MSU Center for Water Sciences

People

Page Contents

CWS Personnel
Advisory Committee
Faculty Members

 

CWS Personnel

  • Joan B. Rose, Co-director

Dr. Rose is an international expert in public health water microbiology addressing the relationship between water quality and human health including a focus on water pollution, water and wastewater treatment and public policies. Her research has investigated microorganisms involved in waterborne disease including enteric viruses (enteroviruses and noroviruses), protozoa (specifically Cryptosporidium and Giardia), and bacteria (E.coli). Her work involves development of new methods for detection of these microbes in the environment particularly molecular methods such as microarray technology and environmental surveys of ambient surface and ground waters as well as at wastewater and drinking water treatment facilities. Dr. Rose has been active in development of quantitative microbial risk assessment and is a co-editor of one of the only books published on the topic. She has been involved in local, state, national and international investigations and strategies for the assessment and control of microbial water pollution. She has been involved in the BEACH Act, Safe Drinking Water Act and Clean Water Act in the U.S. Her research expertise includes investigation into waterborne outbreaks, healthy beaches, source tracking in watersheds, watershed assessment and protection, groundwater contamination and recharge, water reclamation and conventional and innovative water/waste treatment.

  • R. Jan Stevenson, Co-director

Dr. Stevenson employs his technical expertise in algal taxonomy and ecology to test ecological theory and to develop approaches for solving environmental problems.  He is particularly interested in how ecological systems respond to environmental change. He also works with federal and state officials to develop protocols for ecological assessment. Working with resource managers and policy makers often stimulates new directions for his research. Most of his projects use field observations, experiments, and modeling to better understand the effects of natural and human factors on algae and the role of algae in aquatic ecosystems. Field studies are used to identify interesting patterns in nature that may indicate an environmental problem or an interesting natural phenomenon. Manipulative experiments in artificial streams and mesocosms are used to confirm cause-effect relationships. Dr. Stevenson uses models to scale observations up to better understand cause-effect relations among natural and anthropogenic factors and ecological conditions.

  • Erin A. Dreelin, Associate Director

Dr. Dreelin received her PhD in Ecology from the University of Georgia in 2004. Her research focuses on sustainable development and innovative stormwater management practices to protect aquatic ecosystems. Dr. Dreelin’s work also has a strong emphasis on outreach. She works with local governments to revise building codes in order to improve land development practices and to encourage low impact development and Smart Growth techniques.

  • Rachel M. McNinch, Research Assistant

Rachel McNinch received her Master's degree at Michigan State University in 2007. Rachel's graduate research focused on waterfowl fecal bacteria content and waterfowl fecal bacteria loading effects on beach sand and water. She works for the Center on multiple projects and is currently using geographic information systems (GIS) to look at the state of Michigan's Escherichia coli database. Her research interests include recreational water quality and human health.

  • CWS Post-doctoral Fellows

Jongmun Cha works with a CWS research team headed by faculty member Alison Cupples examining the fate of antimicrobial compounds in biosolids produced by wastewater treatment facilities.

Mary Anne Evans works with a CWS research team headed by faculty member Elena Litchman examining interactive effects of turbulence, light, and phoshporus on Microcystis dominance in Michigan lakes.

Evan Kane works with a CWS research team headed by faculty member Merritt Turetsky investigating the role of wetlands in sequestering mercury.

David Kuo works with a CWS research team headed by faculty member Irene Xagoraraki investigating emerging waterborne viruses. The goal of their research project is to develop a comprehensive DNA-based tool for the quick and accurate detection of adenoviruses in water samples. The tool will include screening, identification and quantification of waterborne adenoviruses.

Jon O'Brien works with a CWS research team headed by faculty member Steve Hamilton researching biogeochemical processes in throughflow wetlands. Throughflow wetlands are situated at points of ground water recharge and discharge or along streams and rivers, and biogeochemical processes in these wetlands affect downstream water quality.

Liyan Song works with a CWS research team headed by Terry Marsh. The team is examining coupling the land use history of watersheds with carbon turnover and the biogeochemical dynamics and stability of lake ecosystems.

