Ph.D. Students

Taylor Edwards
Email: taylor.edwards[at]mail.utoronto.ca

Taylor received his BASc in Chemical Engineering from the University of Toronto, during which he completed an undergraduate thesis under the supervision of Prof. Evans, measuring the presence of fine particulate matter on artificial sports fields. Taylor continued at SOCAAR following his undergraduate degree as an MASc student in 2018, and bypassed to a PhD program in 2019. As a PhD student, Taylor’s research focuses on the spatial and temporal trends of near-road pollutants and traffic emission rates, quantifying daily and seasonal changes in traffic emissions through modeling and statistical methods. His research also involves the experimental application of low-cost air quality sensors in place of more expensive traditional methods.



Anny Fong

Anny holds a Master of Engineering in Electrical Engineering, a Master of Business Administration (University of Toronto-Rotman), and a Master of Laws (York University-Osgoode Hall Law School). Her current research interest surrounds experiential digital learning objects; she aspires to create reusable and effective resources that enable engineering students to develop their leadership skills. She is currently pursuing her PhD under the supervision of Dr. Greg Evans.



Nathan Hilker
Email: nathan.hilker[at]utoronto.ca

Nathan received his BASc. in Nanotechnology Engineering from his hometown University of Waterloo in 2013. As an undergraduate he worked as a research assistant for the Applied Carbon Nanotechnology Laboratory at the University of Waterloo under the supervision of Dr. Aiping Yu, and as a data analyst at Environment Canada in Dr. Jeffrey Brook’s group. In noticing analogies between current nanocharacterization methods and air quality instrumentation, the latter co-op placement would spark his interest in the atmospheric sciences. Now, as a PhD. student in the University of Toronto’s SOCAAR laboratory, the focal point of Nathan’s research pertains to the characterization of traffic-related air pollutants near roadways using high time resolution instruments, and understanding the meteorological conditions conducive to their contribution to urban air quality.



PE_Kimia

Kimia Moozeh
Email: kimia.moozeh[at]mail.utoronto.ca

Kimia received her Hon. B. Sc. Degree in Evolutionary Biology and Chemistry from the University of Toronto in 2013. For her fourth year undergraduate thesis, she worked under the supervision of Prof. Jik Chin in the Department of Chemistry. The project involved investigating the stability of imidazolidine rings through experimentation and computation. She pursued her Master’s degree in Chemistry with Prof. Jik Chin as well, where she developed an artificial enzyme for amino acid racemization.

Her passion for teaching, combined with her background in Chemistry, motivated her to join Dr. Greg Evans’ group in 2015 for the Engineering Education collaborative program. Her research involves improving the learning outcomes of the chemical engineering undergraduate laboratories by bridging the learning from a larger context to the underlying fundamentals.



Hosna Movahhedinia
Email: hosna.movahhedinia[at]mail.utoronto.ca

During her master, Hosna’s research focused on monitoring chemical contamination of medical air using low-cost sensors. She has started her PhD on mining of air quality data in 2019.



Keith Van Ryswyk
Email: keith.vanryswyk[at]mail.utoronto.ca

Keith’s research focuses on the characterization of fine particulate matter in the subway environment. This research aims to generate evidence on the source contributions, system design factors, and diurnal patterns that govern airborne particulate matter in the subway environment. This work will inform on exposure mitigation strategies designed to improve air quality in this essential public transit method.



Alison Traub
Email: alison.traub[at]mail.utoronto.ca

Alison graduated with a BSc in Environmental Sciences from the University of Guelph in 2015 and completed her MASc in Chemical Engineering with a focus on Environment & Health in 2018. She began her doctoral research in 2019, with a focus on temporal and spatial trends in the oxidative potential of ambient particulate matter in urban environments.