Research Posters – Symposium 2025

As global populations continue to grow and environmental challenges intensify, the food systems must evolve to meet the demands of both people and the planet. Alternative proteins—ranging from plant-based to cultivated to fermented proteins—offer innovative solutions to address the inefficiency and harm of traditional animal agriculture. This presentation will introduce the concept of alternative proteins, explore their role in reducing environmental impacts such as greenhouse gas emissions, water usage, and land degradation, and highlight their potential to ensure food security in the face of climate change. Through the lens of The Alternative Protein Project at Johns Hopkins, we will discuss major advancements and emerging technologies in the alternative protein sphere and explain their contribution to a more resilient and equitable global food system. Attendees will leave with a deeper understanding of why alternative proteins play a pivotal role in the transition to a more sustainable food future.

This partnered research project was completed as my senior capstone project along with Valentina Vinuela. Under Dr. Katalin Szlavecz, we assessed heavy metal concentrations in Baltimore, MD soils in community-requested sites including lawns, churches, schools, playgrounds, vacant lots, and schools. We found that lead and zinc concentrations were typically elevated in the samples which pose a risk to human health in local Baltimore communities. We also integrated a social science perspective into the project and interviewed a couple of community members in Howard Park to gain insight into community efforts to combat toxic soils.

Plants provide many benefits to the residents of cities, but also face unique challenges from the urban environment, the fastest-growing ecosystem on the planet. There is increasing evidence that plants are undergoing adaptive evolution in response to urban conditions. However, most studies consider the response of a single species to an urban stress, such as habitat heterogeneity or the urban heat island. This creates a need for comparative studies with multiple species to understand if patterns of urban adaptation can be generalized. I examined the response of two species, red dead-nettle and corn speedwell, to elevated salt content in roadside soils. Preliminary analysis indicates plants grown from seeds collected in roadside soils are better able to tolerate salt treatments.

Soil-transmitted Helminths (STH) infections affect 24% of the global population, with India reporting 375 million cases in 2013. The research explored the impact of constructing latrines to reduce STH transmission among school-aged children in Dharavi Slums, India. Open defecation, a prevalent issue, contributes to STH transmission. While mass drug administration has been the primary intervention, this research focused on building latrines to address infection reservoirs. A cluster randomized trial in 30 Dharavi subsections assessed STH prevalence through stool samples before and after latrine implementation, targeting children aged 6-12, the most vulnerable group. The intervention’s success was measured by reduced STH prevalence and concentration in stool samples. The study bridged the gaps in existing research on the impact of sanitary infrastructure and incorporates hygiene education and behavioral change to address STH risk factors. The intervention aligned with UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), specifically tackling SDG 6 – Sanitation, by striving for universal access to equitable sanitation and hygiene. Incorporating hygiene education ensured behavioral change, promoting proper handwashing and food handling. Overcoming socialcultural barriers was crucial for latrine acceptance, emphasizing community engagement and new public policy initiatives. This comprehensive approach contributes to SDG targets and underscores the significance of community-driven initiatives in achieving global health goals.

Methyl bromide (CH3Br) is an ozone-depleting substance that has been largely phased-out for most uses by the Montreal Protocol. As a result, use of another fumigant, sulfuryl fluoride (SO2F2), has surged to meet structural and agricultural commodity fumigation demand. While SO2F2 is not an ozone-depleting substance, it is a potent greenhouse gas with a long atmospheric lifetime, and thus a high global warming potential. To better understand where and how much these gases are emitted in the U.S., we use atmospheric measurements collected by the NOAA Global Monitoring Laboratory and a geostatistical inverse model to estimate emissions of CH3Br and SO2F2 across the contiguous U.S. Overall, we find that California is the dominant source of both CH3Br and SO2F2 in the U.S., despite ambitious climate action and emissions reduction policies in the state. We find that emissions of SO2F2 are particularly high near Greater Los Angeles due to abundant structural fumigation, and we find that emissions of CH3Br are highest in the Central Valley and agricultural regions of California. Furthermore, we find that CH3Br emissions have not declined as expected under the Montreal Protocol phase-out due to ongoing critical-use exemptions for certain applications of CH3Br, including agricultural (soil) fumigation and quarantine/pre-shipment (QPS) fumigation. These results underscore the complex and interconnected environmental challenges facing California as it seeks to improve sustainability and climate resiliency policy.

