Kelly Reynolds, PhD is Professor and Chair of the Department of Community, Environment and Policy; Director of the Environment, Exposure Science and Risk Assessment Center (ESRAC) at the University of Arizona. Since 1990, Dr. Reynolds has worked as a researcher and public health educator in environmental science, specializing in water quality, food safety, and disease transmission. Her extensive experience in those research areas includes her role as a Principal Investigator of numerous projects and the publication of hundreds of journal articles, book chapters, and professional reports. Dr. Reynolds is working on several projects, including one in which she joins UA engineers to apply lasers to detect human viruses in drinking water. This type of technology would not only expedite the process of discovering water-borne viruses, but it could detect viruses that were previously undetectable. Between 1971 and 2000 in the United States, water-borne pathogens resulted in nearly 600,000 cases of illness. Dr. Reynolds suspects that millions of cases were undocumented because people who were affected suffered relatively minor symptoms. She is also the Principal Investigator of two other projects, which look for contaminants in the water supply and in the home. In the water study, Dr. Reynolds aims to assess the risk of tap water by analyzing the types of disease-causing organisms captured in the filters of water vending machines. In the home hygiene study, Dr. Reynolds is monitoring the Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) in the home by identifying the bacteria's survival in soft surfaces, including carpets and towels. The MRSA bacteria could cause severe skin infections and result in hospitalizations, or rarely death. Dr. Reynolds hopes that her research yields information that people will use in order to reduce their risk of illness. "From a scientist's point of view, we can continue to develop and improve methods to identify hazards," she said. But that information only goes so far if the public doesn't actively participate in reducing their exposure.