Environmental Science: Water Research & Technology blog

Samuel Snow is an assistant professor of environmental engineering within the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Louisiana State University. He earned a Ph.D. in Environmental Engineering from Georgia Tech in 2014 after completing a B.S. in Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, also at GT. After completing his graduate work, Dr. Snow briefly worked at the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality before accepting a postdoctoral fellowship at Michigan State University in 2015. In the Fall of 2016, he began his appointment at LSU. Some of Snow’s research interests include the developing new water treatment processes and understanding the role of photochemical processes in environmental systems. One of the most motivating goals of his is to produce technologies that enable socio-economic progress in under-developed contexts: a topic that also bridges his teaching and research activities.

Read his Emerging Investigator article “Photocatalysis for MBR effluent post-treatment: assessing the effects of effluent organic matter characteristics” and read more about him in the interview below:

Your recent Emerging Investigator Series paper focuses on photocatalysis for MBR effluent post-treatment. How has your research evolved from your first article to this most recent article?

When I was an undergraduate student, I worked on a project that aimed to better understand phosphorus cycling in an estuarine system. As a graduate student, I delved into photochemistry and nanotechnology in an effort to advance new disinfection technologies. Gradually, my focus has expanded from my graduate work to investigate the role that dissolved organic matter plays in interfering with photochemical processes. My recent article highlighted here takes a novel approach toward understanding the inhibitory interactions between organic matter and photocatalysts. This work continues in my overall theme of investigating processes related to water quality, and I have enjoyed the foray into the field of dissolved organic matter.

 What aspect of your work are you most excited about at the moment?

I am excited to be working in the field of photochemistry right now, because advances in LED technologies are opening up many new possibilities in water treatment. Whether it be retrofitting traditional UV disinfection systems or designing new advanced oxidation processes, I feel fortunate to have the opportunity to be involved with these new frontiers.

 In your opinion, what are the most important questions to be asked/answered in this field of research?

Regarding the field of photocatalysis, there has been an elephant in the room for a long time. Despite decades of research and promise, photocatalysts have found very few practical applications. I believe the most pressing question would be, ‘how can we solve the problem of radical diffusion limitations (and thereby poor Contact Time) in photocatalytic systems?’ Photocalytic systems will only find practical application in water treatment if a robust answer to this question is formulated.

 What do you find most challenging about your research?

I find that getting at the heart of any research question in the Environmental field requires extensive knowledge in other fields. At times, I feel I would need graduate degrees in materials science, analytical chemistry, and microbiology all at once to understand just one piece of the puzzle. Diving into literature outside my comfort zone is always challenging, humbling, and exhilarating.

 In which upcoming conferences or events may our readers meet you?

I will be in Orlando, FL for the American Chemical Society meeting in March/April, 2019. While I have not yet formalized my plans, I hope to attend the 2019 Sustainable Nanotechnology Organization conference with one of my graduate students.

How do you spend your spare time?

I enjoy spending time with my wife, with friends, and sometimes simply on my own for some introvert time. I tend to go with the flow in terms of recreation, but I particularly enjoy activities that challenge my mental and physical aptitude or simply involve peaceful time in nature. Basketball, Frisbee (ultimate and disc golf), fishing, hiking, and strategy games are all high on my list.

 Which profession would you choose if you were not a scientist?

I have a funny story here… When I was young, I always thought that I’d like to be a marine biologist. People always told me that there were too few jobs and they required so much school that I shouldn’t even bother trying. Ironically, I listened to that advice but then went on to jump through the equivalent academic hoops in environmental science & engineering. To answer the question: I probably would have followed my father’s footsteps and taken up computer programming.

Can you share one piece of career-related advice or wisdom with other early career scientists?

Do not to put the cart before the horse, particularly with regard to academic metrics. During my brief time outside academia, I was encouraged to read a book called The 4 Disciplines of Execution, and I found one core concept to be profoundly meaningful: lag- versus lead-measures. Impact factors, publications, presentations, and the like are all measures of success that lag behind the daily work. Those are the metaphorical cart. The lead measures are the horse, and we have to bet on what kind of horse can pull the cart forward. My personal bet is that tenure and academic success will follow naturally if I can lead my research group towards answering meaningful scientific questions by making weekly, incremental steps and by embracing failures (aka the moments when learning happens). It’s easier to adjust a lead measure that isn’t generating progress than to forcibly move the lag measures.

