Green Infrastructure in Newark,NJ

Speaker Bio:
Michel Boufadel, Ph.D., P.E. is a Distinguished Professor, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering; Director, Center for Natural Resources, NJIT; Board-Certified Environmental Engineer (BCEE); Professional Hydrologist (AIH); Fellow, American Society of Civil Engineers (F. ASCE); Diplomate, Water Resources Engineering (D. WRE). His expertise is hydrology, environmental hydraulics and fate and transport modeling of environmental systems.

Speaker Bio:
Mr. Jonathan Gordon has been an instrumental force behind the City of Newark's sustainability initiatives since he joined the team in 2019. As the Interim Chief Sustainability Officer, he has worked on implementing EV fleet transition, local and federal energy policy, and restoring the city's tree canopy. Jonathan has an MBA in energy and sustainability from Franklin Pierce University. Prior to his current role, he has worked with community organizations in Camden, Trenton, San Francisco, and now Newark.

Speaker Bio:
Johnny Quispe, PhD is the Cities Program Manager at the Nature Conservancy—New Jersey. Dr. Quispe received his doctorate from Rutgers University’s Graduate Program of Ecology and Evolution. Dr. Quispe uses his interdisciplinary background to tackle issues related to climate change, coastal and city resilience, equitable conservation, and the implementation of nature-based solutions. Dr. Quispe’s approach integrates social, economic, engineering, and natural systems to increase the resilience of communities to climate change.

Speaker Bio:
Dr. Viravid Na Nagara is a postdoctoral researcher at the Center for Natural Resources at the New Jersey Institute of Technology. He received his Ph.D. in Environmental Engineering and M.S. in Sustainability Management at Stevens Institute of Technology last year. His work and research focus on stormwater treatment and management, including the development of green technologies for retrofitting green infrastructure.

Speaker Bio:
Meghana Parameswarappa Jayalakshmamma is a Ph.D. candidate in Civil, Environmental Engineering at NJIT with expertise in water quality, water and wastewater treatment, and soil remediation. Her current research focuses on microplastics in stormwater, specifically on their fate and transport in the urban Environment. Additionally, Meghana has 2.5 years of industry experience in designing wastewater and water treatment plant units, investigating stormwater flooding, and providing turnkey solutions.

Speaker Bio:
Christopher C. Obropta, Ph.D., P.E is a professor of environmental engineering at Stevens Institute of Technology and the founding director of the Sustainability Management MS and dual degree MS-MBA programs. He is an environmental geochemist who works on environmental quality problems and designs green remediation systems. In his 23+ years in academia, Dr. Sarkar has trained more than 35 PhD, MS, and ME students and more than 20 postdoctoral associates. His group has published more than 175 journal articles and 20 book chapters. He is the founding editor-in-chief of Current Pollution Reports, a Q1 environmental science journal published by Springer, and holds several editorial roles in five other journals. Dr. Sarkar is a Fellow of the Geological Society of America and Soil Science Society of America.

Speaker Bio:
Dr. Dibs Sarkar is a professor of environmental engineering at Stevens Institute of Technology and the founding director of the Sustainability Management MS and dual degree MS-MBA programs. He is an environmental geochemist who works on environmental quality problems and designs green remediation systems. In his 23+ years in academia, Dr. Sarkar has trained more than 35 PhD, MS, and ME students and more than 20 postdoctoral associates. His group has published more than 175 journal articles and 20 book chapters. He is the founding editor-in-chief of Current Pollution Reports, a Q1 environmental science journal published by Springer, and holds several editorial roles in five other journals. Dr. Sarkar is a Fellow of the Geological Society of America and Soil Science Society of America.

Speaker Bio:
Dr. Elie Bou-Zeid is Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Princeton University, where he also served as the founding director of the Metropolis Project for urban technology until 2022. An expert in geophysics and atmospheric sciences, his research is broadly focused on measurement and modelling of the environmental quality and the micro-climates of cities.

Speaker Bio:
Ms. Nicole Miller is a parent, business owner and advocate who lives in Newark, NJ. Principal of MnM Consulting, Nicole specializes in strategic communications and branding. Nicole advocates in Newark on sustainability in various roles including as Co-Chair of NewarkDIG (Doing Infrastructure Green) dedicated to resilient and sustainable municipal stormwater management and Co-Chair of the Jersey Water Works Steering Committee, a statewide coalition focused on improving NJ’s aging water infrastructure.