Samyam Aryal (SPH)
Advisor: Dr. Amir Sapkota

Samyam is a first-year PhD student in the Epidemiology program at the University of Maryland School of Public Health. He has a masters in Biostatistics and Epidemiology from India and a Bachelor’s in Ayurvedic Medicine from Nepal. His research interests include infectious diseases, and using machine learning for development of early warning systems for diarrheal diseases.

Kathryn Dixon (SPH)
Advisor: Dr. Rachel Rosenberg-Goldstein

Kathryn is a first-year PhD student in the Environmental Health Sciences program at the University of Maryland School of Public Health, Maryland Institute for Applied Environmental Health. She holds a master of science degree in Environmental Health and certificates in Risk Sciences and Public Policy, Climate and Health, and Environmental and Occupational Health from Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health. Her research interests include global water quality and water quality risk communication approaches and translating findings into evidence-based policy making.

Opeyemi Ogedengbe (AGNR)
Advisor: Dr. Diana Obanda

Opeyemi is a doctoral student in the Department of Nutrition and Food Science. She holds a Bachelor’s in Medical Biochemistry and a Master’s in Biochemistry from the University of Benin, Nigeria, where she focused on Nutritional Biochemistry as an approach to enhanced public health. Her research interests involve investigating the efficacy of nutritional therapy and its synergistic mechanism in modulating cellular processes and activities of metabolites in the prevention of metabolic syndromes such as diabetes and obesity.

Anthony Owolabi (Business)
Advisor: Dr. Andrew Mangle

Anthony is a second-year MS student in the Department of Information Sciences at Bowie State University. He holds a BS in Microbiology with years of experience as an environmental scientific officer. My research will explore the intricate relationships between food production, energy generation and water resource management, knowing how improvement in one area contributes to improvement in other areas.

Aishwarya Rao (AGNR)
Advisor: Dr. Abani Pradhan

Aishwarya (Ash) is a third-year Ph.D. student in the Food Science program of the Department of Nutrition and Food Science at the University of Maryland, College Park. Her current research includes understanding the survival of foodborne pathogens in microgreens grown in controlled environments. She aims to use various sustainable substrates as well as non-traditional water sources and monitor the survival of several enteric pathogens in the CEA continuum. She is also using whole genome sequencing to understand how the native microbiomes affect the survival of the pathogens in microgreens. Ultimately, her goal is to identify the risk factors associated with the production of microgreens so appropriate control measures can be recommended to producers. Her research interests include identifying viable strategies for various aspects of indoor agriculture, especially since it is emerging as a strategy to alleviate the effects of climate change.

Cameron Smith (SPH)
Advisor: Dr. Rachel Rosenberg-Goldstein

Cameron is a PhD student at the Maryland Institute for Applied Environmental Health. She holds a Master of Science in Environmental Health Sciences, a Bachelor of Science in Environmental Science & Technology: Ecosystem Health, and a Certificate in Sustainable Agriculture from the University of Maryland. Cameron studies microbial water quality in the Water Quality, Outreach, and Wellness Laboratory (WOW). Cameron’s research interests include microbial water contamination of drinking water from agricultural and well water sources and statistical analysis.