May 2023: Paper accepted in the Journal of Air and Waste Management Association. This is the product of a class project of the Solid Waste Management class at NDSU.
Saha, B., Khan, M.T., Graupman, M., Aslam, H.M.U., Gupta, A.K., Helmin, G., Larson, M., Chard, K., Hayes, B., Anderson, R., Bolyard, S.C., Rusch, K.A., Bezbaruah, A.N., Iskander, S.M.* 2023. Impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on landfilling and recycling in the City of Fargo, North Dakota, USA. Journal of Air and Waste Management. Congratulations to the authors!
May 2023: Paper accepted in Environmental Science & Technology Journal.
Yadav, H., Khan, M.R.H., Quadir, M., Rusch, K.A., Mondal, P.P., Orr, M., Xu, E., Iskander, S.M.* 2023. Cutting boards: an overlooked source of microplastics in human food? Environmental Science & Technology. Congratulations to Himani!! https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.est.3c00924

April 2023: Ryan and Kira presented their research in the departmental industrial advisory board meeting! Great Job!!


April 2023: Biraj Saha received travel grant to participate in the 2023 AEESP Research & Education Conference in Boston from June 20 to 23! Congratulations!!
April 2023: Ryan, Kira, Biraj, Himani, and Tanbir presented their research in the Annual NDSU Graduate Student Council Research Symposium. Ryan Anderson won the first prize and Kira Eliason won the third prize! Great Job!!


March 2023: Syeed joined Frontiers in Environmental Engineering Journal as an associate editor.
https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/environmental-engineering
February 2023: Himani presented her microplastics research in the weekly Civil, Construction and Environmental Engineering departmental seminar. Great Job!!

February 2023: Syeed received the Innovation in Teaching Award from the NDSU Office of Teaching and Learning! https://www.ndsu.edu/otl/faculty_resources/awards/innovation_in_teaching/
January 2023: Paper accepted in ACS ES&T Water Journal. Title: Industrial Water Demand and Wastewater Generation: Challenges for Bangladesh’s Water Industry! This was a major collaborative effort with experts from South Asia!! https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acsestwater.3c00023

October 2022: The Solid and Hazardous Waste Management class visited Minnkota Recycling on October 19, 2022.





September 2022: The Solid and Hazardous Waste Management class visited the Fargo Yard Waste Compost Site on September 14, 2022.



August 2022: Md Tanbir Khan joins the group as a Ph.D. student. Tanbir brings expertise in industrial wastewater treatment! Welcome!!
July 2022: Paper accepted in ACS ES&T Water Journal as Supplementary Cover. Title: Advancement and challenges in municipal landfill leachate treatment – the path forward! This was a major collaborative effort from the Industry and Academic experts!! https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acsestwater.2c00216
July 2022: Himani and Syeed hosted five high school students during the NDSU STEM Kid Camp on July 19, 2022. The high school students learnt about density separation of microplastics and FTIR spectroscopy for microplastics characterization.



July 2022: Syeed, Kira, and Ryan conducted an education and outreach activity at the United Tribes Technical College on July 13, 2022. The visiting tribal high school students learnt about density separation of microplastics from sand.



June 2022: Biraj Saha participated in the International Solid Waste Association-Solid Waste Institute for Sustainability (ISWA-SWIS) Winter School from June 06 to June 17, 2022, at The University of Texas at Arlington, Texas, USA. He received training on Solid Waste Management technologies. His team won the best team award in the program. Congratulations!



June 2022: The group conducted an outreach activity among the visiting Turtle Mountain Community College students!!!



May 2022: Kim and Shane join the lab as a part of the NSF Research Experiences for Teachers program. They will work on landfill refuse microplastics. Welcome!!!



April 2022: Ryan Anderson and Kira Eliason presented their research in the Grand Challenges Scholars Program Conference. Congratulations!!!


April 2022: Ryan Anderson won First Prize in the Undergraduate Oral Presentation Category and Himani Yadav won Fifth Prize in the Graduate Oral Presentation Category at North Dakota State University’s Annual Research Day Symposium!! Congratulations!!!



April 2022: The group (Biraj Saha, Himani Yadav, Ryan Anderson, and Kira Eliason) presented their research in the NDSU Research Day on April 19, 2022. Congratulations!!!


