Sustainable Civil Engineering

Biography

Dr. Yongli Zhang is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan. Her teaching and research interests focus the sustainability of water-energy nexus. Water and energy are two critical resources inextricable and reciprocally linked: the generation of energy requires large amounts of water, while the treatment and distribution of water are dependent on reliable and low-cost energy. There are significant challenges in providing both clean, affordable water and energy. These challenges include: water and energy resource depletion, high environmental impacts associated with conventional fossil fuels, emerging contaminants in watersheds, etc. Dr. Zhang’s research group is interested in tackling these challenges by integrating bioenergy generation and water management for simultaneous production of bio-based energy and water quality improvement in an integrated, strategic manner via a combination of life cycle modeling and targeted laboratory experiments. Dr. Zhang’s specific research areas include:Management of emerging contaminants in natural and engineered water systems; Water treatment and water quality; Renewable bio-energy, especially as pertaining to algal biofuel; Integrated bio-energy generation and wastewater treatment; Evaluating economic and environmental sustainability of emerging technologies by using life cycle assessment (LCA), life cycle costing (LCC), and economic and systems-level analyses.

Research Interest

Dr. Zhang’s specific research areas include:Management of emerging contaminants in natural and engineered water systems; Water treatment and water quality; Renewable bio-energy, especially as pertaining to algal biofuel; Integrated bio-energy generation and wastewater treatment; Evaluating economic and environmental sustainability of emerging technologies by using life cycle assessment (LCA), life cycle costing (LCC), and economic and systems-level analyses.