Alumni

Dr. Ashley Picou Mikolajczyk, P.E., is a native of Louisiana and an Instructor of Engineering at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette in the Department of Chemical Engineering. She earned her Bachelor of Science degree in Chemical Engineering (2013), Master of Science in Engineering degree (2020), and Doctor of Philosophy degree in Systems Engineering (2024). She also obtained her professional licensure in 2020. Dr. Mikolajczyk has received several awards throughout her academic and professional career, including the Vincent A. Forte Graduate Fellowship Award (2016), Student Outreach Faculty Member of the Year (2019), and Outstanding Academic Advisor (2022-2023). As an advocate for women in STEM, she is an advisor for the Society of Women Engineers (SWE), but her most significant achievement in life is being a proud mother of three. In her spare time, you can catch her pumping iron.

Dr. Chelsea Zeringue is a Sustainability Engineer with the Energy Institute of Louisiana and the Louisiana Energy Extension Service at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. She holds a BS in Chemical Engineering and a PhD in Systems Engineering from UL Lafayette, where her work centered on wate valorization in wastewater treatment, sustainable processes, system optimization, and technology evaluation. Dr. Zeringue brings extensive experience in sustainability engineering and the commercialization assessment of emerging alternative energy technologies. She has played a key role in providing industries and state agencies with the data and insights needed to evaluate new energy systems, ensuring that decisions are grounded in sound science, practical feasibility, and long-term environmental and economic benefits. Her work supports Louisiana in adopting effective and reliable technologies as the energy landscape continues to evolve. With a strong foundation in both engineering and systems analysis, Dr. Zeringue helps guide stakeholders toward solutions that are sustainable, efficient, and well-suited to the needs of the state.

Mr. Jonathan Trahan, P.E., is a Senior Engineer with Fourrier & de Abreu Engineers. He earned his Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette in 2016, graduating as the Outstanding Civil Engineering Graduate. During his undergraduate studies, he received the UL Lafayette Distinguished Freshman Scholarship and was recognized at the annual UL Honors Convocation from 2013 to 2016. He also conducted research in water resources under Dr. Emad Habib and held leadership roles as Secretary of the UL Chapter of the Chi Epsilon Honor Society and Treasurer of the UL Chapter of the American Society of Civil Engineers. Following his undergraduate degree, Jonathan pursued a Master of Science in Civil Engineering at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, where his research focused on methane production through the anaerobic digestion of cafeteria food waste. He completed his master’s degree in 2021. Jonathan currently specializes in solid waste engineering. With his professional engineering license, his work includes landfill design, monitoring, permitting, and broader environmental engineering consulting. 

Ms. Jing Nie was born in Hubei, China, on October 12, 1988. She earned a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from Wuhan Institute of Technology in 2010. She later completed an M.S. in Civil Engineering at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette in 2013. Her thesis: "Landfill Leachate Treatment by Fenton's Reagent Oxidation" focused on advanced oxidation processes for treating harmful contaminants found in landfill leachate. She then obtained a Ph.D. in Environmental Studies from Montclair State University. Her dissertation, “Stream Safeguard: Eutrophication Risk Forecasting for New Jersey’s Ecosystems,” developed a predictive model using historical Total Inorganic Nitrogen and Orthophosphate data to assess eutrophication risk. During her doctoral studies, she worked with the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection on time series–based seasonal water quality forecasting and developed a hedonic pricing model linking water quality to property values. She is currently a Data Scientist and Adjunct Faculty in the Department of Earth and Environmental Studies at Montclair State University, where she builds predictive systems including loan default detection models and automated journal article classification tools.