging contaminants (i.e., CNTs) and environmental application of nanotechnology, service-learning.
Education
- Ph.D. Environmental Engineering, University of Cincinnati
- M.S. Environmental Engineering, Tsinghua University (Beijing)
- B.S. Civil and Environmental Engineering, Tongji University (Shanghai)
Biosketch
Xiaoqi (Jackie) Zhang, Ph.D. has led or participated in many research and educational projects through grants from National Science Foundation (NSF), Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), United States Geological Survey (USGS), Nanomanufacturing Center of Excellence, New England Transportation Consortium, and Massachusetts Water Resources Research Center. The projects range from generating biogas from algal biomass and septage, evaluating the impact of CNTs on wastewater treatment processes using both a biofilm system and an activated sludge process, introducing nanotechnology to undergraduate curriculum through hands-on laboratory modules, phosphorus removal from septage using iron reducing bacteria, phosphorus removal from confined animal feeding operations by forming struvite, introducing service-learning activities into her classrooms to enhance students’ learning, evaluating the effectiveness of stormwater best management practices, and examining the structure and properties of biofilms through extensive study of extracellular polymeric substances (EPS).
Selected Awards and Honors
- Department Excellence in Teaching Award, University of Massachusetts Lowell (2018)
- Department Excellence in Teaching Award, University of Massachusetts Lowell (2014)
- ASCE Rudolph Hering Medal for a Paper Publication (2007)
Selected Publications
- Lu, Dingnan, Zhu, David Z., Gan, Huihui, Yao, Zhiyuan, Fu, Qiang, Zhang, X. (2021) Prospects and challenges of using electrochemical immunosensors as an alternative detection method for SARS-CoV-2 wastewater based epidemiology. Science of The Total Environment.
- Bozkurt, Y., Lafaille, R., Lu, D., Zhang, X., Giles, R., Apul, O. (2021) Effects of carbonaceous susceptors on microwave pretreatment of waste activated sludge and subsequent anaerobic digestion. Bioresource Technology Reports. Vol 13, 100641.
- Lu, D., Luo, J., Huang, Z., Zhang, X., and Sha, S. (2020) Primary concentration – The critical step in implementing the wastewater based epidemiology for the COVID-19 pandemic: A mini-review. Science of the Total Environment.
- Lu, D., Sha, S., Luo, J., Huang, Z., and Zhang, X. (2020) Treatment Train Approaches for the Remediation of Per-and Polyfluroalkyl Substances (PFAS): A Critical Review. J. Hazardous Materials. 386, March 15, 2020, 121963.
- Lu, D., Liu, X., Apul, O., Zhang, L., Ryan, D., and Zhang, X. (2019) Optimization of Biomethane Production from Anaerobic Co-digestion of Microalgae and Septic Tank Sludge. Biomass and Bioenergy, 127, 105266.
Selected Contracts, Fellowships, Grants and Sponsored Research
- Senior-personnel. SCC-IRG Track 1: Community Based Approach to Address Contaminants in Drinking Water using Smart Cloud-Connected Electrochemical Sensors.
(PI: Pradeep Kurup, NSF), 2022-2026. - PI. Implementation of the Statewide Sampling for PFAS Contaminants in Drinking Water
(Sub-contract for UMass Amherst. Funded by MassDEP), 2020-2022. - co-PI. Increasing Biogas Production from Wastewater Residual Sludge by a Novel, Single-Step Thermal Pretreatment Method
(PI: Onur Apul, Mass Clean Energy Center and Mass Technology Transfer Center, 2018-2019