Sujit Datta, assistant professor of chemical and biological engineering, has been awarded a 2018 Faculty Research Award from the Princeton Environmental Institute (PEI) for his proposed work in collaboration with Maurizio Chiaramonte, assistant professor of civil and environmental engineering and associated PEI faculty member.

"This is an opportunity to use fundamental science to help solve problems in climate science and energy," Datta said.

The research will help develop better models for methane extraction from sediments, with the goal of turning would-be catastrophic releases into controlled harvests that could fuel clean energy. The work will combine the experimental expertise of Datta's lab and the numerical modeling expertise of Chiaramonte's lab, as well as extending research opportunities to graduate and undergraduate students in both departments.

PEI announced the award as part of their Grand Challenges Program, which "addresses critical environmental problems of the 21st century through integrated research and teaching."

To track developments of this unfolding research, join the discussions at the Soft Materials Coffee Hour (SMatCH), organized by professor Datta.