News
Exciting news from the Korak Research Group. Follow us on LinkedIn!
June 2026: Emma successfully defends her PhD in Environmental Engineering, which advances the use of coagulation as a pre-treatment for non-membrane water reuse treatment processes.
May 2026: Prof. Korak is awarded the Early Career Faculty Development Award by the Department of Civil, Environmental, and Architectural Engineering, University of Colorado Boulder.
April 2026: New paper published in Water Research challenging the conservative mixing organic matter as characterized by size exclusion chromatography. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.watres.2026.125789
April 2026: Leah successfully defends her PhD in Environmental Engineering, which advances methodologies for studying the corrosion of cast iron pipes in drinking water distribution systems.
April 2026: Prof. Korak is inducted into the 40 Under 40 Rising Stars in Environmental Engineering and Science by the American Academy of Environmental Engineers and Scientists.
March 2026: New paper published in Géotechnique Letters collaborating with Prof. Zhang about mine tailings. https://doi.org/10.1680/jgele.24.00153
March 2026: New paper published in the Journal of Hazardous Materials presenting a more efficient method for regenerating ion exchange resin for arsenic treatment systems with co-occurring contaminants. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhazmat.2026.141712
Dec 2025: Best paper award! Outstanding Review in Environmental Science: Processes & Impacts of 2024, Royal Society of Chemistry (One paper was selected by the Editorial and Advisory Board Members). https://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlelanding/2024/em/d4em00183d
Dec 2025:Isabella passes the Ph.D. Comprehensive Exam. Congrats!
Dec 2025:Emma passes the Ph.D. Comprehensive Exam. Congrats!
Sept 2025: New publication led by PhD student Emma that models organic carbon removal from wastewater effluent for water reuse. Published as part of ACS ES&T Engineering special issue “Global Challenges and Advances in Energy, Food, and Water Sustainability to Strengthen Climate Resilience”.https://doi.org/10.1021/acsestengg.5c00614
May 2025:Emma passes the Ph.D. Preliminary Exam. Congrats!
May 2025: The Bureau of Reclamation funds a new project through the DWPR program in collaboration with Prof. Rahman and Leah.
May 2025: Emma wins a USGS Research Award. Congrats!
April 2025: The Water Research Foundation funds a new project led by the PI Korak in collaboration with Texas A&M University (Prof. McKay)
April 2025:Emma wins WateReuse Colorado General Scholarship and gives a presentation at the annual conference. Congrats!
January 2025: Leah passes the Ph.D. Comprehensive Exam. Congrats!
December 2024: New review publication in AWWA Water Science about lithium and drinking water treatment. https://doi.org/10.1002/aws2.70009
September 2024: New Open Access publication in Environmental Science: Advances by first author Annabel Mungan developing a hybrid ion exchange resin for hexavalent chromium removal. https://doi.org/10.1039/D4VA00246F
August 2024: Emma is awarded the James B. Warner Water Studies Scholarship from the Rocky Mountain Section of the American Water Works Association.
June 2024: New Open Access publication in Environmental Science: Processes and Impacts presenting a critical review of optical measurements (absorbance and fluorescence) as surrogates for organic matter aromaticity and molecular size. https://doi.org/10.1039/D4EM00183D
May 2024: Annabel is awarded Outstanding Masters Thesis for the Environmental Engineering Program.
May 2024: Research assistants Josh and Taylor graduate - thanks for all the hard work advancing several projects!
April 2024: New Open Access publication in Environmental Science & Technology performing a meta-analysis of >700 samples for correlations in optical surrogates (absorbance and fluorescence) for organic matter. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.3c10627
Feb 2024: New publication in Environmental Science: Processes and Impacts about water quality after the Camp Fire in California. https://doi.org/10.1039/D3EM00298E
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Dec 2023:Ayush graduates with an M.S. in Global Engineering. Congrats!
Aug 2023:Annabel graduated with an M.S. in Environmental Engineering. Congrats!
May 2023: Prof. Korak is awarded the CEAE Department Teaching Award.
