Sophie Terian

Sophie Terian is a 2023-2027 Self Graduate Fellow pursuing a Ph.D. in Environmental and Water Resources Engineering. Her passion to protect environmental and human health has led her to study reactive nitrogen dynamics in wetlands and river networks, with a focus on the impacts of agricultural activity. She is currently working on predicting reactive nitrogen transformation and transport in wetland-river networks using process-based models and machine learning algorithms. She received her Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering from KU in Spring 2023 and began her PhD in Fall 2023.

Born and raised in Kansas, she aspires to use her Ph.D. to give back to the Midwest. On the technical side, she aspires to use watershed models to identify solutions for water quality improvements. On the social side, she aims to guide policy through scientific analysis. To gain practice in advocating for science policy advocacy, Sophie served as a Graduate Student Senator in KU’s Student Government, where she sat on the Sustainability Committee and applied her knowledge to the allocation of project funds. She is also President-Elect for Jayhawks for Science Policy, where she helps to teach club members about science policy and identify ways for the group to practice advocacy and communication. In her free time, she sings with KU Commercial Voices, and spoils her two cats, Pablo and Greta. 

Mentor: Amy Hansen, Ph.D., Diane M. Darwin Chair’s Council Assistant Professor