We are excited to introduce and welcome our new board of directors, including two board members and a student representative of SETAC-HDC. We are looking forward to work with you!
Board Member: Hasti Ziaei-Jam, Ph. D., Geosyntec Consultants
Dr. Hasti Ziaei is a Senior Staff Professional at Geosyntec’s Pennington, New Jersey office. She brings over 7 years of experience in environmental engineering and 3 years of specialized practice in sediment assessment. Her expertise includes evaluating the bioavailability, fate, and transport of heavy metals in sediment using passive samplers.
Hasti earned her PhD in Civil-Environmental Engineering from Texas Tech University in the summer of 2023, under the mentorship of Danny Reible. Before her doctoral studies, she worked as a researcher at the Water Research Institute in Iran for two and a half years. She also gained valuable experience over two years in consulting companies, where she worked on diverse projects and honed her technical and software skills.
Dr. Ziaei is an active member of the Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (SETAC). She has presented at three conferences in SETAC-North America and one regional HDC event. Her passion lies in enhancing environmental quality and ecosystem integrity in the Hudson River and Delaware River areas, fostering awareness and knowledge exchange.
Board Member: Anthony Sigman-Lowery, University of Delaware
Anthony Sigman-Lowery is a PhD candidate at the University of Delaware, and he is interested in continuing his work on the HDC SETAC board after serving two years as the student representative. He will be defending his PhD later this summer and he has studied the fate and properties of novel brominated flame retardants in aquatic environments. As a post-doc, he will remain at the University of Delaware modeling the bioavailability and toxicity of PFAS compounds. His present and future research align with the mission of HDC SETAC, as understanding the physicochemical properties, distribution and toxicity of emerging contaminants is critical to modeling their environmental fate and informing potential regulation.
As student representative, Anthony has helped organize the chapter meetings and fall social events, as well as fostered student engagement from universities across our region. He hope to continue this work on the board and focus on improving our chapter meetings as well as growing student membership and engagement throughout the year.
Student Representative: Abdullah Al-Amin, Temple University
Abdullah Al-Amin is a Research Assistant at the McKenzie Environmental Engineering Research Group (MEERG) in the department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Temple University. His dissertation investigates the fate and transport of inorganic ions in stormwater management practices. Holding BS and MS degrees in Environmental Sciences, his primary research focus is on the fate and transport of pollutants in large watershed and subsurface systems. His expertise includes laboratory experiments, field investigations, sensor data analysis, and statistical computations. He has authored numerous peer-reviewed journal articles and technical reports and has presented his work at both SETAC North America and HDC SETAC conferences. Since his undergraduate days, Abdullah has been involved in various leadership roles, prominently organizing social and humanitarian activities. His leadership skills were further recognized through his founding membership in the Temple University College of Engineering Graduate Student Association and his active participation as a young leader in the Water Research Association of Delaware River Basin. As a student representative on the HDC SETAC board, Abdullah aims to use his research skills and commitment to environmental stewardship to enhance student participation and teamwork, thereby strengthening their collective impact on environmental policies and practices.
Thank you
Director Board
SETAC HDC