Wenlu Song works with a CWS research team headed by faculty member Hui Li on the environmental fate, resistance development and toxicity of antibiotics in natural and engineering systems. They are conducting a series of seed research projects to investigate the fate of antibiotics in natural and engineered environments, within the broader and longer-term goals of linking environmental fate to development of microbial resistance and mammalian toxicity.

 

 

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Advisory Committee

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Faculty Members

An alphabetical list of faculty members is provided below. Click here for a searchable database of our members.

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

 

A

Evangelyn Alocilja, Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering
204 Farrall Hall
517-355-0083
alocilja@msu.edu
Expertise: Development of biosensors, biomimetic sensors, and bioelectronic devices; Applications: Homeland security, food and environmental safety (biosafety), point-of-care diagnostics

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B

Sandra Batie, Elton R. Smith Chair in Food & Agricultural Policy
Agricultural Economics
204 Agriculture Hall
517 355-4705
Email: batie@msu.edu
Expertise: environmental economics, environmental policy

Janice A. Beecher, Institute of Public Utilities
Political Science and Law
240 Nisbet Building
517-355-1876
beecher@msu.edu
ipu.msu.edu
Expertise:  Structure and economic regulation of the U.S. water industry; privatization, globalization, and jurisdiction; cost allocation, pricing, affordability, and rate design; political and social considerations in the water sector; comparison of water to energy and other utilities; provisions and implementation of the federal Safe Drinking Water Act. 

Stephen Boyd, Crop and Soil Sciences
532 Plant and Soil Sciences
517-355-0271x1252
boyds@msu.edu
Expertise: Environmental chemistry and microbiology, Sorption and degradation of organic contaminants, pesticides and metals in soils and sediments, Remediation of contaminated soils, subsoils and sediments

Mary Bremigan, Fisheries and Wildlife
13 Natural Resources
517-432-3831
bremigan@msu.edu
Expertise: Fisheries management, food web dynamics, recruitment in fishes

Thomas Burton, Zoology
203 Natural Science
517-353-4475
burtont@msu.edu
Expertise: Stream and marsh ecology with emphasis on bioassessment

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C

Kendra Spence Cheruvelil, Lyman Briggs School and Fisheries and Wildlife
517-353-9528
ksc@msu.edu
Expertise: aquatic ecology, freshwater flora and fauna, ecosystem management, conservation, foodwebs, exotic species, limnology

Jongeun Choi, Assistant Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering
2459 Engineering
jchoi@msu.edu
Expertise: Coordination of mobile sensor networks, Field estimation using Gaussian processes, Multi-agent systems for environmental monitoring, Controls, Parameter estimation.

Kuo-Chuan Chou, Animal Science and Food Safety/Toxicology
2209E Anthony Hall
517-432-1392
chouk@msu.edu

James Cole, Center for Microbial Ecology
2225A BioMed Physical Sciences
517-353-3842
colej@msu.edu
Expertise: Ribosomal Database Project: Tools and Data for High Throughput rRNA Analysis

Alison M. Cupples, Civil and Environmental Engineering
A129 Research Complex Engineering
517- 432-3370
cupplesa@msu.edu
Expertise: biological degradation of contaminants such as chlorinated solvents and pesticides, using molecular methods to examine the presence and quantity of microorganisms able to tranform these compounds in situ (soil or water)

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D

Erin Dreelin, Center for Water Sciences
301 Manly Miles Building
1405 S. Harrison Rd.
517-353-7746
dreelin@msu.edu
Expertise: Stormwater management, low impact development, urban streams

Tracy Dobson, Fisheries and Wildlife
10C Natural Resources
517-432-1711
dobson@msu.edu
Expertise: International environmental policy, Biodiversity policy, Gender and environment, Co-management of natural resources, Indigenous rights to natural resources

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F

Anne Ferguson, Anthropology, Women & International Development Program
206 International Center
517-353-5040
fergus12@msu.edu
Expertise: areas of development studies, gender, agricultural and environmental change, and medical anthropology.

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G

John Giesy, Zoology and Food Safety/Toxicology
22 Natural Science
517-353-2000
jgiesy@aol.com
Expertise: ecotoxicologist with interests in many aspects of ecotoxicology, including both the fates and effects of potentially toxic compounds and elements, particularly in the area of ecological risk assessment.

