Aislinn Rose Varela
Chemical engineering
Hometown: Phoenix, Arizona, United States
Graduation date: Spring 2025
Additional details: Honors student
FURI | Fall 2024
Electrochemical Reduction of Nitrates for Algal Growth
Nitrate contamination from anthropogenic development poses a threat to both human health and the environment. This study investigates the electrochemical reduction of nitrates in complex water matrices resembling urban greywater, converting them into higher value-added nitrogen species such as ammonia. The ammonia-rich byproduct was then repurposed to grow Chlorella vulgaris, a model green alga known to enhance crop yield when used synergistically with plants in soil. Results indicated that C. vulgaris grown with 75% and 100% nitrogen as ammonia experienced ammonia toxicity, necessitating further studies to optimize conditions for algal growth in the presence of high ammonia concentrations.
Mentor: Sergi Garcia Segura
It’s hip to be square.
Students presenting projects at the Fulton Forge Student Research Expo are encouraged to download this personal QR code and include it within your poster. This allows expo attendees to explore more about your project and about you in the future.
Right click the image to save it to your computer.
Sponsored project | Fall 2024
Aislinn Varela’s FURI project is sponsored by W. L. Gore & Associates.
W. L. Gore & Associates is a uniquely creative, product leadership enterprise that has served a variety of global markets for more than 60 years, and provides innovative solutions that its associates stand behind. Gore established funds to support undergraduate students in the Fulton Undergraduate Research Initiative program and graduate students in the Master’s Opportunity for Research in Engineering program, and values student-driven research and developing relationships with students in the programs.