Stephanie Loeb, Assistant Professor

Department of Civil Engineering, McGill University

Specialization in Environmental Engineering

• Postdoc, Civil & Environmental Engineering, Stanford University

• PhD, Chemical & Environmental Engineering, Yale University

• MASc, Civil Engineering, University of Toronto

• HBSc, Physics & Nanoscience, University of Toronto & National University of Singapore [Jointly]

Dr. Stephanie Loeb is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Civil Engineering at McGill University. Prior to joining McGill, she was a post-doctoral fellow at Stanford where she studied the sunlight inactivation of human norovirus. She received her PhD from Yale University with a focus on the environmental applications of light-activated and fluorescent nanomaterials. She has a MASc from the University of Toronto in Civil Engineering and completed her bachelors degree in Physics and Nanoscience jointly between UofT and the National University of Singapore. Prof Loeb's research interests encompass materials science and environmental engineering, with particular expertise in the areas of nanotechnology, photonics, and environmental virology. Outside the lab, she likes traveling, swimming, skiing, listening to excessively long history podcasts, and reading science-fiction.

CV | Google Scholar | Twitter

Saadia Wasim is a pursuing a PhD in environmental engineering, co-supervised by Prof. Loeb and Prof. Ghoshal. She is the recipient of a MEDA Award and a Grad Excellence Award. She was born and raised in UAE and completed her B.Sc. in Chemical Engineering (major) and Engineering Management (minor) at American University of Sharjah and M.Eng. (Thesis-based) in Chemical Engineering at McGill University. Her Ph.D. research project is based on designing novel nanomaterials for improving light-mediated chemical and pathogen inactivation. When not involved in research, she enjoys spending her time organizing, cooking, baking, and tutoring.

Yiding Wang is a PhD student in the Loeb Research Group. He received his master's degree in Environmental Health and Engineering at the Johns Hopkins University and bachelor degree in Civil Engineering at University of Missouri-Columbia. He enjoys biology and mathematics. Currently, he is studying mechanisms of photo-inactivation, especially for viruses. His undergraduate research focused on treating wastewater using anaerobic bioreactors, and his master's graduate research focused on non-target analysis for pharmaceuticals in wastewater. Yiding enjoys swimming and hiking during his leisure time.

Mahmudul Hasan Khan Neon is currently pursuing a PhD under the supervision of Prof. Stephanie Loeb, focusing on the development of self-healing photocatalytic materials for environmental remediation. Neon earned an M.Sc. from Bangladesh University of Engineering & Technology and a B.Eng. from the University of Malaya, in Chemical Engineering. He is currently on study leave from Dhaka University of Engineering & Technology (DUET), where he served as an Assistant Professor. Neon previously taught at the Military Institute of Science and Technology and contributed to a University Grants Commission, Bangladesh-funded project, emphasizing innovative environmental advancements. Neon favours hands-on approaches in most tasks despite his fascination with technology and has a secret talent for sketching aliens.

Greyson He is an Masters student in the Department of Civil Engineering at McGill University. He started working in the Loeb Group as a SURE program participant on Wastewater-Based Epidemiology for SARS-CoV-2 in the summer of 2021 as an undergraduate student. Starting in Winter 2022, as part of a CIVE470 undergraduate research project, he developed a profound interest in improving nanomaterials-aided photocatalytic advance oxidation processes (AOP). A recipient of the McGill Engineering Undergraduate Student Masters Awards (MEUSMA), he started his Masters research focusing on developing novel surface plasmonic enhanced nanocomposites. Native to Shanghai, he is a world traveler who can often be found hiking in nature and jogging in the City of Montreal. 

Michelle Pelletier is a graduate student in the Department of Civil Engineering at McGill University. She worked at VIA Rail as a Sustainable Mobility and Corporate Social Responsibility intern from 2021 to 2023 during her undergraduate studies. Michelle started working in the Loeb Group during the last year of her Bachelor’s for her undergraduate research project on water quality in the Ungava and Hudson Bays. In Fall 2023, she joined the Lab as a Master’s student to rapidly detect pathogens in recreational waters using FEEM spectroscopy. In her spare time, she loves to rock climb and try new recipes.

Lawrence Chiang is an undergraduate student in the Department of Civil Engineering. They are currently working in the lab as a CIVE470 student, working on inactivation rates for MS2 using simulated sunlight. They have also worked on the wastewater SARS-CoV-2 surveillance project. Outside of the lab, Lawrence can be found in various film and music festivals, or cycling around town carrying too many baked goods.

Fernando Sanchez Quete is a research assistant working in the Loeb and Frigon research groups. He has a master of science in virology & immunology from Institut National de la Recherche Scientifique (INRS). He is known for his passion in understanding life dynamics through the biology of viruses. In the last five years, he has been studying both RNA and DNA viruses by using several approaches and techniques in cell and molecular biology. His current work in the Loeb group focuses on understanding light based disinfection mechanisms, predicting viral persistence, and detection of important viral pathogens in the environment. LinkedIn

Olivia Seamone completed her 470 undergraduate research project in the Loeb Lab. She worked on a project to formulate the optimal procedure for the growth of the phi6 virus and then determine the optimal light conditions to kill phi6. She has previous lab experience working on the project monitoring SARS-CoV-2 in wastewater systems in Quebec. She grew up in Canada, the United States, and the United Arab Emirates and her interests include surfing, writing music, and hiking. She is currently pursuing a master's degree at McGill.