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H

Steve Hamilton, Kellogg Biological Station
3700 E Gull Lake Drive, Hickory Corners MI 49060
616-671-2231
hamilton@kbs.msu.edu
Expertise: ecosystem ecology and biogeochemistry, with particular attention to aquatic environments and the movement of water through landscapes.

Syed Hashsham, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
A126 Engineering School Complex
517-355-8241
hashsham@msu.edu
Expertise: environmental molecular biology and mathematical tools to address environmental engineering issues.

Dan Hayes, Fisheries and Wildlife
334C Natural Resources
517-432-3781
hayesdan@msu.edu
Expertise: determining how fish habitat affects their population dynamics

David Hyndman, Department of Geological Sciences
111 Natural Science
517-353-4442
hyndman@msu.edu
Expertise: physical and chemical processes that influence groundwater flow and solute transport, and the factors that affect seismic and electromagnetic wave propagation.

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K

Chris Klausmeier, Kellogg Biological Station
3700 E Gull Lake Drive, Hickory Corners MI 49060
klausme1@msu.edu
Expertise: general principles that organize ecological communities and ecosystems.  We focus on phytoplankton and zooplankton, the microscopic plants and animals at the base of lake and ocean food webs. 

Daniel Kramer, James Madison College and Department of Fisheries and Wildlife
370 North Case Hall
Tel: (517) 432-2199
Fax: (517) 432-1804
Email: dbk@msu.edu
Expertise: resource economics, conservation biology, environmental policy, biodiversity, resilience, social capital

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L

Jay Lennon, W. K. Kellogg Biological Station 
Assistant Professor of Microbiology & Molecular Genetics
Hickory Corners, MI 49060
Phone: (401) 863-7753
Email: Jay_Lennon@brown.edu
Expertise: questions related to the spread of invasive species, cultural eutrophication, microbial controls on carbon flow, and most recently, the influence of nutrient supply on the coevolution of marine viruses and their bacterial hosts.

Hui Li, Crop and Soil Science
584C Plant and Soil Sciences
517-355-0271x1146
lihui@msu.edu

Shu-Guang Li, Civil and Environmental Engineering
A133 Engr Rsch Complex
517-432-1929
lishug@msu.edu
Expertise: Methods for characterizing groundwater contamination at hazardous waste sites, with emphasis on the integration of simulation models and field data.

Elena Litchman, Kellogg Biological Station
3700 E Gull Lake Drive, Hickory Corners MI 49060
litchman@msu.edu
Expertise: Aquatic ecology; community ecology; limnology; phytoplankton ecology, physiology and evolution; biogeochemical impacts of phytoplankton; global change

Dave Long, Department of Geological Sciences
141 Natural Science
517-353-9618
long@msu.edu
Expertise: understanding and modeling the geochemical (bio/inorganic/isotopic) state and evolution of aquatic systems.

David P. Lusch, Ph.D., GISP
Senior Research Specialist
Remote Sensing & GIS Research and Outreach Services
Department of Geography
Michigan State University
212 Geography Bldg.
East Lansing, MI 48824-1117
phone:  517 / 355-8497
fax:    517 / 353-1821
web: http://www.rsgis.msu.edu/
Expertise: Glacial geomorphology, remote sensing, GIS, agricultural and natural resource management, mesoscale hydrogeology.

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M

Linda Mansfield, Large Animal Clinical Sciences
B43 Food Safety
517-432-3100x119
mansfie4@msu.edu
Expertise: understand the infectious process whereby parasites gain access to and cause disease in their hosts.

Phanikumar Mantha, Civil and Environmental Engineering and Geological Sciences
A130 Engr Rsch Complex
517-432-0851
phani@msu.edu
Expertise: reactive transport and the fate of contaminants in surface water and groundwater, bioremediation, subsurface characterization, and environmental and geophysical fluid dynamics including limnologic and riverine hydrodynamics, turbulent flows, and flows through porous media.

Terence Marsh, Microbiology and Molecular Genetics
6171 Biomed Phys Sciences
517-355-6463x1597
marsht@msu.edu
Expertise: new approach for generating profiles of microbial communities referred to as terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism (T-RFLP).

Susan Masten, Civil and Environmental Engineering
A132 Engr Rsch Complex
517-353-8539
masten@msu.edu
Expertise: Use of chemical oxidants for the remediation of soils, water, and leachates contaminated with hazardous organic chemicals.

