August 20, 2026 Hicks, Hampton, Qin, and Wei promoted for 25-26 academic year Written By: Eva Ness Departments: Civil & Environmental Engineering Categories: Faculty The civil and environmental engineering department has promoted four professors in the 2025-26 academic year. Andrea Hicks has been promoted from associate professor to full professor. Jesse Hampton, Mohan Qin, and Haoran Wei have all been promoted from assistant to associate professor with tenure. Andrea Hicks Andrea Hicks leads the Sustainability and Emerging Technology Research Group. Her research explores the intersections of emerging technology and sustainability through the consideration of environmental impacts. Andrea recieved a NSF Career Award to support this work by looking specifically at the sustainability of aquaponics as a food production technology. Andrea’s commitment to sustainability has paved the way to leadership roles as Director of Sustainability Education and Research, as well as Assistant Dean for Sustainability Research and Education through the Nelson Institute. Jesse Hampton Jesse Hampton leads the Geomechanics and Damage Group (GeoD). His research examines how damage and fractures develop across scales—from microscopic cracks to earthquakes—and how advanced sensing and data science can improve how we understand and monitor these processes. His work spans subsurface energy, seismic risk, and infrastructure monitoring, with a particular emphasis on acoustic and distributed fiber-optic sensing. Jesse also serves as director of the STRIDE consortium, an interdisciplinary research partnership focused on using advanced sensing and data science to reduce uncertainty, risk, and cost in subsurface engineering. He has also received several awards for his teaching, including the Harvey Spangler Award for Innovative Teaching and Learning Practices. Mohan Qin Mohan Qin’s research group, Qin Lab, focuses on sustainable resource recovery from unconventional wastewater using electrochemical and membrane processes, as well as the detection and management of microplastics in the Great Lakes. She has received the 2024 International Water Association (IWA) Membrane Technology Specialist Group (MTSG) Rising Star Award. She serves as an associate editor for Desalination and Water Treatment and is a member of the early career editorial board of ACS ES&T Engineering. Her research has been featured in various media, including Aquatic Sciences Chronicle, C&EN, Science News, and on Wisconsin Public Radio. Haoran Wei Haoran Wei leads the Environmental Analytical Technology Laboratory, where his team develops cost-effective technologies to detect emerging water contaminants, including PFAS, microplastics, and pesticides. Work currently underway includes the development of an affordable and easy-to-use test for detecting neonicotinoids in groundwater in Wisconsin’s Central Sands region. Haoran is a 2026 National Science Foundation Career Award recipient, which supports his research on deep learning-enabled sensors for monitoring priority contaminants and safeguarding drinking water quality.