Hannah Woo, a PhD student in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE), is the 2016 Outstanding Graduate Student in the College of Engineering. Her studies focus on environmental issues while working with Dr. Terry Hazen, Governor’s Chair for Environmental Biotechnology.

“Hannah has demonstrated an awesome ability to maximize her education and research experience at the University of Tennessee, taking every advantage of classes, student and faculty interactions, field studies, outreach, teaching, publications, presentations, colloquia, research and education proposals, and scientific meetings,” said Hazen.

“She has a resume that already rivals most post doctoral fellows and assistant professors.”

Woo’s interest in environmental engineering and science was originally sparked by curiosity about the bioremediation of radioactive waste.

“I wanted to learn more about the technology and new ideas in this field,” she said. “My current PhD project doesn’t involve bioremediation, but I still think it’s fascinating.”

The opportunity to work with Hazen led the San Francisco native to the University of Tennessee (UT).

“Dr. Hazen is always studying very unique environments all over the world, where the geochemistry, microbial diversity, and biological processes is going to be intrinsically fascinating,” said Woo. “Right now, I’m studying samples from the eastern Mediterranean Sea.”

She uses DNA sequencing technology to identify and investigate microbes with plant-degrading enzymes in the deep ocean. Those enzymes benefit biofuels research by helping break down the waste product—known as lignin—resulting from the manufacture of such fuels.

“My project is investigating the microbial ecology of the deep ocean, in particular identifying key bacteria responsible for terrestrial organic carbon degradation,” said Woo. “It has been beneficial for me to learn how to do DNA sequencing using the Illumina Miseq in our lab.”

In the spring of 2016, she was one of 90 students in the United States and Canada to receive a $15,000 Scholar Award from the Philanthropic Educational Organization (PEO) Sisterhood.

“This award is an amazing honor,” said Woo. The PEO Sisterhood was founded at Iowa Wesleyan College in 1869 to support higher education for women. “I’ve been fortunate enough to have been awarded some grants and fellowships to support myself through graduate school and fund my research project.”

Woo is also a National Science Foundation (NSF) Graduate Research Fellow, and was accepted into a unique NSF iGERT program called SCALEIT, an interdisciplinary program combining computer science and biology. Her participation in the NSF EAPSI program enabled her to visit northeast China to collect soil samples affected by high nitrogen deposition.

“I’m bringing those samples back to sequence and analyze,” she said. “It’s so great to be able to do this type of work independently and oversee the whole process from start to finish.”

Woo has earned benefits from the Society for Applied Microbiology President’s Fund, and also accolades for numerous presentations.

“I’ve received a few awards for several talks and posters given locally and regionally,” she said. These include second place Best Poster at the first annual Women in STEM Research Symposium; first place Best Speaker at the second annual Southeastern Biogeochemistry Symposium; and winning the Sigma Xi Scientific Paper Presentation Award. She was nominated for the UT Extraordinary Professional Promise Citation, and was noted as a Quest Scholar.

Outside of her graduate studies, Woo enjoys playing guitar, salsa dancing, cooking, and learning new languages. She has also enriched her time on campus by working as a TA for Dr. Joseph Amoah.

“CEE has great undergraduate students that are inquisitive and sharp,” she said. “Mentoring undergraduates in the Hazen lab has been an invaluable and rewarding experience as well.”

For herself, Woo has appreciated the mentoring of faculty members like Dr. Chris Cox, Dr. Qiang He, and Dr. Nicole Labbe.

“These are some of the first professors I met my first year at UT,” she said. “I really appreciate their guidance, both technically, and just their general career advice as well. Dr. Hazen, of course, has been a big support throughout this graduate school process. He always encourages me to try everything and do more.”