Brian Maurer, Fisheries and Wildlife
42B Natural Resources
517-353-9478
maurerb@msu.edu
Expertise: Macroecology, Biogeography, Quantitative Ecology

Richard Merritt, Zoology
245 Natural Science
517-355-4665
merrittr@msu.edu
Expertise: Ecology, immature aquatic insects; feeding behavior of filter feeding aquatic insects, biomonitoring of streams and rivers

Joseph Messina, Geography
206 Geography Building
517-432-4752
jpm@msu.edu
Expertise: landscape and human ecology, landscape epidemiology, computational pattern metrics, computer simulations, and complexity theory.

Victoria McGuffin, Chemistry
318 Chemistry
517-355-9715x244
mcguffin@msu.edu
Expertise: theory and practice of capillary liquid chromatography and electrophoresis, particularly the direct on-column examination of retention and dispersion processes by laser-based techniques.

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N

Pat Noris, Department of Community, Agriculture, Recreation and Resource Studies
207 Natural Resources
517-432-4129
norrisp@msu.edu
Expertise: natural resource economics; natural resource policy; natural resource conservation.

William Northcott, Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering
218 Farrall Hall
517-432-7702
northco2@msu.edu
Expertise: Watershed Hydrology, Agricultural Drainage, Non-Point Source Pollution, Geographic Information Systems.

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P

Nigel Paneth, Human Medicine and Epidemiology
B636 W Fee Hall
517-353-8623x112
paneth@msu.edu
Expertise: causes and prevention of childhood neurodevelopmental handicap, especially cerebral palsy.

Scott Peacor, Fisheries & Wildlife
10D Natural Resources
517-353-1910
peacor@msu.edu
Expertise: the study of aquatic ecosystems and the development of mathematical frameworks to understand species interactions and their consequences to food web structure and dynamics

Hellen Pollard, Anthropology
E25 E McDonel Hall
517-353-3135
pollardh@msu.edu
Expertise: human ecology and the emergence and evolution of social, political and economic inequality.

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Q

Jiaguo Qi, Geography
208 Geography Bldg
517-432-4753
qi@msu.edu
Expertise: Application of remote sensing, GIS, and spatial analysis tools to natural resources management

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R

Dawn Reinhold, Biosystems Engineering
205 Farall Hall
517-432-7732
reinho17@msu.edu
Expertise: Wetlands, emerging contaminants, phytoremediation, ecological engineering

Joan Rose, Fisheries and Wildlife
13 Natural Resources Bldg
517-432-4412
rosejo@msu.edu
Expertise: Water quality, wastewater microbiology, public health.

Brian Roth, Fisheries and Wildlife
13 Natural Resources Bldg
517-353-7854
rothbri@msu.edu
Expertise: Aquatic food web ecology, trophic interactions between native and invasive species, spatially-explicit, fish, crayfish, lakes, bioenergetics

Robert Roth, Pharmacy and Toxicology and Food Safety/Toxicology
221 Food Safety
517-353-9841
rothr@msu.edu
Expertise: Mechanisms of lung and liver injury from toxic chemicals; role of blood neutrophils, platelets and coagulation in organ injury.

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S

Steven I. Safferman, Department of Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering
202 Farrall Hall
517-432-0812
517-432-2892
Safferma@msu.edu
Expertise: nutrient management

Tao Sang, Department of Plant Biology
237 Plant Biology
517-355-4689
sang@msu.edu
http://www.msu.edu/~sang
Expertise: rice, Oryza, annual, perennial, adaptation, genetics

Orlando Sarnelle, Department of Fisheries & Wildlife
163A Natural Resources Bldg.
517-353-4819
sarnelle@msu.edu
Expertise: algal toxins, plankton ecology, biological limnology

Kim Scribner, Department of Fisheries & Wildlife
13 Natural Resources Building
Phone: 517-353-3288
scribne3@msu.edu
Expertise: population ecology, ecological genetics, conservation biology, fish recruitment, fisheries management, aquaculture, landscape genetics, behavioral ecology

Pat Soranno, Department of Fisheries & Wildlife
9B Natural Resources Bldg.
517-432-4330
soranno@msu.edu
Expertise: (1) The effects of land use on lake nutrients and biological communities; (2) Development of a landscape-context paradigm for lake ecosystems; and (3) The application of a landscape-context paradigm to lake classification, assessment, and management.

