Research Team

Dr. Kimberly B. Catton

Dr Kimberly Catton is a Research Assistant Professor in the Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering at Colorado State University. She earned a B.S. degree in Biological and Agricultural Engineering from the University of California – Davis, a M.S. degree in Environmental Engineering at the University of California – Davis, and a PhD in Civil and Environmental Engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology.  Primary research interests include the integration spatial analyses and life cycle assessments of energy systems, the interface between the environment and energy, and spatial-correlation analysis of complex fluid systems.  Current projects include the development of a GIS-based tool to assess microalgae-based biofuels productivity potential in the United States, GIS assessment of resource demand and life-cycle assessment on commercial–scale microalgae photobioreactors, and the development of a GIS tool to site and estimate the potential of low-head hydropower in the Western United States.

Stephen Goodwin

Stephen is a Graduate Research Assistant at Colorado State University. He earned a B.S. degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Colorado, a M.S. degree in Environmental Engineering from Colorado State University. He is currently pursuing his Ph.D. in Environmental Engineering at Colorado State University. His research is primarily focused on environmental issues associated with unconventional oil and gas development. He is interested in the development of improved water management methods and flowback/produced water treatment techniques. Previous work included nutrient fate and transport, GIS analysis, in situ hydrocarbon sampling, and fieldwork on Greenland’s ice sheet.

Ashwin Dhanasekar

Ashwin is a Graduate Research Student pursuing his Masters at Colorado State University mainly focusing on water resources management and treatment. He earned a B.S degree in Chemical Engineering at Anna University, Chennai, India. His previous work concentrations include phosphorus removal, improved denitrification and adsorption related research. He is a key member of the team which focuses on the Oil and Gas wells in the Wattenberg Field. He is instrumental in developing and maintaining the ArcExplorer tool for the display of wells. He specializes in ArcGIS and OLI Electrolyte Simulation to predict various methods of treatment of the produced water from the Oil & Gas wells. He is also a part of the team which designs and develops the CEWC website.

Bing Bai

Bing is a Graduate Research Student pursuing his Masters at Colorado State University focusing on frac flowback and produced water production. He earned his B.S degree in Environmental Engineering at Northeast Dianli University, Jilin, China. His previous research includes wastewater treatment plant design, water, solid and gas treatment for thermal power plants, photodegradation of Phenol in water ice. He is currently a team member who is focusing on the quantity of frac flowback and produced water from Noble Energy Oil and Gas wells in the Wattenberg Field. He specialized in ArcGIS to create models to predict produced water volume through the lifecycle of the wells.

Huishu Li

Huishu Li is a master student and Graduate Research Assistant in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Colorado State University.  She earned a B.S. degree in College of Resources and Environment at Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, China. Her previous research interests include environmental impacts of transgenic crops, transformation of protein toxins in the soil ecosystem, municipal wastewater treatment plant design, greywater reuse and membrane treatment process. Currently, she is focused on the water quality characterizing of produced water and fracturing flowback fluid for recycling in the Wattenberg field.  She specializes in assessing water quality needs for characterizing treatability of produced water and frac flowback, developing ArcGIS tools to make water sampling methods to understand water quality spatial distribution and temporal variation, and integrating water analysis into ArcGIS.