Mengyan Li
Professor, Chemistry and Environmental Science
Tiernan 384
About Me
Dr. Li develops water remediation techniques that deploy microorganisms to biodegrade organic pollutants of emerging global concern. He also researches interdisciplinary methods for improving urban water treatment technologies, including the use of nanotechnology to disinfect supplies contaminated with pathogens.
Education
Ph.D. ; Rice University ; Environmental Engineering ; 2013

M.S. ; Rice University ; Environmental Engineering ; 2010

B.E. ; Nankai University ; Environmental Engineering ; 2008

Awards & Honors

2022 NJIT CSLA Excellence in Graduate Education Award ,

2022 NAI Senior Member ,

2019 ISPTS Young Scientist Award ,

2019 NJIT CSLA Rising Star Research Award,

2019 NSF CAREER Award,

2018 CAPEES Founding President Best Paper Award ,

2014 2nd Place for the 5th Annual Geosyntec™ Student Paper Competition,

2014 Honor Award for the Excellence in Environmental Engineering and Science™ Competition in the category of University Research by AAEES,

2014 Student Paper Winner for the 9th International Conference on Remediation of Chlorinated and Recalcitrant Compounds,

2013 2nd Place for the 4th Annual Geosyntec™ Student Paper Competition,

2008 Outstanding Undergraduate Research Thesis of Nankai University ,

2008 Outstanding Undergraduate Student of Nankai University,

2025 Fall Courses
CHEM 701C - MASTERS THESIS

EVSC 627 - ENVIRONMENTAL MICROBIOLOGY

CHEM 491 - RESEARCH & INDEP STUDY I

CHEM 492 - RESEARCH & INDEP STUDY

CHEM 591 - GRADUATE CO-OP WORK EXPER II

CHEM 725 - INDEPENDENT STUDY I

CHEM 726 - INDEPENDENT STUDY II

EVSC 701C - MASTER'S THESIS

CHEM 701B - MASTERS THESIS

EVSC 591 - GRADUATE WORK EXPERIENCE I

EVSC 592 - GRADUATE WORK EXPERIENCE II

FRSC 491 - RESEARCH & INDEP STUDY I

CHEM 391 - RESEARCH AND INDEPENDENT STUDY

EVSC 725 - INDEPENDENT STUDY I

EVSC 726 - INDEPENDENT STUDY II

CHEM 792B - PRE-DOCTORAL RESEARCH

EVSC 701B - MASTER'S THESIS

EVSC 790A - DOCTORAL DISSERTATION

EVSC 792B - PRE-DOCTORAL RESEARCH

CHEM 590 - GRADUATE CO-OP WORK EXPER I

EVSC 385 - ENVIRONMENTAL MICROBIOLOGY

CHEM 700B - MASTERS PROJECT

CHEM 790A - DOCTORAL DISSERTATION

EVSC 700B - MASTER'S PROJECT

Teaching Interests
Environmental Microbiology, Environmental Biology, and Bioremediation
Past Courses
CHEM 475: BIOCHEMISTRY LAB I

EVSC 375: ENVIRONMENTAL BIOLOGY

EVSC 385: ENVIRONMENTAL MICROBIOLOGY

EVSC 622: BIOREMEDIATION

EVSC 627: ENVIRONMENTAL MICROBIOLOGY

EVSC 702: SPECIAL TOPICS

EVSC 702: SPECIAL TOPICS IN ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE II

EVSC 702: ST: BIODEGRADATION AND BIOREMEDIATION

EVSC 791: ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE SEMINAR

Research Interests
Environmental Microbiology and Biotechnology, Environmental Remediation, Water and Wastewater Treatment, Microbial Ecology and Toxicology
Journal Article
Chen Wu, Sandra Goodrow, Hao Chen, Mengyan Li. 2024. "Distinctive biotransformation and biodefluorination of 6:2 versus 5:3 fluorotelomer carboxylic acids by municipal activated sludge." Water Research , vol. 254 .

Md Tanim Hassan, Xingzhi Chen, Praneeth Ivan Fnu, Francis J. Osonga, Omowunmi Sadik, Mengyan Li, Hao Chen. 2024. "Rapid detection of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) using paper spray-based mass spectrometry." Journal of Hazardous Materials , vol. 465 .

Lecheng Wei, Jingjing Zheng, Yutong Han, Xiangyang Xu, Mengyan Li, Liang Zhu. 2024. "Insights into the roles of biochar pores toward alleviating antibiotic resistance genes accumulation in biofiltration systems." Bioresource Technology , vol. 394 .

Dung Ngoc Pham, Qiong Wu, Mengyan Li. 2023. "Global profiling of antibiotic resistomes in maize rhizospheres." Archives of Microbiology , vol. 205 , no. 3 .

Fei Li, Daiyong Deng, Andrew Wadden, Patricia Parvis, Diana Cutt, Mengyan Li. 2023. "Effective removal of trace 1,4-dioxane by biological treatments augmented with propanotrophic single culture versus synthetic consortium." Journal of Hazardous Materials Advances , vol. 9 .

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Other
"Editorial: New Insights Into the Biodegradation of Organic Contaminants in Subsurface Ecosystems: Approaches and Achievements of the Multiomics Era"
Frontiers in Microbiology, May, 2021.

Conference Proceeding
"An Environmental Science and Engineering Framework for Combating Antimicrobial Resistance"
October (4th Quarter/Autumn), 2018.