February 2022: Biraj Saha has been selected as one of the finalists of the NDSU Three-Minute Thesis competition! The event was held on February 17, 2022. Congratulations!!!
November 2021: Dr. Iskander co-advised a group of students (Danielle Peltier, Hannah Patenaude, Kjersten Winkelman, Rachel Kawleski) with Dr. Bezbaruah to win (1st) the Environmental Challenge organized by the Air & Waste Management Association – Upper Midwest Section (AWMA-UMS) and Central States Water Environment Association(CSWEA) – Minnesota Section.
October 2021: Biraj Saha has won an essay competition and received a full scholarship to participate in the International Solid Waste Association-Solid Waste Institute for Sustainability (ISWA-SWIS) Winter School from January 17 to January 28, 2022, at The University of Texas at Arlington, Texas, USA. He will receive training on Solid Waste Management technologies at that time. https://www.iswa.org/winter-school-2022/?v=7516fd43adaa. Congratulations to Biraj!!
October 2021: Coauthored paper came out in the Environmental Science: Water Research & Technology Journal!
Wang, P., Zarei Baygi, A., Sauceda, C., Iskander, S.M., Smith, A. L.* 2021. Long-Term Surveillance of Wastewater SARS-CoV-2 in Los Angeles County. Environmental Science: Water Research & Technology. https://doi.org/10.1039/D1EW00586C
October 2021: Four of the group members participated in the Annual ND Water and Pollution Control Conference and all of them won awards for their poster presentations.
YP Poster Competition: Biraj Saha (1st), Ryan Anderson (2nd), Himani Yadav (3rd).
AWWA’s Fresh Ideas Poster Competition: Kira Elisaon (winner). Kira will receive free registration at the AWWA Annual Conference and Exposition in San Antonio, TX next June and $1,500 toward travel to the conference from the ND American Water Works Association.



September 2021: John Briest and Sara Hoovestol from Weaver Consultants Group visited the lab!!
August 2021: Himani Yadav joins the lab as a PhD student. Himani brings expertise in microplastics research. Welcome!!
July 2021: Kim and Mike finished their summer research in our lab with a great poster session! We will miss their lively presence.


July 2021: Prof. Kelly Rusch, Executive Director of North Dakota EPSCoR, visited the lab!


July 2021: Profs. Rajib Saha and Shudipto Dishari, and Sreyan from University of Nebraska – Lincoln visited the lab!
June 2021: Kim and Mike join the lab as a part of the NSF Research Experiences for Teachers program. They will work on the impact of natural disasters on water quality. Welcome!
June 2021: Biraj Saha joins the lab as a PhD student. Biraj brings expertise in industrial wastewater treatment. Welcome!
June 2021: After a long wait, our Lumos II FTIR microscope has arrived and running!!
May 2021: Ryan Anderson presented his research on An Evolving Protocol to Identify Nanoplastics in Landfill Leachate in the First Grand Challenges Scholars Program International Research Conference.
April 2021: Ryan Anderson presented his research on Nanoplastics in Landfill Leachate and its Environmental Implications in the Annual NDSU Explore Undergraduate Research Symposium. Here is the link: https://youtu.be/h2NY9HyOkgk
April 2021: Ryan Anderson presented his research on Nanoplastics in Landfill Leachate in the 5th Annual Graduate Student Council Research Symposium at North Dakota State University.
February 2021: “Investigation of fats, oils, and grease co-digestion with food waste in anaerobic membrane bioreactors and the associated microbial community using MinION sequencing” has been accepted for publication in Frontiers in Bioengineering and Biotechnology – Bioprocess Engineering Journal.
January 2021: Kira Eliason, a Freshman in Environmental Engineering at NDSU joins the group as an undergraduate researcher. Welcome Kira!!
December 2020: Coauthored paper on ”Solid Waste: An Overlooked Source of Microplastics to the Environment” has been accepted for publication in Science of the Total Environment Journal.
November 2020: Ryan Anderson, a Sophomore in Civil and Environmental Engineering at NDSU joins the group as an undergraduate researcher. Welcome Ryan!!
October 2020: Dr. Iskander received $35,000 Equipment Award from the North Dakota Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (ND EPSCoR)!!
October 2020: Dr. Iskander received $10,000 SEED Award from the North Dakota Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (ND EPSCoR) to Collect Preliminary Data to Develop a Federal Grant Proposal!!
August 2020: Dr. Iskander moved to the beautiful campus of North Dakota State University!!
May 2020: Dr. Iskander accepted a Tenure Track Assistant Professor Position in the Civil and Environmental Engineering Department at North Dakota State University to start from fall 2020.
May 2019: Dr. Iskander joined the Sonny Astani Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at University of Southern California as a postdoctoral research associate.
May 2019: Dr. Iskander presented his research in the Association of Environmental Engineering and Science Professors (AEESP) conference at Arizona State University.
April 2019: Dr. Iskander received the first place award in the five-minute flash talk competition at the 1st annual Alpha Epsilon Honor Society Research Symposium, Virginia Tech.
April 2019: Dr. Iskander received the Gold Award in oral presentation category at the 35th Annual Graduate Student Assembly Research Symposium, Virginia Tech.
March 2019: Syeed successfully defended his Ph.D. dissertation on March 25th.