School of Engineering
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Yaochun Yu
Assistant Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering
BioMy research focuses on functional environmental microbiology and environmental analytical chemistry to uncover and harness microorganisms for chemical biotransformation. We integrate high-resolution mass spectrometry, meta-omics sequencing, molecular microbiology and biochemistry, and computational modeling to identify the functional microbes, genes, and enzymes that drive these processes. Building on these mechanistic insights, we aim to develop environmentally benign chemicals and novel biosolutions for bioremediation and waste-to-resource recovery.
I am also interested in how anthropogenic perturbations (i.e., chemical exposure) reshape microbial biodiversity and ecosystem function across natural and engineered ecosystems. We aim to resolve these cause–effect relationships and, using standardized and synthetic microbial communities, run comparable, hypothesis-driven experiments that translate fundamental insights into predictive tools and practical interventions. The aim is to help keep human activities within the safe operating space of planetary boundaries while advancing environmental and public health. -
Emmett Zeifman
Lecturer, Architectural Design Program
BioEmmett Zeifman is a Canadian architect who teaches in the Sustainable Architecture and Engineering program at Stanford. He is principal of NOUNS, an architecture and design practice, with built projects completed or underway in Los Angeles, New York City, San Francisco, and elsewhere. His research focuses on the history of modern architecture and its relation to contemporary urbanism, housing and low-carbon approaches to construction. Prior to joining the faculty at Stanford, he taught at the Harvard University Graduate School of Design (2022-24), Columbia University Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation (2017-21), and SCI-Arc (2014-17), as well as the CCA and University of Pennsylvania. He received his M.Phil in Architecture by Research from the University of Cambridge, where he was the 2013-14 Yale Bass Scholar in Architecture, his M.Arch ('11) from the Yale University School of Architecture, and his B.A. ('06) in English literature from McGill University. He recently guest edited Log 64: Toward a Newer Brutalism, or the Undecorated Shed (2025) and curated the exhibition Towards a Newer Brutalism: Solar Pavilions, Appliance Houses and Other Topologies of Contemporary Life (2024) at the Harvard Graduate School of Design.
Prior to founding NOUNS, he was founding principal of the design practice Medium Office in New York and Los Angeles, with Alfie Koetter, and was architectural designer on a number of super-tall and mixed-use projects in the United States and Southeast Asia at Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates in New York. With Constance Vale, he led the design and construction of the "central hub," a temporary pavilion for the acclaimed opera production Hopscotch in downtown Los Angeles. He was co-founding editor of the independent publication Project: A Journal for Architecture (2011-18), and assistant editor of the Yale publication Rethinking Chongqing: Mixed-Use and Super-Dense (2015), which also featured his photography throughout. His design work and criticism have been widely exhibited and published, and his editorial efforts have been supported by the Graham Foundation for Advanced Studies in the Fine Arts. In addition to his teaching, he has served as critic and juror and participated in panels and public discussions at numerous institutions, including Barnard, Berkeley, CCA, Columbia, Cooper Union, CUNY, Harvard, MIT, Pratt, SCI-Arc, Storefront for Art and Architecture, UCLA, University of Michigan, University of Pennsylvania, USC, Van Alen Institute, Washington University, and Yale. -
Haoqi (Nina) Zhao
Assistant Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering
BioNina joined Stanford CEE as an Assistant Professor in Summer 2026. Her research bridges computational metabolomics and exposomics to uncover unknown lifestyle chemicals and their impacts on health. Nina earned her B.S. from Peking University, her Ph.D. from the University of Washington, and was a postdoctoral scientist at UC San Diego. She received the Pathway to Independence Award (K99/R00) from the National Institutes of Health in 2025.
The Zhao Lab at Stanford will operate at the interface of environmental chemistry, environmental health, and computational mass spectrometry. We aim to identify previously unrecognized chemical drivers that influence human and ecosystem health. We pursue this goal by developing innovative computational and analytical methods centered around untargeted mass spectrometry. Through these efforts, we aim to enable precision environmental health strategies, inform public health policies, and inspire sustainable chemical design.
Current research interests include (but are not limited to):
1.Leveraging mass spectrometry data repositories and advanced informatics tools to systematically map the chemical exposome.
2.Developing tools and resources for mass spectrometry data analysis to advance exposomics research.
3.Investigating host-microbiome-xenobiotic interactions and their impacts on human health.
4.Integrating toxicology with untargeted screening to accelerate the discovery and risk assessment of unknown molecules.
5.Pediatric environmental health: chemical exposures through breastfeeding and their implications for infant development.
6.Traffic-related chemical pollution: environmental fate, occurrence, and relevance to human exposures.
