Research interests are focused on areas of relevance to human and environmental health including: (i) pathogen exposure assessment as part of the microbial risk assessment approach for qualitative and/or quantitative evaluation of the likely intake of water- and foodborne microbial contaminants (viruses, bacteria and protozoan parasites); (ii) reduction of viruses, viral surrogates and protozoan parasites by advanced wastewater treatment processes (integrated membrane processes, advanced oxidation processes, ultraviolet disinfection) for potable and non-potable reuse applications; (iii) microbial and chemical source tracking (MST) to determine the source(s) of fecal contamination in waters for supply, agricultural irrigation, and recreation in combination with pathogen exposure assessment for evaluating health risks; (iv) metagenomic virome analysis for unbiased detection and characterization of all viruses in environmental matrices as a mean to understand virus diversity, frequency, fate, and distribution in the environment, (v) innovative approaches such as flow cytometry and inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) for rapid and sensitive detection of microbial pathogens in low-level contamination environmental scenarios including agricultural waters and highly treated wastewater or underground sources of drinking water supplemented or not with recycled water. Majors: Environmental Science Microbiology Chemical Engineering Environmental Engineering Public Health