Welcome to Water Quality Lab at the Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. The overall goal of our research group is to develop sustainable engineering solutions to improve water quality and crop production.
Updates
12/2023: PhD student, Yufan Zhang defended his doctoral research entitled “Evaluation of sediment control practices for perimeter barrier: experiments and modeling”. Congratulations, Dr. Zhang!!
12/2023: PhD student, Youheng Han successfully passed his doctoral prelim exam.
06/2023: PhD student, Daniel Kim defended his doctoral research entitled “Attribution of Phosphorus load in various watersheds in Illinois”. Congratulations, Dr. Kim!!
08/2022: PhD student, Rishabh Gupta defended his doctoral research entitled “Modelin the impact of cereal rye as a winter cover crop on water and nitrogen cycling in the corn-soybean system at various scales”. Congratulations, Dr. Gupta!!
08/22: Haribansha Timalsina joined the research group as a PhD student. Wecome Haribansha!
07/2022: A research project titled “Illinois Department of Transportation’s Seeding Standards and Best Management Practices” was funded by Illinois Department of Transportation. (Bhattarai as Co-PI)
02/2022: Dr. Soonho Hwang joined the lab as a visiting scholar (postdoc) from Seoul National University (South Korea). Welcome to the lab, Dr. Hwang!
10/2021: PhD Student, Shailendra Singh successfully defended his doctoral research entitled “Evaluating effects of water quality BMPs on nitrate-nitrogen losses and crop yield at field and watershed scales”. Congratulations, Dr. Singh!!
05/2021: A research project titled “Evaluation of Net free Erosion Control Blankets” was funded by Illinois Department of Transportation. (Bhattarai as PI)
1/2021: Hongxu Zhou joined the research group as a PhD student. Welcome Hongxu!
1/2020: Manas Khan joined the research group as a PhD student. Welcome Manas!
12/2019: PhD Student, Chunhwa Jang successfully defended her doctoral research entitled “Mechanism of virus removal and nutrient reduction and modification of bio-sand filter”. Congratulations, Dr. Jang!!
8/2019: 1/2019: Daniel Kim joined the research group as a PhD student. Welcome Daniel!
8/2019: PhD Student, Vaskar Dahal successfully defended his doctoral research on “Synthesis of climate-water-food nexus in Illinois – data analysis and modeling”. Congratulations, Dr. Dahal!!
7/2019: Lab members (Jacob, Shailendra, and Rishabh) presented their research at ASABE Annual International Meeting at Boston, MA.
7/2019: MS student, Jacob Wood, successfully defended MS thesis. Congratulations, Jacob! He will start his PhD in our lab with as a JBT fellow from Fall 2019.
1/2019: Yufan Zhang joined the research group as a PhD student. Welcome Yufan!
1/2019: A research project titled “Watershed-scale Response of Agricultural Systems to Drainage Water Management in Central Illinois” was funded by Illinois Nutrient Research and Education Council; Collaborators: Richard Cooke (ABE, UIUC).
12/2018: MS student, Rajesh Kandel, successfully defended MS thesis. Congratulations, Rajesh!
11/2018: PhD student, Ann Perry-Witmer, passed her PhD defense. Congratulations, Ann!
11/2018: PI Bhattarai gave invited talks at China Agricultural University, Beijing and Tongji University, Shanghai (China).
8/2018: PhD student, Chunhwa Jang, passed her PhD prelim exam. Congratulations, Chunhwa!
7/2018: Grad students (Vaskar, Rishabh, Shailendra, and Rajesh) presented at ASABE Annual International Meeting at Detroit, MI.
6/2018: MS student, Alex Goodwin, successfully defended MS thesis. Congratulations, Alex!
5/2018: PhD student, Vaskar Dahal, passed his PhD prelim exam. Congratulations, Vaskar!
4/2018: PhD student, Ann Perry-Witmer, passed her PhD prelim exam. Congratulations, Ann!
2/2018: A research project titled “Evaluation of various products for perimeter barrier” was funded by Illinois Department of Transportation.
1/2018: Two new members joined the research group! Welcome Jacob Wood (incoming MS student) and Hongxu Zhou (Visiting student from China Agricultural University)!
1/2018: A research project titled “Assessing tile depth and spacing impact on nutrient losses and crop production ” was funded by Illinois Nutrient Research and Education Council; Collaborators: Richard Cooke (ABE, UIUC).
11/2017: A research project titled “Evaluation of alternate water sources for specialty crop production in Illinois” was funded by USDA Specialty Crop Program (through Illinois Department of Agriculture); Collaborators: Helen Nguyen (CEE, UIUC), Robert Aherin (ABE, UIUC).
9/2017: PI Bhattarai gave a key note speech at the Third International Conference on Environment, Engineering & Energy 2017.
8/2017: Rishabh Gupta joined the research group as a PhD student. Welcome Rishabh!
07/2017: Grad students (Vaskar and Chunhwa) presented at ASABE Annual International Meeting at Spokane, WA.
05/2017: MS student Matt Stoklosa (co-advised with Prof. Prasanta Kalita) successfully defended his MS thesis. Congratulations, Matt!!
01/2017: A research project on “Web-based decision support tool for cover crop management” funded by Illinois Nutrient Research and Education Council; Collaborators: Jonathan Coppess (ACE,UIUC), Shalamar Armstrong (Purdue).
01/2017: Two new members joined the research group! Welcome Shailendra Singh (incoming PhD student) and Rajesh Kandel (incoming MS student)!!
12/2016: MS student Sudip Gautam successfully defended his MS thesis. Congratulations, Sudip!!
09/2016: A research project on “Comparison of Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) elevations and on-site survey elevations” funded by USDA-NRCS; Collaborators: Richard Cooke, Maria Chu (UIUC).
08/2016: Alex Goodwin joined the lab as a MS student. Welcome Alex!
07/2016: Grad students (Vaskar, Sudip, and Chunhwa) presented at ASABE Annual International Meeting at Orlando, FL.
01/2016: A research project on “Assessing synergies and tradeoffs of recommended BMPs to reduce nutrient losses” funded by Illinois Nutrient Research and Education Council; Collaborators: Cameron Pittlekow, Laura Christianson, Gary Letterly.
12/2015: A research project on “Balancing water quality and nutrient management goals for the sustainable intensification of corn systems” funded by Dudley Smith Initiative, UIUC; Collaborators: Cameron Pittlekow, Laura Christianson, Gary Letterly.
08/2015: Two new members joined the research group! Welcome Chunhwa Jang (PhD) and Matt Stoklosa (MS)!
07/2015: Grad student (Vaskar) presented a paper on “climate change impact on streamflow in Bagmati River basin, Nepal” at ASABE Annual International meeting at New Orleans, LA.
05/2015: Presented a paper on “climate change impact on subsurface drainage systems in Illinois” at ASABE 1st Climate Change Symposium at Chicago, IL.
01/2015: Two new members joined the research group! Welcome Vaskar Dahal (PhD) and Sudip Gautam (MS)!
01/2015: A research project on “Development of Low-Water Crossing Design Guidelines for Very Low ADT Routes in Illinois” funded by Illinois Department of Transportation; Collaborators: Prasanta Kalita (UIUC), Heidi Howard and Niels Svendsen (Army Corps of Engineers.
08/2014: Started a new position as an Assistant Professor in Soil and Water Resources Engineering at the University of Illinois.