Why I joined IWWG

I joined IWWG because of the opportunities this organization provides to interact with a vast network of experts in the scientific and professional waste management communities. I started attending IWWG sponsored events as a graduate student and always found them to be extremely beneficial. Many years later, this continues to be true. The discussions and perspectives learned while attending IWWG events and interacting with others interested in waste management issues remain invaluable to my work.

ACADEMIC EXPERIENCE

University of South Carolina, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Associate Professor, January 2015 – present.
Assistant Professor, January 2009 – January 2015

Tufts University, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Postdoctoral Associate, April 2006 – December 2008. Advisors: Linda M. Abriola and C.
Andrew Ramsburg

University of Central Florida, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Graduate Research Assistant, August 2001 – April 2006. Advisor: Debra R. Reinhart

University of South Carolina, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Research Associate, May 2001 - July 2001. Advisor: Michael E. Meadows
Graduate Research Assistant, August 1999 - May 2001. Advisor: Michael E. Meadows
Undergraduate Research Assistant, February 1998 – July 1999.

Activities:

Professional:

• Session chair for numerous conferences (e.g., Sardinia, Global Waste Management,
• American Chemical Society), 2009-present.
• Reviewer, proposals for numerous organizations (e.g., Environmental Research and
• Education Foundation, National Science Foundation, Wiley, The Water Resources
• Research Institute, North Carolina State University, Indo-US Technology and Science
• Forum), 2010-present.
• Reviewer, numerous journal articles (see list of journals below), 2007-present.

Department/University:

• Faculty advisor for the student Society of Women Engineers section, 2012-present.
• Department outreach coordinator, 2011-present.
• Member of numerous thesis and dissertation committees, 2009-present.
• Conduct “edible landfill” activity during engineering week open houses, 2012-present.
• Udall Scholarship Committee, 2013-2016.
• Internal proposal reviewer, 2011-2016.

Greater Community:

• Conducted workshops at middle schools related to the implementation and design of
• 10
• EFFECTs (Environments for Effective Critical Thinking), 2011-2012.
• Mentored several high school students in my lab, 2009-present.

Publications:

