Finding a niche in academic water research can be challenging for young professors and postdocs. In this episode, Rhea and I hosted Prof. Ngai Yin Yip, professor at Columbia University, who conducts research on membrane-less and non-evaporative desalination of hypersaline brines by temperature swing solvent extraction (TSSE). This TSSE desalination is driven by low-grade thermal heat to cost-competitively treat high-salinity waters. He is also developing a cost-competitive and sustainable membrane-based process to remove and recover nitrogen as ammonia and phosphor as phosphate from nutrient-rich wastewaters.