The magnitude of increased trend of anthropogenic methane emissions from China has been debatable since 2010s. Such divergent conclusions are caused by diHerent sources and time-space coverage of data (including both emissions inventories and atmospheric observations) and by diHerent research methodologies (top-down, bottom-up, or an integration of both). Using an integrated approach named inverse modeling, the study aims to summarize the general trend of anthropogenic CH4 emissions in China, based on the atmospheric observations from TROPOMI satellite instrument. As an example, this poster will introduce the CH4 emissions estimates in 2019 and shows the discrepancy from prior emissions inventory and other existing studies. The study further explores the spatial and seasonal characteristics of emissions estimates and correlates the emission patterns with energy production activities, which include coal mining as well as oil and gas exploration. I will also show the sectoral attribution of the current state of methane emissions, with energy and agricultural sectors as two main sources in the country.

The Tasso Island WASH Project proposes comprehensive solutions for water, sanitation, and hygiene challenges facing 6,000 residents in Sierra Leone. Led by the SierrAfrica Network in 2024, this initiative outlines three key interventions: water infrastructure improvement, eco-friendly sanitation solutions, and menstrual hygiene management (MHM). The water component proposes upgrading 17 traditional wells to pump-water systems, installing chlorine dispensers, and implementing rainwater harvesting systems across five towns. For sanitation, the project suggests installing 80 eco-friendly latrines, including EcoSan dry toilets, wet EcoSan toilets, and pour-flush latrines, designed to be flood-resistant and culturally appropriate. The MHM program emphasizes community engagement, education, and access to reusable menstrual products. To ensure sustainability, the proposal includes plans for establishing water management committees, training local technicians, and implementing systematic maintenance programs. This integrated approach aims to improve public health, environmental conditions, and quality of life while fostering community ownership and long-term resilience on Tasso Island.

This literature review examines heat adaptation strategies across urban and rural U.S. communities and their policy implications. Rising temperatures have led to over 14,000 heat-related deaths in the U.S. between 1979-2022. Urban areas face unique challenges from extreme heat, with some cities projected to experience temperature increases of 4-7°C by century’s end. Rural communities confront distinct risks, particularly for agricultural workers exposed to intense heat. The analysis evaluates various adaptation approaches, including cooling centers, smart city technologies, and community health networks in urban settings. For rural areas, it assesses early warning systems, mobile health services, and sustainable agriculture practices. Key findings indicate that successful adaptation requires integrated federal and local policies, community engagement, and equity-focused implementation. The review recommends strengthening federal support for heat preparedness, developing jurisdiction-specific action plans, and ensuring equitable resource allocation. Future directions emphasize the need for longitudinal research on intervention effectiveness and cost-benefit analyses of adaptation strategies across diverse geographic and demographic contexts.

The generation of plastic waste amounts to 400 million tons annually. These plastics can be fragmented into particles less than 5 mm, creating micro- and nano-plastics (MNPs) which accumulate in waterways and agricultural fields, allowing them to enter the food chain. MNPs are vastly understudied in soil environments, even though the estimated annual input of MNPs in terrestrial ecosystems exceeds the total amount of MNPs currently in water. MNPs primarily migrate through soil in two ways. Worms consume MNPs and defecate them in lower layers of the soil, and plastics stick to their bodies and are released as a worm moves through the soil. Also, rainfall allows for the hydrolytic movement of MNPs. We deposited two types of metal-tagged MNPs and rubber tire particles on the surface of mesocosms containing soil and earthworms and watered them twice a week. Each sample was performed in triplicate, and mesocosms ran for either 2 weeks, 5 weeks, or 7 weeks, at which point they were separated into nine layers and analyzed for MNP content through spICP-MS. Visual evidence determined that MNP movement occurred at all time points, and compared to a control without earthworms, the samples with earthworms had significantly more MNP movement.