Jan 2023: Welcome graduate student Emma Wilder to the group.
Dec 2022: Prof. Korak joins ACS Omega as an Associate Editor.
Dec 2022: New publication in the ACE ES&T Water with first author Melanie Warren about water quality sampling in Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria.
https://doi.org/10.1021/acsestwater.2c00425
Dec 2022: Ida graduated with an M.S. in Environmental Engineering. Congrats!
Dec 2022: Ayush is awarded the Figueroa Family Foundation Fellowship
Aug 2022: Landon graduated with an M.S. in Environmental Engineering. Congrats!
July 2022: Ayush is awarded a James B. Warner Water Studies Scholarship from the Rocky Mountain Section of the American Water Works Association.
June 2022: New publication in the Journal of Hazardous Materials with Annabel and Landon reviewing strategies for managing waste brine from ion exchange processes. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhazmat.2022.129473
May 2022: Ayush is awarded the CDM Smith Scholarship from the American Water Works Association and wins 2nd place in the poster competition at the Rocky Mountain Section of the American Water Works Association Student Conference
May 2022: Prof. Korak is awarded Faculty Appreciation Award for Environmental Engineering voted by undergraduate students.
May 2022: Eva is awarded the Outstanding Graduate in the Environmental Engineering Program.
April 2022: Annabel is awarded the NSF Graduate Research Fellowship
March 2022:Annabel is awarded the Harlan Erker Memorial Scholarship
Oct 2021: New publication in Environmental Science: Water Research and Technology with first author Leah Flint comparing resins for hexavalent chromium removal. https://doi.org/10.1039/D1EW00382H
Aug 2021: Welcome M.S. student Annabel Mungan to the group.
June 2021: Welcome B.S student Eva Thoresen to the group who started through the CU Summer Program for Undergraduate Research (CU SPUR) program.
Mar 2021: New publication in Environmental Science: Water Research and Technology with Leah Flint on decreasing waste brine volume from ion exchange using nanofiltration. https://doi.org/10.1039/D1EW00001B
Jan 2021: Prof. Korak is invited to join the Inaugural Early Career Editorial Advisory Board for Environmental Science & Technology.
Dec 2020: Leah is awarded a James B. Warner Water Studies Scholarship from the Rocky Mountain Section of the American Water Works Association. Congrats!
Dec 2020: Patent application is filed and published based on Arias-Paic and Korak ES&T Letters paper.
Aug 2020: Welcome graduate student Ida Clarke to the group!
July 2020:Juliette and Leah successfully complete and defend their Master Theses. Congrats!
May 2020: Ayush successfully passes his Ph.D. Preliminary Exam. Congrats!
May 2020: Prof. Korak is awarded Faculty Appreciation Award for Environmental Engineering voted by undergraduate students.
Jan 2020: New publication in Environmental Science and Technology Letters on integrating forward osmosis to manage ion echange waste. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.estlett.9b00733
Jan 2020: Welcome graduate student Landon Watts to the group!
Jan 2020: Prof. Korak recognized as Top Reviewer for AWWA Water Science
Dec 2019: New publication in Water Research on the
selection of optical properties for detection of wastewater effluent organic matter. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.watres.2019.115321
Sept 2019: Welcome EVEN senior Peter Heller to the group!
Aug 2019: Welcome graduate Student Ayush Raj Shahi to the group!
May 2019: Melanie Warren successfully defends her Masters Thesis on Post-Hurricane Maria water quality sampling in Puerto Rico. Congrats!
May 2019: Juliette Kaplan (M.S.) and Nadia Jorgenson (CU SPUR Program) join the group!
Feb 2019: Prof. Korak wins the 2019 Membrane Technology Best Paper Award from a publication in the Journal of the American Water Works Association
Nov 2018: Welcome EVEN senior Yiqun Yao to the group!
Sept 2018: Welcome M.S. students Melanie Warren and Leah Flint to the group!
Aug 2018: Prof. Korak joins the Civil, Environmental, and Architectural Engineering Department at the University of Colorado Boulder