Her research interests include water and soil remediation, in particular contaminant fate pathways and remediation design for surface and groundwater polluted with metals or chlorinated compounds. Rihana-Abdallah received a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from Ecole Supérieure des Ingénieurs de Beyrouth - Université St. Joseph and an M.S. and a Ph.D. in Environmental Engineering from the University of Michigan. She joined the faculty at the University of Detroit Mercy in late 2000.