Şükriye Celikkol Aydin was a research assistant in the lab's of Prof. Loeb and Prof. Frigon, working on the wastewater SARS-CoV-2 surveillance project. She is an environmental engineer and a molecular biologist with a PhD in environmental sciences. She has investigated the microbial ecology of various samples including domestic and industrial wastewater, drinking water reservoirs, lake and marine sediments, biofuels and corroded metals using microscopy, immunoimmobilization and molecular biology tools. She explored the relationship between nutrients, atmospheric variables and cyanobacterial bloom dynamics using metagenomics and high throughput 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing. She is currently a research associate at McGill in the Department of Civil Engineering continuing her work on pathogen detection in wastewater with the Frigon Research Group. Outside the lab, she enjoys hiking, playing badminton and reading about psychology.

Carolina Perusquía Hernández was a research assistant in the lab's of Prof. Loeb and Prof. Frigon, working on the wastewater SARS-CoV-2 surveillance project. Her research interests are catalytic and enzymatic processes, specifially aiming to understand function-structure relationships that promote specificity and efficiency characteristic of enzymes. She holds a master's degree in Applied Microbiology from Institut National de la Recherche Scientifique (INRS), with a major in protein science. Outside the lab, she enjoys hiking, cycling, swimming, reading, and cooking.

Betelhem (Betty) Kassa was a research assistant on the joint wastewater-based epidemiology of SARS-CoV2 project of Prof. Loeb and Prof. Frigon. After completing her BSc in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, she received a scholarship to do her MSc. at the Institut National de la Research Scientific (INRS). The MSc. program was focused on environmental toxicology and pharmacology, which sparked her interest in the interactions between humans and the environment and the effects of these interactions on the health of individuals as well as the society. Betty has lived in three different continents, and is keen to travel more and enjoy adventurous activities. What she enjoys the most currently is playing peekaboo with her 1-year-old son. LinkedIn

Paul Glenn was a research assistant working on the wastewater SARS-CoV-2 surveillance project to provide estimates of active COVID cases in sites throughout Quebec. Paul worked primarily in nucleic acid extraction and filtration of wastewater samples. Paul is currenting pursuing a master's degree at McGill University.

Alex Lang was a student research assistant working in the Loeb/Frigon COVID wastewater project. He worked on sample concentration, filtration, and DNA/RNA extraction for qPCR. His research interests include bioremediation, oncology, and biotechnological R&D. Moving often while growing up, Alex enjoys traveling to other countries, visiting historical sites, and experiencing different cultures. When not traveling, he can be found playing sports or practicing a new instrument.

Angela Zhu is an undergraduate student in bioengineering. She was a SURE and NSERC URSA undergraduate researcher in the Loeb lab group where she worked on the design of a photocatalytic water treatment reactor using 3-D printing techniques and developed a protocol for the growth and inactivation of bacteriophage MS2. Her poster won the best student presentation award at the SURE end of summer research show case. She is interested in the use of nanoparticles in personalized medicine and is a member of McGill's BioDesign team.

Xuan Wu was a research assistant working on the wastewater SARS-CoV-2 surveillance project, which provides additional information to McGill residence and helps with the early identification of possible outbreaks in the community. Xuan recently completed a master's in Civil Engineering at McGill where she studied anaerobic digestion of ozonated sludge. She is interested in many topics within the field of environmental engineering, with extra focus on wastewater treatment and biosolids management. Xuan is a guitar player and a fan of classical music. And as a food lover, she is willing to try delicacies all over the world.

Ling Han was a research assistant working on the wastewater COVID project which detects SARS-CoV-2 and monitors the concentrations in wastewater at McGill Residences. Ling worked on daily sampling, RNA extraction, and RT-qPCR experiment. Ling has a master’s degree from the Bioresources Engineering Department at McGill where she studied a variety of concepts in environmental engineering including wastewater treatments, remediations, ecotoxicology, systems analysis, water management, and environmental policy. She has a BScE in Bioenvironmental Systems from National Taiwan University. Recently, Ling is into winter activities like ice skating and practices for it during her leisure time.

Gabriel Coluni is a third-year undergraduate student studying in Civil Engineering at McGill University. He worked in the lab as a SURE Summer research students and as part of a CIVE470 undergraduate research project. His research interests are related to the built and aquatic environment, with a specific interest in photoinactivation and detection of viral pathogens. He is currently working on a systematic review and meta-analysis of sunlight inactivation of viral pathogens. He also worked on the detection of SARS-CoV-2 variants in the wastewater of Quebec. Outside of research, you will most likely see Gabriel being active either playing soccer or going kayaking in the Lac-St-Louis.