Assistant Professor
Dr. Hooman Vatankhah’s research and teaching focus on advanced treatment technologies for water and wastewater treatment and potable reuse, with the goal of enabling reliable management of emerging contaminants in engineered water systems. Dr. Vatankhah and his students study how fundamental physicochemical mechanisms govern treatment performance and how these principles translate into predictable and resilient full-scale treatment trains.
His interdisciplinary approach integrates treatment process design, interfacial science, and environmental and analytical chemistry to develop comprehensive strategies for understanding and controlling emerging contaminants in aquatic environments.
Dr. Vatankhah is a member of the Interstate Technology and Regulatory Council (ITRC) PFAS team and serves as co-chair and a member of the Scientific Advisory Board for the RemTEC and Emerging Contaminants Summit. Before joining FIU, he served as a Research Fellow with the U.S. Department of Defense and as a Research Assistant Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the Colorado School of Mines, where he contributed to numerous state and federally funded research, demonstration, and validation projects.
Education:
- Ph.D. Civil and Environmental Engineering, Colorado School of Mines, 2019
- M.S. Environmental Engineering, Technical University of Munich, 2016
- B.S. Energy and Environmental Engineering, Technical University of Hamburg, 2013
Selected Publications:
- Vatankhah, H., Anderson, R.H., Ghosh, R., Willey, J. and Leeson, A. Making waves: The progress of management strategies for cleaning and rinsing of PFAS-impacted fire suppression systems. Water Research, 268, p.122661. (2024)
- Tajdini, B., Vatankhah, H., Pezoulas, E.R., Zhang, C., Higgins, C.P. and Bellona, C., Adsorbability of a Wide Range of Per-and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances on Granular Activated Carbon, Ion Exchange Resin, and Surface Modified Clay. Water Research, p.122774. (2024)
- Vatankhah, H., Anderson, R.H., Ghosh, R., Willey, J, Leeson, A. Innovative Approaches for Onsite Management of PFAS-Impacted Investigations Derived Waste. Water Research, 120769. (2023)
- Vatankhah, H., Tajdini, B., Milstead, R. P., Clevenger, E., Murray, C., Knappe, D., Bellona, C. Impact of Ozone-biologically Active Filtration on the Breakthrough of Perfluoroalkyl Acids during Granular Activated Carbon Treatment of Municipal Wastewater Effluent. Water Research, 118988. (2022)
- Tajdini, B., Vatankhah, H., Murray, C. C., Liethen, A., & Bellona, C. Impact of effluent organic matter on perfluoroalkyl acid removal from wastewater effluent by granular activated carbon and alternative adsorbents. Water Research, 241, 120105. (2023)
- Murray, C. C., Safulko, A., Vatankhah, H., Liu, C. J., Tajdini, B., Marshall, R. E., & Bellona, C. PFAS adsorbent selection: The role of adsorbent use rate, water quality, and cost. Journal of Hazardous Materials, 454, 131481. (2023).
- Murray, C.C., Marshall, R.E., Liu, C.J., Vatankhah, H. and Bellona, C.L., PFAS treatment with granular activated carbon and ion exchange resin: Comparing chain length, empty bed contact time, and cost. Journal of Water Process Engineering, 44, p.102342 (2021)
- Murray, C., Vatankhah, H., McDonough C., Mavdanov, A., Hedtke, T., Cath T., Higgins, C., Bellona, C., Removal of per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances using super-fine powder activated carbon and ceramic membrane filtration, Journal of Hazardous Materials 366, 160-168 (2018)
- Vatankhah, H., Murray, C., Brannum, J.W., Vanneste, J., Bellona, C., Effect of pre-ozonation on nanofiltration membrane fouling during water reuse applications. Separation & Purification Technology 205, 203-211 (2018)
- Vatankhah, H., Szczuka, A., Almaraz, N., Mitch. W., Bellona, C., Evaluation of enhanced ozone-biological active filtration for the removal of 1,4-dioxane and disinfection byproducts formation potential. Environmental Science & Technology 53 (5), 2720-2730 (2019)
- Vatankhah, H., Riley, S., Dickenson, E., Murray, C., Bellona, C., Simultaneous ozone and granular activated carbon for advanced treatment of micropollutants in municipal wastewater effluent, Chemosphere 234, 845-854 (2019)