2023
BioGals Partners with Belize Community for Sustainability Experience
This past summer, as a UCI assistant professor of civil and environmental engineering (CEE), Hobbs led her own group of students back to the small Central American country for a week of field research coordinated through an organization called BioGals.
New Product Turns Food Waste Into Renewable Energy
2022
Gardeners transform food waste into fuel
“Being able to see something that’s considered to be waste… be able to produce energy, was eye opening to me,” said Hobbs, who first learned of anaerobic digestion in college”
Engineering alum empowers women of color to engineer solutions for sustainable development
Shakira Hobbs had an idea as an engineering graduate student in 2014, and she transformed it into a globally impactful nonprofit only five years later.
2021
Shakira Hobbs awarded NSF Grant to Develop Analytical Methods for Detecting Pesticides
The NSF EPSCoR Track 4 grant funds proposals that will positively impact and potentially transform the principal investigator’s individual career trajectory.
[Professor Lee] Blaney adds, “This award is testament to the promise of Prof. Hobbs’ research direction, and we are looking forward to collaborating with her and Mr. Martin on this important project. I expect that the results of this research will advance not only understanding of pesticides occurrence in water and sediment, but also human and ecological health.”
2020
UK Researchers Advancing Wastewater Testing to Track COVID-19
“This understanding can help public health officials get more accurate results – not only considering environmental factors, but also how long samples can be preserved before analyzing to still get an accurate reading,” Hobbs said.
Researchers: Testing sewage could detect COVID-19 early
Dr. Hobbs is working with a team of researchers at the University of Kentucky who are studying how long COVID-19 can survive in certain conditions.
“There’s not a lot of study on how it degrades in wastewater,” Dr. Hobbs said. “And how it will behave in natural settings.”
Humanitarian Engineering: Engineering with the World in Mind
Humanitarian engineering involves looking at technology for a more marginalized community. So often, we’re engineering solutions for communities that have access to resources, such as capital to pay for expensive technologies. But the majority of the world cannot afford these technologies.
2019
Humanitarian Engineering with Shakira Hobbs
It’s really important that when we start thinking about solving problems, we ask, “Who are we solving them for? Who is going to be able to have access? Does it have some type of social justice or equality component to it?” Those are things that really matter to me–who gets the benefit of these resources.
Our Journey with BioGals – Creating a Non-Profit to Build Waste-to-Energy Systems in Central America
Dr. Shakira Hobbs, Assistant Professor at the University of Kentucky, and I, Evvan Morton, a PhD student at Arizona State University, are the co-founders of the non-profit organization BioGals. Our journey towards starting BioGals began when we met as PhD students at Arizona State University (ASU).
2018
A sense of belonging: Black American women engineers and biodigesters
BioGals has empowered the community to take ownership of sustainably managing their waste and their capabilities for future innovations. In turn, Sittee River Village has empowered BioGals by providing us with a supportive and inclusive environment that embraces Black women engineers.
2017
Today’s STEM Leaders, Tomorrow’s Innovators , Women of Color Magazine, Spring 2017
“This research has an impact abroad, and it has an impact locally and nationally here in the United States,” Shakira said. “We can’t just keep building landfills. We are going to have to find other solutions.”
Women engineers discuss ‘Hidden Figures’ and lingering challenges
Clemson chemical engineering major Crystal Pee, civil engineering doctoral candidate Shakira Hobbs and Cottle gathered recently to discuss how “Hidden Figures” affected them and how they related to the women’s struggles.
2016
Clemson University student awarded Environmental Research & Education Foundation Scholarship
“The Environmental Research & Education Foundation Scholarship recognizes students who demonstrate excellence in solid waste management research and education. Scholarship recipients are selected based on credentials and potential contributions to the solid waste industry.”
Grad students partner with Central American village to harness free sustainable energy source
“Clemson graduate student engineers are part of a collaborative multidisciplinary team working with the people of a small rural village in Belize to provide “free” sustainable energy for the village by converting food waste into fuel for cooking.”
2015
Featured IGERT Students
“There are many options for handling and diverting food waste from landfills but there are still many knowledge gaps that I will attempt to fill,” she says. “Knowledge gaps prevent consumers, business and industries from making informed sustainable decisions.”
2014
Honored graduates from the College of Technology and Innovation
“Shakira McCall, Dean’s Award for Academic Excellence- Graduate, knew she was destined to be an engineer, and found her way to ASU through Google.”