Welcome

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Welcome to the Mei Research Group working at the Microbiome-Environment Interface! We investigate fundamental aspects of microbial diversity, physiology, and ecology, applying this knowledge to engineered water systems, such as wastewater treatment. Our goal is to develop microbiology-informed engineering strategies that enhance system performance and mitigate the environmental impact of various waste streams. To achieve our objectives, we integrate bioinformatics, microbiology — including microbial cultivation — and engineering principles. Learn more about our research here.

News

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[2026.07] The newest podcast episodes of Faucet and Drain Science are on Apple Podcast. Please listen and follow!

[2026.07] Ran has been awarded the New Professional Research Grant from Applied Microbiology International.

[2026.06] Paul Lee has been awarded the Graduate Fellowship in Ecology and Evolution from the Simons Foundation. Congratulations, Paul!

[2026.05] Yuan, Paul, and Chao-Jui presented their research at the Midwest Microbiome Symposium. [Click to View]

[2026.04] Ph.D. student Chao-Jui Chang from the National Cheng Kung University, Taiwan, has joined us as a visiting scholar. Welcome, Chao-Jui! [Click to View]

[2025.10] It was a pleasure to host Prof. Chang-Ping Yu and Ph.D. student Vincent Pao from National Taiwan U, and to participate in the UAAT–UofI Joint Symposium on Sustainability.

[2025.8] A warm welcome to Paul Lee to join our group as a PhD student! 😊 [Click to View]

[2025.6] In his first semester of teaching (CEE 538), Ran has made it onto the List of Teachers Ranked as Excellent by Their Students with a special mark of Instructor Ratings were Outstanding. Thank you to everyone, both in the classroom and joining from online, for your engagement throughout the semester!

[2025.4] Dr. Masaru Nobu from JAMSTEC visited us! Welcome back to Newmark! [Click to View]

[2025.3] A proposal in collaboration with Dr. Himali M. K. Delanka-Pedige (PI, SIU) has been funded by the IIN Sustaining Illinois Seed Grant Program.

[2025.1] A warm welcome to Yuan Fang, the first graduate student to join our group! 😊 [Click to View]

[2024.12] A proposal in collaboration with Dr. Jer-Horng Wu (NCKU), Dr. Chang-Ping Yu (NTU), and Dr. Yu-Wei Wu (TMU), has been funded by the UoI/UAAT Joint Research Project.

[2024.11] Ran begins his new journey at Newmark!

[2024.9] Ran attended the 27th Water Research Symposium in Morioka and visited Tohoku U and AIST•Tsukuba to bid farewell to his mentors, colleagues, and friends in Japan. Looking forward to meeting again!

[2024.6] Ran, Dr. Hiroyuki Imachi, and Dr. Masaru Nobu visited the Biogas Institute and Sichuan U.

[2023.12] Our paper, led by Dr. Hirakata, on the isolation of dead cell-degrading bacteria has been published in The ISME Journal.

[2023.9] Ran has joined as a Junior Editor of Letters in Applied Microbiology. We support early-career scientists by providing rapid publication of well-designed studies. Incidentally, this is also where Ran published his M.S. thesis. Consider submitting your work to LAM!

[2023.7] Ran has been funded with the JGI CSP New Investigator Award from the Joint Genome Institute, U.S. DOE.

[2023.2] Our paper, exploring the evolutionary history of methanogenesis, has been published in PNAS Nexus.