As an academic, I take both my research and teaching obligations very seriously. I strive to positively challenge each and every student at both the graduate and undergraduate level in a variety of fields, including environmental engineering, microbiology, as well as “Sustainable Cities”. In the past 20 years, I have taught 8 different classes, including introducing 5 of these. Currently, I teach the following courses on a regular basis, as well as independent studies for both undergraduate and graduate students.
• CEE 365: Environmental Engineering Principles (4 Credits)
The second of a three-course series on environmental engineering in the undergraduate curriculum. Course topics include an introduction to mass balance modeling of contaminant fate, transport and removal in the environment; commonly used reactor configurations for water and air quality control; partitioning of contaminants among environmental media; contaminant types and sources; regional and global contemporary environmental issues.
• ENVIRON 407/CEE 307: Sustainable Cities (3 Credits)
Achieving the goal of sustainable urban environments requires an interdisciplinary, systems level approach to ensure that important issues are accurately identified and resolved to create urban environments that are both environmentally and economically viable. Achieving such a goal requires that the interests of multiple stakeholders are met, including citizens, industries and developers. This undergraduate course discusses how multiple disciplines can be integrated to identify and discuss this broad goal, including law, public health, engineering, finance, communication, land planning, and construction.
• CEE 482/582: Environmental Microbiology (3 credits)
This course, taken by seniors and first-year graduate students, focuses on microbial metabolism and phylogeny, thermodynamics, evolution, and microbial ecology. Emphasis is placed on the application of these concepts to environmental biotechnology.
• CEE 693: Environmental Molecular Biology (3 Credits)
This graduate level course focuses on the principles and techniques of molecular biology with an emphasis on genetic analysis of novel enzymatic. Topics include, but are not limited to: (1) genetic systems and gene probing in unusual prokaryotes; (2) use of molecular biological techniques for the enumeration and characterization of natural microbial communities, and; (3) biochemistry and kinetics of different enzymatic systems potentially useful in various industrial and environmental applications.