1. Benavente, V.*, Fullana, A., Berge, N.D. (2016). Life cycle analysis of hydrothermal
carbonization of olive mill waste: Comparison with current management approaches. Journal
of Cleaner Production, in press.
2. Li, L., Flora, J.R.V., Caicedo, J., M., Berge, N.D.* (2015). Investigating the role of feedstock
properties and process conditions on products formed during the hydrothermal carbonization
of organics using regression techniques. Bioresource Technology, 187, 263-274.
3. Berge, N.D.,* Li, L., Flora, J.R.V., Ro, K.S. (2015). Assessing the environmental impact of
energy production from hydrochar generated via hydrothermal carbonization of food wastes.
Waste Management, 43, 203-217.
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4. Li, L., Hale, K.M., Olsen, P., Berge, N.D.* (2014). Using liquid waste streams as the
moisture source during the hydrothermal carbonization of municipal solid wastes. Waste
Management 34(11), 2185-2195.
5. Lu, X., and Berge, N.D.* (2014). Influence of feedstock chemical composition on the
hydrothermal carbonization of mixed feedstocks. Bioresource Technology 166, 120-131.
6. Pierce, C.E.,* Caicedo, J.M., Flora, J.R.V., Berge, N.D., Madarshahian, S., and Timmerman,
B. (2014). Integrating professional and technical engineering skills with the EFFECTs
pedagogical framework. International Journal of Engineering Education, 30(6), 1579-1589.
7. Lu, X., Flora, J.R.V., Berge, N.D. (2014). Influence of process water quality on hydrothermal
carbonization of cellulose. Bioresource Technology 154, 229-239.
8. Berge, N.D.,* Thompson, D., Ingram, C.T., Pierce, C.E. (2014). Engineering design and
EFFECTs: A water filtration example. Science Scope 38(3), 16-27.
9. Cao, X., Ro, K.S., Libra, J.A., Kammann, C.I., Lima, I., Berge, N., Li, L., Li, Y., Chen, N.,
Yang, J., Deng, B., Mao, J.D.* (2013). Effects of biomass types and carbonization conditions
on the chemical characteristics of hydrochars. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry
61(39), 9401-9411.
10. Flora, J.F.R., Lu, X., Li, L., Flora, J.R.V., Berge, N.D.* (2013). The effects of alkalinity and
acidity of process water and hydrochar washing on the adsorption of atrazine on
hydrothermally produced hydrochar. Chemosphere 93(9), 1989-1996.
11. Kahn, I.A., Berge, N.D.,* Sabo-Attwood, T., Ferguson, P.L., Saleh, N.B. (2013). Transport
of single-walled carbon nanotubes in conditions representative of municipal solid waste
landfills. Environmental Science and Technology 47(15), 8425-8433.
12. Li, L., Diederick, R., Flora, J.R.V., Berge, N.D.* (2013). Hydrothermal carbonization of food
waste and associated packaging materials for energy source generation. Waste Management
33, 2478-2492.
13. Lu, X., Pellechia, P., Flora, J.R.V., Berge, N.D.* (2013). Influence of reaction time and
temperature on product formation and characteristics associated with the hydrothermal
carbonization of cellulose. Bioresource Technology 138, 180-190.
14. Lozano, P. and Berge, N.D.* (2012). Single walled carbon nanotube behavior in
representative mature leachate. Waste Management 32(9), 1699-16711.
15. Lu, X., Jordan, B., Berge, N.D.* (2012). Thermal conversion of municipal solid waste via
hydrothermal carbonization: comparison to current waste management techniques. Waste
Management 32(7), 1353-1365.
16. Timmons, J., Chao, Y.M., Townsend, T.,* Berge, N., Reinhart, D. (2012). Total earth
pressure cells for measuring loads in a municipal solid waste landfill. Geotech Geol. Eng. 30,
95-105.
17. Berge, N.D.,* Ro, K.S., Mao, J., Flora, J.R.V., Chappell, M., Bae, S. (2011). Hydrothermal
Carbonization of Municipal Waste Streams. Environmental Science and Technology 45(13),
5696-5703.
18. Libra, J.,* Ro, K, Kammann, C., Funke, A., Berge, N.D., Neubauer, Y., Titirici, M., Fuhner,
C., Bens, O. Emmerich, K. (2011). Hydrothermal carbonization of biomass residuals: a
comparative review on the chemistry, processes and applications of wet and dry pyrolysis.
Biofuel 2(1), 71-106.
19. Joseph, L., Zaib, Q., Berge, N.D., Park, Y., Khan, I., Saleh, N., Yoon, Y.* (2011). Removal
of bisphenol A and 17a-ehinyl estradiol from landfill leachate using single-walled carbon
nanotubes. Water Research 45, 4056-4068.
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20. Berge, N.D. and Ramsburg, C.A.* (2010). Iron-mediated trichloroethene reduction within
nonaqueous phase liquid. Journal of Contaminant Hydrology 118, 105-116.
21. Batarseh, E.S.,* Reinhart, D.R. and Berge, N.D. (2010). Sustainable disposal of municipal
solid waste: Post bioreactor landfill polishing. Waste Management 30(11), 2170-2176.
22. Berge, N. D. and Ramsburg, C. A.* (2009). Oil-in-water emulsions for encapsulated delivery
of reactive iron particles. Environmental Science and Technology 43(13), 5060-5085.
23. Berge, N.D.,* Reinhart, D.R., Batarseh, E.S. (2009). An assessment of bioreactor landfill
costs and benefits. Waste Management 29(5), 1558-1567.
24. Berge, N.D.,* Reinhart, D.R., Batarseh, E.S. (2007). Strategy for complete nitrogen removal
in bioreactor landfills. Journal of Environmental Engineering-ASCE 133 (12), 1117-1125.
25. Berge, N.D.,* Reinhart, D.R., Dietz, J., Townsend, T.G. (2007). The impact of temperature
and gas-phase oxygen on kinetics of in-situ ammonia removal in bioreactor landfill leachate.
Water Research 41(9), 1907-1914.
26. Berge, N.D.,* Reinhart, D.R., Dietz, J., Townsend, T.G. (2006). In-situ ammonia removal
from bioreactor landfill leachate. Waste Management 26(4), 334-343.
27. Berge, N.D.,* Reinhart, D.R., Townsend, T.G. (2005). The fate of nitrogen in bioreactor
landfills. Critical Reviews in Environmental Science and Technology 35(4), 365-399.

Contact information

Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
University of South Carolina, 300 Main Street, Columbia, SC 29208
Phone: 803-777-7521 Fax: 803-777-0670

E-mail: berge@engr.sc.edu