Menachem Elimelech Named ‘Highly Cited Researcher’

Menachem Elimelech, the Roberto C. Goizueta Professor of Chemical & Environmental Engineering, has been featured in the 2014 list of Thomson Reuters’ Highly Cited Researchers.

The list identifies researchers who worldwide wrote the greatest number of papers between 2002 and 2012 that are among the top 1 percent in number of citations in their field. Elimelech was one of only 137 scientists cited in the category of Environment and Ecology, and only 3,215 scholars are included in the entire list of 21 categories.

As the founder of Yale’s Environmental Engineering program in 1998, Elimelech is one of the world's leading researchers in the field of membrane-based processes for sustainable fresh water and energy production. His developments in forward osmosis present innovative improvements to membrane-based water desalination, with reductions in the energy cost for purifying water and the amount of fouling from the particles in recycled wastewater. His membranes for pressure retarded osmosis can also be used to generate energy from the mixing of salt water with fresh water—both in locations where that mixing occurs naturally, such as river estuaries, and in closed-loop industrial systems.

Elimelech’s research has also focused on the environmental application and implications of nanomaterials, as well as the use of membrane filters to improve water safety, sanitation, and health in developing nations.

For more information about the Highly Cited Researchers project, visit http://highlycited.com.