Blow up your Black Box: Integrating Microbial Genetics and Engineering to Address Environmental Challenges

The role of microbes in environmental processes has traditionally been described through rudimentary stoichiometric relationships and enzyme-based kinetic models.  The integration of molecular biology into environmental research is changing this paradigm. Now, the complexity of microbial systems can be explored and quantified through DNA sequence-based methods. This talk will provide three environmentally-relevant examples, from indoor air and health, to natural waters that produce greenhouse gases, to engineered water treatment systems, where the integration of molecular biology with engineering has resulted in tangible improvements to human and environmental health.

Dr. Jordan Peccia is the Thomas E. Golden Professor of Environmental Engineering at Yale University and the Head of Yale’s Benjamin Franklin College. His research integrates genetics, engineering, and public health to study indoor and outdoor human exposures to bacteria, fungi, and viruses. Peccia is a member of the Connecticut Academy of Science and Engineering and is the founding chair of the Gordon Research Conference: Microbiology of the Built Environment. He earned his PhD in environmental engineering from the University of Colorado.