The climate crisis is projected to reduce the global economy by 4% by 2050, disproportionately affecting poorer populations. Baltimore, with a poverty rate of 19.6% and a Gini index of 0.54, experiences significant socioeconomic inequality, which exacerbates the vulnerability of certain communities. In this context, it is crucial to explore climate adaptation behaviors through the lens of the Circular Economy, a model that promotes sustainable practices such as reuse and recycling, in contrast to the traditional linear systems of extraction and disposal. A key focus is the youth demographic, which is highly vulnerable to the long-term impacts of climate change. Thus, the research question is: “Can a mathematical model be developed to explore the relationship between income levels and climate adaptation behaviors focused on Circular Economy among youth in different socioeconomic areas of Baltimore?”. Data will be gathered through surveys administered to youth aged 14 to 18, followed by multivariate analysis: Confirmatory Factor Analysis and Structural Equation Modeling in SPSS. By identifying behavioral gaps, this research aims to provide a quantitative framework to assist policymakers and community leaders in mitigating the disproportionate impacts of climate change on Baltimore’s most vulnerable populations.

The environment faces the challenge of organic waste, demonstrating the need of biofuels from sustainable feedstock. Cheese whey, a common waste generated during cheese making process, comprises lactose and lactate that can be converted by anaerobic microbiomes to medium chain carboxylic acids (MCCAs) via chain elongation. MCCAs are platform chemical with applications in cosmetics, animal feed, biofuels, and bioplastics. To facilitate MCCA production from cheese whey, we developed an anaerobic dynamic membrane bioreactor (AnDMBR), a biofilm-based technology to achieve simultaneous liquid-solid separation and MCCAs recovery. The key structure of AnDMBR is a 25-um pore size cylinder stainless steel mesh-supported membrane filter with 0.15 m2 surface area, supporting biofilm growth to maximize the MCCAs production. Our results show that suspended solids removal of 97.73% with permeate solid as low as 0.42±0.21 g/L and up to approx. 0.92±0.33g/L octanoic acid production from synthetic cheese whey after 100 days of continuous operation, highlighting the potential of AnDMBR.

Propofol, a widely used intravenous anesthetic, is among the most commonly wasted drugs in the operating room. There is significant interest in reducing the amount of propofol entering waste streams due to operating costs as well as the drug’s low biodegradability and well-documented toxicity to aquatic organisms. In this prospective quality improvement study of pediatric endoscopy cases at a large academic hospital, we recorded the volume of propofol wasted, the number and size of propofol bottles prepared, and the amount of propofol administered. Baseline analysis of typical practice patterns between October and December 2024 revealed that a mean of 39 mL and a median of 34 mL of propofol were wasted per case. Wastage accounted for more than 40% of total propofol consumption. Moreover, the usage of larger propofol bottles was associated with more waste. Based on these findings, we implemented interventions to optimize propofol utilization, including removing the largest propofol bottles from operating rooms and encouraging usage of low-volume intravenous tubing. Initial post-intervention data shows that these measures reduced propofol waste by almost 50%. If scaled, these strategies could significantly reduce the financial and environmental burden of propofol waste, highlighting the role of the anesthesiology team in healthcare sustainability.

