Julie Albert is an Associate Professor in the Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering Department at Tulane University and is the PI for team ReCoast. She leads a vibrant research group training students in material processing and engineering solutions, co-Directs the Summer MAterials Research @ Tulane (SMART) REU Program, and collaborates regularly with faculty and professionals from many disciplines to support integrative programming at national conferences and Tulane events.

Sunshine Van Bael is an Associate Professor in the Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Department at Tulane University. She is a plant-microbial ecologist who specializes in wetland coastal ecology, particularly along the Gulf Coast. On the ReCoast team, her lab focuses on greenhouse experimentation with native plants and recycled glass sand.

Franziska is the co-founder and CEO of Glass Half Full, L3C. She started Glass Half Full while still in college at Tulane University, where she graduated with honors in Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering. GHF recycles glass into sand and gravel for coastal restoration, disaster relief, construction, landscaping, and more.

Katie Russell is a Senior Professor of Practice in the Chemical and Biomolecular Department at Tulane University and serves on ReCoast’s project management team. Her focus is on community engagement, and she has extensive experience developing community partnerships with local non-profits to incorporate design-oriented service-learning projects into the Tulane curriculum.

Ehab Mehselhe is a Professor in the Department of River-Coastal Science and Engineering at Tulane University and is responsible for selection of suitable restoration/preservation sites using analytical and numerical modeling approaches. Additionally, Ehab is connected extensively to the local network of agencies working on coastal restoration projects and leads the team in communicating with federal, state, and NGOs.

Mead Allison received his B.S. from the College of William & Mary in 1985 and B.S. and M.S. from East Carolina University in 1988 and 1993 and his Ph.D. from State University of New York. On the ReCoast team, his group focuses on coastal modeling in planned project areas.

Dr. Bart's field of research includes Ecology and Systematics of Freshwater Fishes and Amphibians. On the ReCoast team, his lab focuses on interactions between fish, crabs, and recycled glass sand.

After receiving her B.S. from Florida State University, Kat Fogg moved to New Orleans to work in cultural resource management in 2006. She has been traversing the marshlands of Louisiana as an environmental scientist to collect and analyze hydrological, vegetative, and elevation data since 2013. Kat is applying her field experience to bolster the ReCoast team through project research, implementation, and community outreach.

Dr. Wen received her B.S. in Civil Engineering from Huaihai Institute of Technology, China in 2013 and her M.S. and Ph.D. in Civil and Environmental Engineering from Jackson State University in 2016 and 2017. On the ReCoast team, she is researching the use of a biopolymers with recycled glass sand to improve erosion resistance.

Dr. John received his B.S. from The Indian Institute of Technology in Madras in 1976, his M.S. from Pennsylvania State University in 1978 and his Ph.D. in Engineering Science from Columbia University in 1982. On the ReCoast team, his lab is conducting novel research on the use of recycled glass sand to mitigate harmful algal blooms.

Emily Farrer is an Assistant Professor in the Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Department at Tulane University. She is a community ecologist who specializes in plant and microbial dynamics in wetlands. On the ReCoast team, her lab focuses on greenhouse experimentation with native plants and recycled glass sand.

Navid Jafari received his B.S. in Civil Engineering from The University of Memphis in 2010, and his M.S. in Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering in 2011 and PhD in Geotechnical Engineering in 2015 from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Currently, Dr. Jafari is an Associate Professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Louisiana State University. On the ReCoast team, he will be analyzing soil field measurements for modeling and project monitoring.

Keith Clay is Professor and Chair of the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at Tulane University. His PhD is from Duke University, and he has previously held academic positions at LSU and Indiana University. His interests are in symbiosis, primarily between plants and fungi. On the ReCoast team, his group is exploring the ability of recycled glass sand to support the growth of plants specifically adapted to growing on sand dunes and beaches of the Gulf Coast.

As an Assistant Professor at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, Julie P. Vanegas specializes in Material Science. Dr. Vanegas received her Ph.D and master's degree from The Institute for Molecular Science (ICMol) University of Valencia in Spain. Her group at Recoast focuses on characterization of recycled glass sand and comparison of its effect on ecosystem.

David Hicks received his PhD in Quantitative Biology from the University of Texas at Arlington in 1999. Currently, he is a professor and Director of the School of Earth, Environmental, and Marine Sciences at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley. On the ReCoast team, Dr. Hicks is expanding recycled glass sand research to Texas beach environments.

Tiong Aw is an Associate Professor in the Department of Environmental Health Sciences, School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine at Tulane University. He is a public health microbiologist. His research interests lie at the intersection of microbial pathogens, water quality and human/environmental health. His research also focuses on the control of waterborne pathogens, particularly enteric viruses, including new detection methods and mechanisms of pathogen inactivation. On the ReCoast team, his lab is evaluating recycled glass sand as innovative filter materials to remove microbial contaminants in water.

As an Assistant Professor in the Biology Department at the University of South Alabama, Jeremiah Henning’s research interests focus on plant-microbial interactions, microbiomes, community ecology, ecosystem ecology, global change, coastal dune ecology. He received his M.S. in Biology (Ecology) from University of Wisconsin Oshkosh and his Ph.D in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology from the University of Tennessee. On the ReCoast team, his group is On the ReCoast team, his group focuses on in-field experimentation with native dune plants and recycled glass sand on Dauphin Island, Alabama and the interactions of ghost crabs with recycled glass sand.

Ansley Levine received her M.S. from Mississippi State University and is practicing as a doctoral research assistant in the Department of Marine Biology at Texas A&M in Galveston through the Texas A&M Doctoral Research Excellence Assistantship. She focuses on evaluating the efficacy of various coastal restoration designs along the Gulf of Mexico that is related to informing more sustainable coastal restoration and conservation practices. On the ReCoast team, Ansley created an outdoor mesocosm experiment to compare coastal marsh plants’ ability to grow in recycled glass sand versus local fill soil.