Derek Ho Selected as UPenn Representative for the 2025 Frontiers Planet Prize

Congratulations to Dr. Derek Ho, postdoctoral fellow in the McBride Lab, for being selected to represent the University of Pennsylvania in the 4th Edition of the Frontiers Planet Prize, an international competition celebrating research that advances planetary sustainability. Derek developed a fluorescence-based microplastic detection platform that combines optical imaging with machine learning to accurately track microplastics across water, soil, and sludge. Beyond research, he leads science outreach as “Dr. Microplastics” through plasticfreepals.org.

Cooper Loveless Named Finalist for Student Water Innovation Award

Congratulations to Cooper Loveless, a Chemical Engineering junior in the McBride Lab, for being selected as a finalist for the Student Water Innovation Award. Cooper presented his research on liquid-infused surfaces for rapid microplastic concentration and field-deployable contaminant analysis. His work was featured in front of an industry panel at The Water Center at Penn’s Annual Careers in the Water Industry event.

We are proud of Cooper’s achievement and his continued contributions to advancing water sustainability technologies.

Nanoday - Science of Staying Dry: Superwettability

Greg Parisi, along with Younes Shekarian, Rebecca Shi, and Parham Koochak, presented a demonstration on wettability and superhydrophobic materials at Philadelphia High School for Girls for UPenn NanoDay 2025. The team showcased a variety of superhydrophobic surfaces—including glass slides, paper towels, printer paper, and sand—and led an interactive session exploring how waterproof materials are used in everyday life. They engaged students in discussions about how hydrophobicity plays a key role in applications ranging from self-cleaning materials to water-repellent coatings.

Rebecca received ACS ENVR Certificate of Merit!

Rebecca was selected by the American Chemical Society (ACS) Division of Environmental Chemistry (ENVR) for a Certificate of Merit at the ACS Fall 2025 National Meeting. The award recognizes the quality, creativity, and impact of her presentation in the ENVR program. Congratulations, Rebecca!

McBride group at ACS Fall 2025

Members of the McBride Lab will be attending the ACS Fall 2025 meeting in DC. Rebecca will be presenting her work on struvite crystallization Monday morning at the Novel Materials for Environmental Sustainability session, and Greg will present on broad-spectrum anti-fouling materials Tuesday afternoon at the Surface Chemistry session. Dr. McBride will be giving an invited talk Monday afternoon at the Women in Science & Engineering:Tribute to Contributions Made in Environmental Chemistry. Come find us at the meeting!

Environmental Innovations Fellowship

Dr. McBride has been selected as a Fellow for the 2025-2026 year by the Penn Environmental Innovations Initiative. As a faculty fellow, Dr. McBride will participate in EII events and be a part of an interdisciplinary cohort of academics across departments dedicated to solving environmental problems. 

MEAM EII Fellows

Rebecca Passed the Ph.D. Qualifying Exam

Congratulations to Rebecca Jiuhe Shi for passing her qualifying exam, project titled "Struvite Crystallization Pathways Regulated by Surface Properties for Nutrient Recovery".

Launching the Philly Emerging Contaminants Initiative

The group, along with colleagues in the school of science, UPenn Water Center, and school of Medicine, was selected for a research community award from the Environmental Innovations Initiative to examine emerging contaminants including microplastics and PFAS in the Philly Urban environment! 

Philadelphia Emerging Contaminants Initiative

Greg recognized as Rising Star in Soft Matter!

Greg Parisi, a postdoc in the group, has been recognized as a Rising Star in Soft and Biological Matter by the UChicago and UCSD MRSECs for his outstanding accomplishments in both research and advancing DEI. He will present on his PhD research at the virtual symposium on Dec 11-12.

2024 Rising Stars in Soft Matter

Tiny Plastics, Big Impacts @ UPenn Climate Week

Lab member Joey Wu, together with WaterRoots, EarthEcho, and UPenn department of Earth and Environmental Science, is organizing a microplastics event at UPenn's upcoming climate week. Dr. McBride and Derek Ho, along with professor Jon Hawkings, discussed the science of microplastics and our work with people stopping by the event.

Tiny Plastics, Big Impacts

The Science of Staying Dry for UPenn Nanoday

Greg Parisi, along with Felwa Alarwan and Dr. McBride, brought a demonstration on wettability and superhydrophobic materials to a local elementary school for UPenn Nanoday! Greg's demonstration included superhydrophobic paper towels and a discussion on how waterproof materials are important in everyday life.

Nanoday Outreach

Rehan presents at ACS Fall 2024

Rehan's presentation focused on some initial results on how drops of water containing microplastics behave on advanced engineered interfaces, with the finding that nanoscale plastic particles have very different interfacial behavior than microscale plastics.

The McBride Lab launches at UPenn

Dr. McBride officially begins her position as an assistant professor of mechanical engineering at the University of Pennsylvania and opens the doors of her lab in the Singh Center for Nanotechnology to students.

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Penn Today article