Medium-chain carboxylic acids (MCCAs, C6-C8) are platform chemicals with industrial and agricultural applications, and their microbial production can be enhanced by promoting biofilm growth and electron transfer using conductive support materials. This study examines the effects of stainless steel mesh (SS), magnetite (MG), and glass beads (GB, control) on MCCA production in controlled batch experiments at 37°C, pH 5.5, and 150 rpm. Surface areas were standardized to 10 and 40 m²/L using Brunauer-Emmett-Teller analysis, and ethanol (21g/L) and acetate (6g/L) served as substrates. Acetic acid concentrations decreased by 44.2% (from ~5 g/L to 2.79 g/L), while ethanol was consumed by 44.3% to 58.2% (from ~21.537 g/L to 9–12 g/L) by day 15 in the MG and GB setups. Butyric acid peaked at 1.3 g/L in the MG setup on day 9, and hexanoic acid reached 3.3 g/L by day 9. However, MCCA production was similar across both conductive and non-conductive setups and biofilm imaging confirmed denser microbial aggregation on both conductive and control surfaces, suggesting biofilm growth, rather than electron transfer, played a greater role. These findings highlight the importance of surface properties in biofilm-driven processes and pave the way for further optimization of MCCA yields through biofilm-focused strategies.

Climate change and rising temperatures pose critical threats to maternal and infant health, particularly in low-resource settings. Extreme heat exacerbates heat stress, influencing lactation physiology and the nutritional quality of breast milk. Heat stress leads to physiological changes in lactating mothers, including dehydration and elevated body temperature, which can reduce milk volume and alter essential nutrients, including fats, proteins, immunoglobulins (IgA), lactoferrin, and essential fatty acids (omega-3 and omega-6). These bioactive components are vital for infant immune development, growth, and neurodevelopment. Research indicates that 65% of mothers in heat-exposed areas face challenges in maintaining adequate breastfeeding due to decreased milk supply, fatigue, and dehydration. In resource-limited regions with high malnutrition and disease burdens, these disruptions can significantly exacerbate infant morbidity and mortality. Increased oxidative stress and cortisol levels in mothers further disrupt the balance of anti-inflammatory and pro-inflammatory cytokines in breast milk, compounding potential health risks. This research seeks to explore the physiological and biochemical pathways by which climate-induced heat stress affects maternal lactation, emphasizing the urgent need for sustainable public health interventions to ensure breastfeeding security. Addressing these climate-induced challenges is crucial for improving maternal and infant health outcomes amidst escalating environmental crises.

Results from an intervention designed to shift opinions about climate change education indicated that, not only did participants fail to adopt more positive opinions about climate change education, in many cases the intervention backfired, with some participants more strongly affirming their original stance. This qualitative inquiry examines participants’ open-ended responses to contextualize these surprising results. Using theoretical thematic analysis, we examine the rationale provided by (n=150) participants who disagreed with a proposed mandate for climate change education, contributing to an emerging body of research which explores connections between climate skepticism and individuals’ views of the nature of science. Along with doubts about the causes of climate change, our analysis revealed a high frequency of statements aligned with misconceptions about science. Most prevalent was the idea that science consists of a fixed set of facts, proven with absolute certainty. Themes across responses surface how key features of the domain of science, including argument, bias, revision, and uncertainty, are misappropriated to counter climate science, exploiting common gaps in understanding about how science works. With fierce debate over school curricula, public understanding of science-based issues like climate change will likely have lasting ramifications for how these important challenges are addressed in schools.

In our increasingly polarized society, educating the public about climate change has become a Herculean challenge: while one side remains skeptical of scientific facts, the other side may find conversation futile. Both sides struggle to understand one another’s perspective. In theory, finding common ground by acknowledging merits within the other party’s position offers a pathway to educating others on this polarizing topic. Our two studies explore this possibility empirically with two adult online samples for scenarios with (a) a complex environmental tradeoff, and (b) a polarizing environmental issue. Study 1 (N=583) used mirror-image treatment and control groups, asking participants’ opinions about an environmental tradeoff (wind farm energy versus species conservation). In the treatment group, an advocate for the opposing view first attempted to build common ground, while the control group heard only counterarguments. Study 2 (N=156) employed a similar design but focused on a more divisive issue: mandating climate change education in schools. We limited our sample to people who disagreed with the proposed mandate. Both studies found the common ground technique improved attitudes towards presenters across several measures but failed to consistently shift opinions. Our results have direct implications for those working to educate the public about climate change.

