ºÚÁÏÂÛ̳

Dr. Patrick McNamara is a Professor of Environmental Engineering at ºÚÁÏÂÛ̳ and a Wastewater Process Engineer with Black & Veatch. He has over 15 years of experience in managing wastewater solids and residuals, and his research group has been investigating emerging contaminants for a decade. His work is funded by the National Science Foundation, utility companies, and foundations. He has over 80 peer-reviewed journal publications.

Dr. Brooke Mayer is a Professor in the Department of Civil, Construction, and Environmental Engineering at ºÚÁÏÂÛ̳.  She graduated from the Environmental Engineering program at Arizona State University (B.S. – 2004, M.S. – 2006, Ph.D. – 2008), where she taught from 2008 – 2012.  Her research and teaching interests focus on physical/chemical water treatment, particularly microbial disinfection and nutrient recovery.

Dr. Sarah Haig is an Associate Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering with a secondary appointment in the School of Public Health at the University of Pittsburgh. She received her PhD in Civil Engineering and MSci in Microbiology from the University of Glasgow, Scotland. Before joining the University of Pittsburgh in 2018, she completed an Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Fellowship in Microbiology of the Built Environment and a Dow Sustainability Postdoctoral Fellowship at the University of Michigan.

Dr. Haig’s research group at the University of Pittsburgh studies microbial exposures in the built environment. Operating at the intersection of engineering, environmental microbiology, environmental chemistry, and public health, her group assesses and mitigates health risks associated with pathogens transmitted within the built environment, with a specific focus on drinking water systems. Since 2018, her interdisciplinary program—funded by agencies like HUD, EPA, NSF (including a 2024 CAREER award) has tackled issues in building plumbing, water treatment, indoor air quality, and microbial risk assessment. Integrating traditional microbiological techniques with modern molecular methods and advanced statistical analyses, her team advances fundamental knowledge while developing practical solutions to improve water quality, indoor environmental quality, and protect public health. In 2025, her contributions and international leadership in environmental engineering were recognized with the American Academy of Environmental Engineers & Scientists 40 Under 40 Rising Stars in Environmental Engineering & Science Award

Dr. Charles Schaefer is the Director of CDM Smith’s Research & Testing Laboratory in Bellevue, WA. He received his PhD in chemical & biochemical engineering from Rutgers University, and has over 25 years of experience in the fate, transport, and treatment of organic contaminants in groundwater, soil, wastewater, and biosolids. Dr. Schaefer has served as a principal or co-principal investigator for several research projects funded through the US Department of Defense and the Water Research Foundation, and has served as the technical lead on several site investigation and remediation efforts.

Dr. Fabrizio Sabba is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Syracuse University. He is an environmental engineer whose work bridges academic research and real-world application in sustainable wastewater treatment, with a focus on biological nutrient removal, microbial ecology, resource recovery, and emerging contaminants.  He earned his Ph.D. in Environmental Engineering from the University of Notre Dame and brings several years of industry experience, having served as a Wastewater Process Engineer at Black & Veatch and Director of R&D at Nuvoda. His work integrates systems modeling, microbial analysis, and process optimization to support the design of efficient, climate-resilient treatment systems. He is also an active contributor to the AEESP community, where he supports early-career researchers through mentorship and professional development initiatives.

Mack is a treatment process engineer and researcher at Hampton Roads Sanitation District (HRSD) specializing on the startup and optimization of the SWIFT advanced water treatment and reuse process. His research work focuses on the removal of trace contaminants and the balance between contaminant oxidation and the formation of disinfection byproducts.

Vijay Bhatia is an integral part of the City of Philadelphia’s Water Department delving deep into the realm of microplastics over the past few years. His passion lies in the identification and quantification of microplastics within Philadelphia’s water sources and treatment facilities.

Vijay Bhatia’s mission encompasses not just scientific inquiry but also proactive engagement with schools. Collaborating with educational institutions, he aims to empower students with knowledge about both macro- and micro-plastics, fostering a generation equipped to combat plastic waste.

His journey into water quality research was preceded by a stint as a content manager at Thomson Reuters, where he honed his skills in content creation, research analysis, and patent literature review, his expertise spanning across organic and chemical biology domains, underpinned by a doctoral degree in chemistry and prior experience as a professor at Mumbai University.

Outside the realms of science, he finds solace and creativity in poetry writing, recognizing the inherent magic shared between chemistry and culinary arts. Just as chemistry transforms elements into compounds, cooking transforms ingredients into delectable delights, both offering boundless possibilities and discoveries.

Nicole Fahrenfeld is a Professor of Civil & Environmental Engineering at Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey.  She earned her BS from Johns Hopkins University, MS from Clemson University, and PhD from Virginia Tech.  Her lab focuses on applied microbiology and organic chemistry in natural and engineered systems.  Recent projects include microbial source tracking, hydrogen sulfide control in sewers, antibiotic resistance, and plastic pollution issues.                   

Joe Heffron received his MS and PhD in Civil Engineering from ºÚÁÏÂÛ̳. He currently researches biosecurity and dairy waste management as part of the USDA/USGS inter-agency Laboratory for Infectious Diseases and the Environment (LIDE) in Marshfield, WI.

Mike is an Associate Professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and an Adjunct Associate Professor in the Department of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences at the University of Washington. He received a B.S. in Civil Engineering and M.S. in Environmental Engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology, Ph.D. in Environmental Sciences from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich, and was a postdoctoral fellow in the Environmental Engineering Program of Yale University, before beginning his appointment at the UW. Mike’s research emphasizes the characterization of (in)organic and microbiological contaminant fate during (photo)chemical oxidation and disinfection processes in water and wastewater treatment and within natural systems, development of assays to quantify the impacts of such processes on contaminants’ chemical and biological properties and effects, and engineering novel approaches to centralized and decentralized treatment – especially concerning optimization for organic pollutant and pathogen elimination. Particular focus areas of his group’s research activities include characterization and control of antibiotic resistance dissemination in the environment, development of novel advanced oxidation and disinfection processes, and characterization (photo) chemical transformations of environmental organic contaminants at gas-solid and gas-liquid interfaces.