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Principal Investigator
Principal Investigator
Kaoru Ikuma, Ph.D. (she/her)
Associate Professor
Cerwick Faculty Fellow
Department of Civil, Construction and Environmental Engineering
Iowa State University
Office and mailing address:
328 Town Engineering Building
813 Bissell Rd
Ames, IA 50011
Phone: (515) 294-7660
Email: kikuma [at] iastate [dot] edu
Current Ikuma lab researchers
Current Ikuma lab researchers
Ikuma lab group picture (May 2025)
Sadaf Mehrabi
Research Scientist (Ph.D. from Western University, ON)
January 2023 - present
Main project: EPA water reuse and NSF BioShield
Email: smehrabi [at] iastate [dot] edu
Zachary Burton
Ph.D. student (Microbiology)
Summer 2022 - present
Main project: Microbial biofilm influences on corrosion outcomes
Email: zburton [at] iastate [dot] edu
Kaitlin Garretson
Ph.D. student (Microbiology)
Summer 2022 - present
Main project: Bacterial outcomes of disinfection
Email: kmg1198 [at] iastate [dot] edu
Daniel Montgomery
Ph.D. student (Microbiology)
Fall 2023 - present
Main project: Ecological succession in environmental films
Email: dfm [at] iastate [dot] edu
Logan Didier
Ph.D. student (Civil Engineering with Environmental specialization)
Spring 2025 - present
Main project: 3D printing of biofilms for wastewater applications
Email: ldidier [at] iastate [dot] edu
Emily Rehmann
Ph.D. student (Civil Engineering with Environmental specialization)
Summer 2026 - present
Main project: TBD
Email: erehmann [at] iastate [dot] edu
Jessica Rehmann
Ph.D. student (Civil Engineering with Environmental specialization)
Fall 2026 - present
Main project: TBD
Email: jrehmann [at] iastate [dot] edu
Julia Hostetler
MS student (Civil Engineering with Environmental specialization)
August 2026 - present
Main project: Cyanotoxins in natural aquatic systems
Email: jhos [at] iastate [dot] edu
Current undergraduate researchers
Current undergraduate researchers
Miriam Storey
Environmental Engineering major
Summer 2026 - present
Emily Goltz
Environmental Engineering major
Summer 2026 - present
Kayla Worachek
Civil Engineering major
Summer 2025 - present
Grace Willham
Environmental Science major
Summer 2025 - present
Past researchers
Past researchers
Past postdocs
Masrur Mahedi - currently an assistant professor at Utah Valley University
Narendra Kumar Patel - currently a hydraulic modeler at Arcadis
Past graduate students
Alejandra Chavez (Ph.D. 2026) - currently an Assistant Professor at Erskine College
Henry Croll (Ph.D. 2024) - currently a Wasterwater Data Scientist and Process Engineer at HDR
Rayla Pinto-Vilar (Ph.D. 2021) - currently a Technology Portfolio Manager at the University of Minnesota
Sahar Daer (Ph.D. 2021) - currently a postdoctoral research associate at the University of Queensland, Australia
Patrick Brown (Ph.D. 2019) - currently an environmental engineer at the Des Moines Metropolitan Wastewater Reclamation Authority
Emily Rehmann (MS 2026) - currently a Ph.D. student in my lab
Karol Lopez (MS 2025)
Logan Didier (MS 2025) - currently a Ph.D. student in my lab
Derek Ten Pas (MS 2024) - currently a water/wastewater engineer at Bolton & Menk
Yifei Ma (MS 2021) - currently a Ph.D. student at the University of Pittsburgh
Meesha Legg (MS 2021) - currently an environmental engineer at the Iowa Department of Natural Resources
Parker Dulin (MS 2019) - currently an associate scientist at Omega Bio-tek
Xuewei Liang (MS 2017) - currently an environmental engineer at the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency
Past undergraduate researchers
50+ students so far!
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