PhD Student (Joined January 2022)

Supervisors: Dr. Shooka Karimpour and Dr. Satinder Brar

Research Focus: Behnam’s research investigates the correlation between hydrodynamics and microplastic distribution in the southwestern region of Lake Ontario. His work explores how nearshore plumes, offshore currents, and thermal stratification influence microplastic patterns in water and sediment. He is developing new methods for sampling, preparation, and analysis to better understand how water movement and source proximity shape microplastic transport and deposition.

PhD Student (Joined January 2022)

Supervisor: Dr. Shooka Karimpour

Research Focus: Siamak’s research explores how turbulence influences the transport and settling of microplastics in aquatic systems through experimental studies using Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) and Particle Tracking Velocimetry (PTV).

PhD Student (Joined September 2022)

Supervisors: Dr. Shooka Karimpour and Dr. Stavroula Pantazopoulou

Research Focus: Hadi’s research focuses on numerical modeling of fluid–soil–structure interaction, with particular emphasis on assessing the effects of hydrodynamic loads and local scouring on the structural performance of bridge piers.

PhD Student (Joined September 2023)

Supervisor: Dr. Shooka Karimpour

Research Focus: Mohammadmehdi’s research focuses on turbulent multiphase flow using high-fidelity CFD approaches across a wide range of environmental and engineering applications. He investigates turbulent mass fluxes in hydraulic jumps and studies the settling of microplastics in quiescent and turbulent flows to improve understanding of their behavior under different ambient conditions and to enhance existing large-scale transport models.

MASc Student (Joined January 2024)

Supervisor: Dr. Shooka Karimpour

Research Focus: Camillo’s research focuses on the experimental investigation of particle–particle interactions affecting the settling of microplastic particles in quiescent water. He analyzes the hydrodynamic processes involved in the mobility of microplastics in water to better understand their transport and fate in aquatic environments and to advance mitigation and prevention efforts against microplastic contamination.

PhD Student (Joined September 2024)

Supervisors: Dr. Shooka Karimpour and Dr. Satinder Brar

Research Focus: Anastasiia is doing a thesis on the weathering of microplastics during mesophilic anaerobic digestion of wastewater sludge.

MASc Student (Joined February 2025; enrolled at the University of Windsor since January 2023)

Supervisors: Dr. Shooka Karimpour and Dr. Tirupati Bolisetti

Research Focus: Vrashesh’s research evaluates hydrological models for simulating microplastic transport in the Credit River and Humber River watersheds, which drain into Lake Ontario. His work combines rainfall-event sampling and laboratory analysis to determine microplastic concentrations and promotes standardized methods for improving data consistency across studies.

MASc Student (Joined September 2024)

Supervisors: Dr. Shooka Karimpour and Dr. Stephanie Gora

Research Focus: Mohammad’s research focuses on the detection and characterization of microplastics in permafrost thaw slumps. He completed his Bachelor of Engineering at York University, graduating in Summer 2024.

PhD Alumnus (Joined September 2019 – Graduated December 2024)

Supervisor: Dr. Shooka Karimpour

Research Focus: Arefeh’s doctoral research focused on the transport of microplastics in aquatic environments, with particular emphasis on the effects of particle physical characteristics. Her work primarily employed computational fluid dynamics (CFD) to simulate the transport, entrainment, and vertical motion of microplastics in turbulent flow using high-resolution numerical models. She also conducted laboratory experiments to advance understanding of MPs behaviour in natural water systems.