R. Jan Stevenson, Zoology
203 Natural Science
517-432-8083
rjstev@msu.edu
Expertise: algal taxonomy and ecology to test ecological theory and to develop approaches for solving environmental problems.

Greg Swain, Chemistry
314 Chemistry
517-355-9715x229
swain@chemistry.msu.edu
Expertise: Analytical Chemistry and Materials Science; electroanalytical chemistry; electrochemical reaction mechanisms; new electrode materials; spectroscopic and microscopic probes of solid-liquid interfaces; flow injection analysis and separation science coupled with electrochemical detection.

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T

Xiaobo Tan, Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering
2120 Engineering Building
517-432-5671
xbtan@msu.edu
Expertise: Robotic fish, mobile sensing of aquatic environment, control of autonomous robots.

Volodymyr Tarabara, Environmental Engineering
A132 Engineering Research Complex
517-432-1755
tarabara@msu.edu
Expertise: physicochemical processes in environmental engineering, membrane-based separations, colloidal and interfacial phenomena

Brian Teppen, Crop and Soil Sciences
538 Plant and Soil Sciences
517-355-0271x1254
teppen@msu.edu
Expertise: soil chemist with a passion for understanding molecular-scale structures of soil colloids and their interfaces with environmental solutions.

James M.Tiedje, Crop and Soil Sciences
540E Plant and Soil Sciences
517-355-0271x1287
tiedjej@msu.edu
Expertise: understand the ecology, physiology and biochemistry of microbial processes important in nature and of value to industry.

Merritt Turetsky, Fisheries and Wildlife & Plant Biology
166 Plant Biology
517-353-5554
mrt@msu.edu
Expertise: mechanisms that regulate ecosystem development and long-term carbon sequestration, and ecosystem recovery from stresses and disturbances such as climate change, enhanced N deposition, and fire.

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U

Brad Upham, National Food Safety Center
243 Food Safety
517-432-4115
upham@msu.edu
Expertise: determining the cellular mechanisms by which nutrition, oxidative stress, and environmental & food borne contaminants affect cell proliferative, differentiation and apoptotic processes that ultimately cumulates into states of human diseases such as cancer.

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V

Remke L. van Dam, Geological Sciences
206 Natural Science
517-432-9177
rvd@msu.edu
Expertise: application and improvement of near-surface geophysical methods for hydrological and engineering problems, issues of environmental change, and archeology.

Tom Voice, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
A125 Engr Rsch Complex
517-353-9718
voice@msu.edu
Expertise: Environmental engineering; waste management.

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X

Irene Xagoraraki, Civil and Environmental Engineering
A136 Research Complex Engineering
517-353-8539
xagorara@egr.msu.edu
Expertise: Detection, removal and inactivation of emerging biological and
chemical contaminants in drinking water.

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W

Robert Walker, Geography
234 Geography Bldg
517-432-7058
rwalker@msu.edu
Expertise: Deforestation, GIS systems, environmental impacts

Thomas Whittam, National Food Safety Center
194 Food Safety
517-432-3100x178
whittam@msu.edu
Expertise: study of the genetic structure of natural populations of bacteria using molecular polymorphisms and the development of statistical methods for assessing recombination

Lois Wolfson, Institute of Water Research and Department of Fisheries & Wildlife
101 Manly Miles
517-353-9222
wolfson1@msu.edu
Expertise: Lake Ecology; lake management; wetlands ecology

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Y

Chengfeng Yang, Department of Physiology, Center for Integrative Toxicology
4171 Biomedical Physical Sciences, East
517-355-6475 x 1139
yangcf@msu.edu

Catherine Yansa, Geography
227 Geography Bldg
517-353-3910
yansa@msu.edu
Expertise: Quaternary paleoenvironments (paleobotany, specifically pollen and plant macrofossil analyses); plant geography; people-environment; paleoethnobotany.

Vince Young, Department of Internal Medicine/Infectious Diseases Division and Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics
B42 Food Safety
517-432-3100x118
youngvi@msu.edu
Expertise: role of what would traditionally be considered "pathogenic bacteria" in gastrointestinal illness.

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