In 2019, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development identified the apparel industry as “the second most environmentally polluting industry in the world.” As concerns about the linear economy in fashion grow, transitioning to a Circular Economy (CE) is increasingly critical. CE provides a framework for circularity, while Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) identifies environmental impacts at each product stage. They can significantly reduce environmental burdens and support zero-waste objectives. This session explores the integration of CE and LCA in the fashion industry, addressing two key challenges. First, the diversity of raw materials complicates sustainability efforts. While natural fibers have lower end-of-life impacts, they require excessive water and fertilizers. However, synthetic fibers contribute to GHG emissions and waste. Blended materials further hinder efforts to achieve zero waste, highlighting the need for an “Environment for Design.” Second, the globalized supply chain obscures traceability. Most clothing sold in developed countries is produced in developing nations, making it difficult to track environmental impacts upstream. Therefore, policies targeting these stages are essential. EU initiatives, the “Eco Design for Sustainable Products Regulation” and “Digital Product Passports” address this gap. This session provides strategies to align CE and LCA, advancing a Zero-Waste future for fashion.

As part of the Baltimore Social-Environmental Collaborative Urban Integrated Field Laboratory, we measured the photosynthetic activity of broadleaf deciduous tree species across several land use types in Baltimore City. In the summer of 2024, we began a large field campaign in which we surveyed six tree species in both park and street locations, as these land use types vary widely in soil conditions and light availability. Measuring photosynthetic activity is akin to taking the tree’s vitals. Our results showed no statistically significant difference across the land use types, but significant differences between tree species. The work will be continued in summer 2025.

The clean energy transition relies on overcoming supply chain challenges for essential raw materials. Wind, solar photovoltaics, and lithium-ion batteries are key technologies, making sustainable material availability critical. This paper introduces a multi-year optimization model to evaluate supply chain conditions and identify bottlenecks up to a milestone year, offering actionable insights beyond traditional forecasts. Focusing on the US, the model uses historical growth rates from the last mineral production supercycle and critical raw material trade flows, incorporating country groupings and interdependencies. Findings show that with current trade strategies and production growth, the US could miss 35% of its clean energy targets, primarily due to shortages in nickel, silicon, and rare earth elements. While socio-environmental and regulatory barriers are significant, physical constraints are the most urgent issue. To mitigate these challenges, strategies include scaling domestic production, diversifying trade partnerships, and investing in material substitution and recycling technologies. Addressing these constraints is essential to ensure the availability of critical materials and achieve the goals of the clean energy transition.

As the demand for sustainable energy solutions rises due to climate change, the production of bioproducts from organic waste as an alternative to petrochemical-derived products is becoming attractive. The production of medium-chain carboxylic acids (MCCAs) through microbial chain elongation from waste streams has emerged as an option. A biofilm-based anaerobic membrane bioreactor (AnDMBR) was designed to valorize cheese whey waste into MCCA. To facilitate the downstream separation of MCCA, a liquid-liquid extraction (LLE) unitthat employs hollow-fiber membranes was optimized. The LLE unit utilizes the acid dissociation constant of MCCAs (~4.8) to enable continuous extraction and purification of MCCAs from the fermentation broth. Furthermore, as the MCCA accumulation is toxic to the anaerobic microbiome, LLE can selectively and continuously remove MCCA from the AnDMBR using organic solvent (30 g/L of trioctylphosphine oxide in mineral oil) and pH gradient. MCCA is subsequently collected from the stripping solution (0.2 M Na-Borate with pH maintained at 9) by utilizing the acid dissolution constant of MCCA. Two trial runs were conducted with a synthetic solution to simulate AnDMBR fermentation broth. In the first and second trials, MCCA removal rates were 20.79% and 27.30%, respectively.