Research Team
Dr. Swarbhanu Ghosh
Postdoctoral researcher, Department of Chemistry
Catalytic and light-driven conversion of CO₂
Swarbhanu develops functional porous materials, particularly covalent organic frameworks, that convert CO₂ into value-added chemicals through catalysis and light, using counterion engineering to control excited-state dynamics and charge separation in photocatalysis. Swarbhanu earned a B.Sc. (Honours) in Chemistry from the University of Calcutta, an M.Sc. in Chemistry from West Bengal State University and a Ph.D. in Chemistry, specializing in heterogeneous catalysis, from the University of Kalyani, followed by postdoctoral fellowships at IIT Madras and IIT Kanpur. Broader interests include photocatalysis, CO₂ capture, and atmospheric and computational chemistry.
Dr. Devendra Pal
Postdoctoral researcher · since 2023
Holographic microscopy of aerosols, bio-aerosols and clouds
Devendra develops holographic microscopy to study aerosols, bio-aerosols including pathogens, and clouds. He developed Nano-DIHM, a technique that measures the size, shape, phase and surface of airborne particles from the nano- to the microscale in real time and in situ, and a portable, low-cost McGill Real-time Ice Nucleation Chamber (MRINC) to study how nano-aerosols help form ice crystals. Devendra earned his PhD in Atmospheric Physics and Instrument Development at McGill in 2023 and teaches a hands-on course in atmospheric and oceanic sciences. His awards include first place for a poster at the 2024 International Conference on Clouds and Precipitation, a 2024 Air & Waste Management Association thesis award, and the 2024 Mentorship Award of McGill's Association of Postdoctoral Fellows.
Alessio Fortin
PhD student, Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences · since 2024
Machine learning for air quality in Montréal
Alessio models air pollutant concentrations around Montréal to better inform public health. Alessio is interested in current air-quality monitoring techniques and in how machine learning and other mathematical methods can improve our understanding of air quality.
Benilde Mizero
PhD student, Environmental Chemistry · since 2021
Pollutants in snow and sustainable snow remediation
Benilde's research focuses on the chemical characterization of pollutants in snow and on developing sustainable, nanotechnology- and clay-based methods to remove them, using mass spectrometry (LC-MS, ICP-MS), chromatography and spectrophotometry. He holds an M.Sc. in Analytical Chemistry from the University of Manitoba.
Zaki Nasreddine
PhD student, Chemistry · since 2021
AI-driven holographic microscopy of black and brown carbon
Zaki works in aerosol science and nanotechnology, developing and applying AI-driven nano-digital in-line holographic microscopy (AI-Nano-DIHM) to characterize inorganic carbonaceous aerosols, such as black carbon, brown carbon, graphite and nanometals, in air and water in real time and in four dimensions. Zaki also studies aerosol mixing and ice nucleation, holds a B.Sc. in Chemistry from the American University of Beirut, and received an FRQNT scholarship in 2023.
Negin Rezaei
PhD student, Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences · since 2023
Black and brown carbon, snow and air pollution in Montréal
Negin's research focuses on black and brown carbon aerosols: their physicochemical properties and their interactions with snow in urban environments. Combining atmospheric measurements, satellite observations and machine learning, she studies air pollution and how it varies across Montréal in space and time.
Tanwi Saha
PhD student (UQAM, in collaboration with McGill)
Microplastics in Montréal: sources, levels and fate
Tanwi joined in September 2026 as a PhD student at the Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM), working in collaboration with McGill. Tanwi holds BS and MS degrees from the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER) Kolkata and applies environmental and isotope geochemistry to trace the sources, transport and fate of contaminants in terrestrial and aquatic environments.
Lauren Hornby
Graduate student, Chemistry
CO₂ uptake by carbon capture materials
Lauren completed a B.Sc. in Honours Chemistry at McGill University, including an Honours project with Prof. Ariya. Co-supervised by Prof. Ariya and Prof. Andrews, Lauren is developing a guided-wave platform to study how carbon capture materials take up carbon dioxide. Lauren's research interests are in sustainable technology, with a focus on strategies to decarbonize the atmosphere.
Tal Sharoni
MSc student, Chemistry
AI and holographic microscopy for microplastics
Tal holds an undergraduate degree in physics and computer science from McGill. Tal uses holographic microscopy (Nano-DIHM) to detect and identify microplastics and assess their impacts on the atmosphere, lakes and human health, building deep-learning pipelines that reconstruct holograms in 2D and 3D with physics-informed neural networks and classify particles by size, surface roughness and morphology. Tal is also interested in predictive models of long-term environmental impacts and in advanced optical technologies for nanoscale particles.
Jason Zhou
Undergraduate researcher
Software for holographic microscopy
Jason is an undergraduate at McGill University majoring in Computer Science and Statistics, with interests in sustainability, the environment and journalism. In the lab, Jason builds the user interface and reconstruction algorithms for holographic microscopy, which characterizes aerosols, oceanic particles and pollutants in situ and in real time. Jason is interested in applying AI and machine learning to environmental monitoring, biodiversity conservation and public health.