Xian-Zheng Yuan is a professor of environmental engineering in the School of Environmental Science & Engineering at Shandong University. He received his PhD from Qingdao Institute of BioEnergy & Bioprocess Technology (QIBEBT), Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), MS from Research Center for Eco-Environmental Science, CAS, and BS from Shandong University. Before joining Shandong University, he worked in QIBEBT, CAS. His research group focus on anaerobic technology (e.g., chemical and molecular insights for emerging pollutants biodegradation) and environmental nanotechnology (e.g., micro- and nano-plastics in aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems).

Read Professor Yuan’s Emerging Investigator article “Inhibition and recovery of anaerobic granular sludge performance in response to short-term polystyrene nanoparticle exposure” and read more about him in the interview below:

Your recent Emerging Investigator Series paper focuses on the inhibition and recovery of anaerobic granular sludge performance in response to short-term polystyrene nanoparticle exposure. How has your research evolved from your first article to this most recent article?

As a graduate student, I published my first article on internal phosphorus control in the shallow lakes. I have shifted my research from drinking water to wastewater treatment during my doctoral studies. My current research is mainly on anaerobic biotechnology (e.g., chemical and molecular insights for emerging pollutants biodegradation) and environmental nanotechnology (e.g., micro- and nano-plastics in aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems). So this Emerging Investigator Series paper focused on the response of anaerobic microbial community in wastewater to nanoplastics.

What aspect of your work are you most excited about at the moment?

Our self-developed on-line analyzer for total volatile fatty acids and early-warning system of anaerobic reactors have been equipped in a treatment plant of brewery wastewater.

In your opinion, what are the most important questions to be asked/answered in this field of research?

Anaerobic digestion, as a mature technology, has been widely used in the wastewater treatment plants for primary and secondary sludge stabilization and energy recovery. However, the fate of emerging pollutants during anaerobic digestion of sludge is largely unknown. Hence, we need to understand the behavior of emerging pollutants from chemical and molecular insights.

What do you find most challenging about your research?

The anaerobic digestion of sludge is a complex system. The response of microbial community for the emerging pollutants is the most challenging and most charming.

In which upcoming conferences or events may our readers meet you?

I will be attending the IWA Anaerobic Digestion Conference (Delft, Netherlands, 23th -27th, June, 2019).

How do you spend your spare time?

I enjoy spending my spare time with my wife and our six-year-old boy as much as possible. We enjoy outdoor activities as a family.

Which profession would you choose if you were not a scientist?

I might be a baker. The smell of freshly baked bread is out of this world.

Can you share one piece of career-related advice or wisdom with other early career scientists?

Curiosity, passion, communication and cooperation.

Dr. Adam L. Smith is an Assistant Professor in the Astani Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Southern California. He received his M.S.E. and Ph.D. from the University of Michigan in Environmental Engineering in 2011 and 2014, respectively. He received his B.S. in Civil Engineering from Marquette University in 2009. The Smith Research Group develops biotechnologies for resource recovery from waste streams.

Read Adam’s Emerging Investigator article “revisiting greenhouse gas mitigation from conventional activated sludge and anaerobic-based wastewater treatment systems“ and find out more about him in the interview below:

Your recent Emerging Investigator Series paper focuses on greenhouse gas mitigation from conventional activated sludge and anaerobic-based wastewater treatment systems. How has your research evolved from your first article to this most recent article?

My first research endeavours focused on anaerobic membrane bioreactor development for domestic wastewater treatment at psychrophilic temperatures. Although that biotechnology still serves as the basis for many of my ongoing research projects, I have expanded my research portfolio by going deeper into understanding microbial ecology of anaerobic systems, infusing materials science principles to fabricate novel membranes, investigating bioelectrochemical systems compatible with mainstream anaerobic treatment, and exploring more contemporary issues such as greenhouse gas emissions and antibiotic resistance. I have also expanded from focusing exclusively on domestic wastewater to also investigating higher-strength waste streams (e.g., food waste, animal manure, and wastewater sludges).

What aspect of your work are you most excited about at the moment?

I am most excited about our ongoing work investigating antibiotic resistance in mainstream anaerobic treatment systems. My collaborator Dr. Lauren Stadler at Rice University and I are characterizing resistance profiles during anaerobic membrane bioreactor treatment of domestic wastewater to evaluate correlations between influent antibiotic concentrations, understand dynamics of horizontal gene transfer, and establish operational protocols that limit resistance in effluents intended for reuse applications.

In your opinion, what are the most important questions to be asked/answered in this field of research?

