| Research Interests |
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My primary research areas are coastal water quality and sanitation. These
two research areas are linked by a focus on waterborne pathogens. The work
on coastal water quality addresses the sources, transformation, transport,
and ecology of biocolloids - specifically fecal indicator organisms, DNA,
pathogens, and phytoplankton - as well as sources and fate of
nitrogen. This knowledge is crucial to formulating new management policies
and engineering practices that protect human and ecosystem health at the
coastal margins. The work on sanitation aims to gain a better
understanding of how pathogens are transmitted to humans through contact
with water, feces, and contaminated surfaces. My research is focused on
key problems in both developed and developing countries with the
overarching goal of designing and testing novel interventions and
technologies for reducing the burden of waterborne disease. Details of current projects can be found here.
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| Teaching
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Environmental science and engineering, by its very nature, is
multi-disciplinary. In order to be successful, students must be grounded
in fundamental sciences and also have the know-how to apply the
fundamentals to real, complex problems. Because there are also regulatory,
political, and social components to real environmental problems, the most
successful environmental science and engineering problem-solvers will have
a background in these broader domains as well. With these challenges in
mind, I have developed four multi-disciplinary classes that aim to supply
the fundamentals for applied environmental problem solving: CEE 175A/275A
California Coast: Science, Policy, and Law, CEE 272 Coastal Contaminants,
CEE 271M Transport Phenomena,
CEE 274E Pathogens in the Environment, and CEE 274P Environmental Health
Microbiology Lab. I
co-teach CEE175A/275A with a law professor (Deborah Sivas). The
class is popular
with students from the Law School, Civil and Environmental Engineering,
and Earth Systems Science. The class was even featured on Jeopardy (the
game show). For more information about these courses, please
follow this link.
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| Awards |
National Oceanographic Partnership Program Excellence in Partnership Award 2016
ACS Environmental Science & Technology Letters Reviewer Award 2016
ASCE Huber Prize 2016
Participant in National Academy of Engineers' Frontiers of Engineering
Symposium 2008
NSF Career Award 2007
Pacific Rim Center for Oceans and Human Health Visiting Scholar 2007
Excellence in Teaching Award at Univ. California Irvine 2001
Faculty Fellow Award at Univ. California Irvine 2000-2002
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| State and National Service |
Co-Chair of West Coast Science Panel on Ocean Acidification and Hypoxia
(2014-2016)
Member State of California Clean Beach Task
Force (2007-present)
Member State of California Ocean Protection Council Science Advisor Team
(2008 - present)
Participant on National Experts Workshop of Recreational Water Quality
Criteria held by USEPA (2007)
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