Event Calendar
Prev MonthPrev Month Next MonthNext Month
Understanding and Solving PFAS Pollution in Our Water and Wastewater Through a Holistic Approach
Wednesday, January 29, 2025, 12:00 PM - 1:30 PM EST
Category: AAEES Webinar Series

Understanding and Solving PFAS Pollution in Our Water and Wastewater Through a Holistic Approach

Webinar Info

Date:

Wednesday, January 29, 2025

Time:

Noon Eastern | 9:00 am Pacific

Duration:

1 hour and 30 minutes (approximate)

Registration Fees:

FREE for All AAEES Board Certified Individuals, AAEES Members, and Student Members | $40 for non-members

Webinar Speakers

Nirupam Aich, PhD
Richard L. McNeel Associate Professor of Engineering
University of Nebraska–Lincoln

Shannon Bartelt-Hunt, Ph.D., P.E., BCEE
Professor and Chair
Donald R. Voelte Jr. and
Nancy A. Keegan Chair of Engineering
University of Nebraska-Lincoln

Olga V. Tsyusko-Unrine, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
University of Kentucky


Webinar Summary

We will have a panel of experts working on determining the extent of PFAS pollution and their impact as well as mitigating PFAS pollution in our water systems. Understanding the level and distribution of PFAS in our drinking water sources and wastewater systems is critical for protecting our population. The development of toxicological understanding helps further to determine the risks of PFAS pollution. These understandings about PFAS fate and toxicity serve as a guidance for developing novel treatment strategies. On the other hand, PFAS separation and destruction processes require developing new materials and technologies that require evaluation for their effectiveness in PFAS risk reduction as well as their potential environmental and economic impacts. We will discuss here how these different aspects of PFAS pollution are interrelated and an integrated approach can be developed for addressing these issues.

Webinar Speakers

Dr. Nirupam Aich is currently the Richard L. McNeel Associate Professor of Engineering in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Nebraska - Lincoln. His research group, Aich Laboratory for Environmental Nanotechnology and Sustainability (#AichLENS), is developing safer-by-design advanced materials and processes for water treatment and reuse as well as remediation of emerging contaminants including PFAS. Dr. Aich obtained his Ph.D. in Environmental Engineering from the University of Texas at Austin in 2015, M.S. in Environmental Engineering from the University of South Carolina in 2012, and B.Sc. in Chemical Engineering from Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology in 2009. His past and present research work has resulted in more than 80 publications including >65 peer-reviewed articles in highly ranked journals with 2080 citations, 7 book chapters, 6 peer-reviewed conference papers, and 2 patents. His research has been funded and supported by the Federal Agencies including the National Science Foundation (NSF), National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences Superfund Research program (NIEHS SRP), United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), US Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA), Department of Defense – Strategic Environmental Research and Development Program (DOD/SERDP), and US Geological Survey (USGS). As recognition of his contributions to the field of Environmental Nanotechnology and Engineering, Dr. Aich has received the National Science Foundation (NSF) CAREER Award in 2022, American Academy of Environmental Engineers & Scientists (AAEES) 40 under 40 Recognition in 2023, and Emerging Investigator Awards from the Sustainable Nanotechnology Organization (SNO) in 2019 and Environmental Science: Nano in 2021. He is also serving as an early career advisory board member in the editorial board of the Journal of Hazardous Materials Letters and guest editor for Journal of Water Process Engineering and Industrial Chemistry & Engineering Research.

Dr. Shannon Bartelt-Hunt, P.E., BCEE, is the Donald R. Voelte, Jr and Nancy A. Keegan Chair and Professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, She received her B.S. in Environmental Engineering from Northwestern University in 1998 and her M.S. and Ph.D. in Civil Engineering, specializing in environmental engineering, from the University of Virginia in 2000 and 2004, respectively. At the University of Nebraska, she teaches courses on environmental engineering, engineering chemistry and solid waste management. She holds a courtesy appointment in the Department of Environmental, Occupational and Agricultural Health in the School of Public Health at the University of Nebraska Medical Center. Her research interests focus on the fate of biologically-active contaminants in the environment, such as steroid hormones, pharmaceuticals, and the prion protein. She is specifically interested in evaluating the environmental impacts of agricultural production practices and water quality in rural communities. She has authored over 120 peer-reviewed publications and book chapters, and her research has been supported by the US Department of Agriculture, the National Science Foundation, and the US Environmental Protection Agency. In 2012, she received a CAREER award from the National Science Foundation and in 2015, she was recognized as part of a group receiving the Grand Prize for University Research from the American Academy of Environmental Engineers and Scientists. She is a Fellow of the Association of Environmental Engineering and Science Professors and the American Society of Civil Engineers.

Dr. Olga Tsyusko is an Associate Professor of Environmental Toxicology in the Department of Plant and Soil Sciences at the University of Kentucky. She received her B.S. in Biology from Uzhgorod National University in Ukraine in 1995 and moved to the U.S. in 1999 to work on her PhD at the University of Georgia studying effects of ionizing radiation in genetic variation of plants from Chernobyl. She completed her PhD in Toxicology in 2004. The overall focus of her current research program is on stress biology in response to various anthropogenic stressors with the main emphasis on nanomaterials, their associated metal constituents, and per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). Using model organisms, she applies a set of approaches and techniques to examine environmental toxicity, molecular mechanisms, and genomic responses after exposure to these stressors. She has been a member of The Center for the Environmental Implications of NanoTechnology (CEINT) since 2010. In the last four years, the safety-by-design approach has been implemented in her research to include evaluation of the potential environmental risks at the early stages of development of new nano-enabled technologies for agricultural purposes and environmental remediation including nanocomposite membranes for PFAS removal and degradation (in collaboration with Drs. Isabel Escobar and Nirupam Aich). Dr. Tsyusko has authored 69 peer-reviewed publications and two book chapters, and her research has been supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF), the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and joined the NSF-EPA programs with international research collaborators in the European Union (EU). Since 2022, she has been serving as the U.S. Chair for the U.S.-EU Nano Environmental Health Safety (EHS) Ecotoxicity Communities of Research (COR) with the goal of bridging collaborations to further advance research on environmental health and safety of nanotechnology.

Webinar Format

This webinar will include a moderated Q and A session following the speaker’s presentation. The session is open to environmental engineering and science professionals across all sectors and career stages. Our objective is to offer special insights on leading edge solutions for graduate and undergraduate students as well as early to mid-career environmental professionals who are considering specialty certification.

AAEES Board Certified Individuals: Attend this event and earn 1.5 PDHs towards your PDH requirements for maintaining your specialty certification.

Click here to register for this event.

Our Partners

ABET AECOM AEESP AIChE APHA APWA ASCE ASEE AWMA  Black and VeatchCDM SmithCDM Smith CESB DSWA EESF Geosyntec LACSD ladwp   MWDSC nacwa naem    OCSAN PDH Online SCS Engineers Stanley ConsultantsSWANA usaidis uswaterpartnership WEF