2026 Udall Scholarship Nominees
Melissa Bernardin, E’27, chemical engineering and environmental engineering, and Caleb Hagner, E’27, environmental engineering and chemical engineering, are two of four students nominated for the Udall Scholarship by Northeastern University. The Udall Scholarship recognizes leadership in service of the environment and the health and well-being of Tribal Nations, providing awardees with mentorship and training.
Melissa Bernardin, COE’27, Chemical and Environmental Engineering
Mentors: Rain Miao, Kartik Chandran, and Paul Craig Brookes
State: PA
Bernardin combines chemical and environmental engineering to tackle water quality challenges through innovative bioremediation solutions. She is passionate about developing scalable microbial treatment systems that can address contamination in groundwater and wastewater, particularly for underserved communities that need effective treatment most. Bernardin believes that harnessing bacteria and other microorganisms offers a fundamentally superior approach to conventional treatment methods, as microbes possess remarkable adaptive capabilities and operate as self-sustaining, environmentally benign systems. For the past two and a half years, she has devoted countless hours to research in the Miao Lab at Northeastern University, working on environmental biotechnology projects for groundwater remediation. Her research into 1,4-dioxane degradation mechanisms by environmental microbial consortia has been funded by Northeastern Peak awards as well as the AJC Merit Research scholarship. She completed an internship at Columbia University in Professor Kartik Chandran’s Lab, assisting with wastewater treatment projects utilizing White Rot Fungi and Fenton chemistry. Bernardin is also involved in the Society of Women Engineers and periodically serves as a judge at STEM science fairs, providing mentorship and encouragement to young students interested in STEM fields. When she’s not in the lab, Bernardin expresses her creativity through art and music, having played bass guitar in two bands and designed cover art for their recordings. Post-graduation, she plans to pursue a PhD in environmental engineering, specializing in bioremediation-based wastewater treatment, with the goal of translating research into community-centered solutions.
Caleb Hagner, COE’27, Environmental and Chemical Engineering
Mentors: Erin Pecci, P. James Dennedy-Frank, and Gary Broberg
State: NH
Hagner is working toward a sustainable future in water and wastewater management. Through his studies in environmental and chemical engineering and past experience in AmeriCorps NCCC and the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, he has built a solid foundation to inform a career around using public-private partnerships to address PFAS (“forever chemicals”) contamination of biosolids and nutrient wastewater, and downstream effects on drinking water and public health. During his most recent co-op at Practical Applications, Inc., Hagner worked as an industrial wastewater technician and engineer, learning to apply technical principles and collaborate with clients and regulators to deliver results. At Northeastern, he is heavily involved with Engineers Without Borders, Northeastern University Solar Decathlon, and the American Society of Civil Engineers, working with all three at the intersection of engineering and service. Additionally, he has been a researcher in the WRELab under Professor Dennedy-Frank for two years, developing a community-informed flood model for Maine to predict the effects of future weather patterns and infrastructure conditions. Hagner hopes to earn a Udall Scholarship and build a network with like-minded Scholars to tackle the wicked environmental problems facing his generation. He plans to pursue an M.S. in Environmental Engineering at Northeastern before returning to his beloved home state of New Hampshire and working for sustainable biosolids management across New England.