Mainstream anaerobic treatment is an exciting research area that could drastically change how we manage wastewater. However, we still need to develop new energy-efficient membrane fouling control strategies and technologies that recover effluent dissolved methane. We also need a better mechanistic understanding of trace contaminant fate in these systems. Significant advancements in these areas are needed before anaerobic membrane bioreactors are ready for full-scale implementation.

What do you find most challenging about your research?

Doing truly transformative research is always a challenge, and I know most of us cringe when we hear that word! It is all too easy to fall into a rhythm of incremental research that winds up as noise in our crowded field.

In which upcoming conferences or events may our readers meet you?

I will be attending the North American Membrane Society Conference, AEESP Conference, and IWA Anaerobic Digestion Conference this coming summer.

How do you spend your spare time?

I enjoy travelling, hiking, skiing, and playing with my munchkin cat Sprinkles Bodinkles.

Which profession would you choose if you were not a scientist?

Astronaut! I went to Space Camp as a child and have been obsessed ever since. Maybe I will submit an application next time NASA is accepting them!

Can you share one piece of career-related advice or wisdom with other early career scientists?

Develop a diverse research portfolio that excites you. Do not be afraid to journey into new disciplines that are outside of your wheelhouse.

We are delighted to introduce our latest Emerging Investigator, Yujie Men! 

Dr. Yujie Men joined the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering as an Assistant Professor in March 2016. Before that, she worked as a postdoctoral researcher in the Engineering Research Center for Re-inventing the Nation’s Urban Water Infrastructure at University of California, Berkeley, and a postdoctoral scientist at Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology. She holds a B.S. and M.S. in Environmental Engineering from Tsinghua University, and earned her Ph.D. in Civil and Environmental Engineering at University of California at Berkeley. Her research focuses on the development of sustainable biotechnologies for cleaner water and a safer and more sustainable environment, by advancing the fundamental knowledge of microbial metabolic diversities and microbe-microbe interactions in built and natural environments. She is a member of the International Society for Microbial Ecology, the American Society for Microbiology, the American Chemical Society and the Association of Environmental Engineering and Science Professors.

Read Yujie’s Emerging Investigators article “Occurrence and fate of emerging organic contaminants in wastewater treatment plants with an enhanced nitrification step,” and find out more about her in the interview below:

Your recent Emerging Investigator Series paper focuses on occurrence and fate of emerging organic contaminants in wastewater treatment plants. How has your research evolved from your first article to this most recent article?

My first article is on bioremediation of chloroethenes, which are traditional organic contaminants in subsurface areas. This Emerging Investigator Series paper focuses on emerging organic contaminants in wastewater: their occurrence and transformation (mostly biological). No matter how the target pollutants change, from canonical to emerging ones and from anaerobic/anoxic subsurface environments to aerobic surface environments, my research goal remains the same: to obtain fundamental understanding of environmental microbial communities (physiological, molecular and ecological properties) and to apply to environmental biotechnologies solving real problems.

What aspect of your work are you most excited about at the moment?

I am most excited about my work on understanding interactions between environmental pollutants and the microbial communities they are exposed to. This includes how microbes transform/degrade the anthropogenic compounds and how the exposure to xenobiotic chemicals affect the metabolism of microorganisms.

In your opinion, what impact do you think this research will have on the development of wastewater treatment plants?

This research reveals important but limited roles of biological wastewater treatment steps (secondary treatment and the enhanced nitrification step) regarding the removal of emerging organic contaminants. Compounds recalcitrant to biotransformation were identified. Formation of incomplete transformation products and product-to-parent transformation were also observed. These findings suggest that advanced treatment of the residuals of emerging organic contaminants after biological treatment is needed in wastewater treatment plants for water reuse purposes, which require a significant reduction of dissolved organic carbon in the effluent.

What do you find most challenging about your research?

It is more and more challenging to find one single approach efficient enough to treat some emerging organic contaminants due to their persistence. A treatment train system combining physical, chemical and biological approaches would be needed to achieve effective separation and treatment.

In which upcoming conferences or events may our readers meet you?

I plan to attend ACS, ASM general meetings, and Gordon Research Conference in Applied and Environment Microbiology in 2019.

How do you spend your spare time?

I enjoy staying with my family and playing with my little one after work. If I still have extra time, I would go for Zumba and swimming. I hope I can go hiking with my family in a year or two when my little one grows bigger.

Which profession would you choose if you were not a scientist?

I would like to become a surgeon.

Can you share one piece of career-related advice or wisdom with other early career scientists?

A successful career is one you are fascinated about, one that makes you eager to learn more and persistent when facing hurdles, one that gives you a feeling of accomplishment and confidence, and one that never has a shortcut to reach.