Applying principles of microbiology, data science, and statistics to protect public health and the environment
We aim to characterize microbial community dynamics, occurrence, and persistence in the engineered water cycle and apply these data to protect public health and wellbeing as well as the environment.
Shifts in microbial community composition can occur because of local or site-to-site variations or system-scale changes that affect the whole distribution system. Intentional disturbances from drinking water treatment facility operations improve water quality in the long-term, but can have unintended consequences. The goal of this project is to investigate the effect of disturbances on microbial communities in distribution systems and inform management practices.
Advanced-treated wastewater can be used as a source of drinking water through direct potable reuse. WBE can help ensure ingestion of recycled water does not result in increased enteric diseases in the contributing community. The goal of this project is to quantify and compare pathogen occurrence in the engineered water cycle for communities with direct, indirect, and de facto potable reuse, and develop a inform monitoring strategies for potable reuse.
Enteric viruses in the engineered water cycle are generally quantified via culture methods or molecular methods. While culture methods are ideal for quantifying infectious viruses, molecular methods are still commonly used because they tend to have higher sensitivity and faster turnaround times and not all viruses are easily culturable. The goal of this project is to develop and evaluate molecular methods to assess enteric virus inactivation mechanisms and persistence in the engineered water cycle.
Enhanced methods of microbial assessment include methods for microbial abundance (e.g., flow cytometry-based cell counts), microbial community composition (e.g., DNA sequencing), and specific microbial targets (e.g., qPCR). The goal of this project is to combine high resolution enhanced microbial assessment data along with physicochemical water quality data and machine learning could aid in early identification of common issues in water systems.
Publications last scraped from Google Scholar for Lauren C Kennedy in January 2024
*authors contributed equally to the work
LC Kennedy, SA Lowry, AB Boehm
(2024). Environmental Science: Processes & Impacts
EMG Chan, LC Kennedy, MK Wolfe, AB Boehm
(2023). PLOS Water
LC Kennedy, VP Costantini, KA Huynh, SK Loeb, WC Jennings, S Lowry, ...
(2023). Environmental Science & Technology 57 (9), 3671-3679
LC Kennedy*, SE Miller*, RS Kantor, HD Greenwald, MJ Adelman, ...
(2023). Environmental Science: Water Research & Technology
S Miller, H Greenwald, LC Kennedy, RS Kantor, R Jiang, A Pisarenko, ...
(2022). ACS Es&t Engineering 2 (12), 2206-2219
H Greenwald, LC Kennedy, A Ehde, Y Duan, CI Olivares, R Kantor, ...
(2022). Frontiers in Water 4, 958523
AT Yu, B Hughes, MK Wolfe, T Leon, D Duong, A Rabe, LC Kennedy, ...
(2022). Emerging Infectious Diseases 28 (5), 940-947
RS Kantor, HD Greenwald, LC Kennedy, A Hinkle, S Harris-Lovett, ...
(2022). PLOS Water 1 (2), e0000007
K Dowdell, H Greenwald, S Joshi, M Grimard-Conea, S Pitell, Y Song, ...
(2022).
A Hinkle, HD Greenwald, M Metzger, M Thornton, LC Kennedy, K Loomis, ...
(2022). medRxiv, 2022.06. 15.22276459
S Kim, LC Kennedy, MK Wolfe, CS Criddle, DH Duong, A Topol, BJ White, ...
(2022). Environmental Science: Water Research & Technology 8 (4), 757-770
HD Greenwald*, LC Kennedy*, A Hinkle, ON Whitney, VB Fan, ...
(2021). Water Research X 12, 100111
ON Whitney, LC Kennedy, VB Fan, A Hinkle, R Kantor, H Greenwald, ...
(2021). Environmental science & technology 55 (8), 4880-4888
RS Kantor, KL Nelson, HD Greenwald, LC Kennedy
(2021). Environmental Science & Technology 55 (6), 3514-3519
A Crits-Christoph, RS Kantor, MR Olm, ON Whitney, B Al-Shayeb, YC Lou, ...
(2021). MBio 12 (1), e02703-20
LC Kennedy, SE Miller, RS Kantor, KL Nelson
(2021). Environmental Science: Water Research & Technology 7 (1), 78-92
MB Leddy, MH Plumlee, RS Kantor, KL Nelson, SE Miller, LC Kennedy, ...
(2018). Water Innov, 33-37
C Ye, L Kennedy, K Shirk, UM Córdova-Figueroa, J Youngblood, ...
(2015). Green Materials 3 (1), 25-34
Dr. Lauren Kennedy is recruiting Civil and Environmental Engineering candidates for fully-funded PhD student positions in Fall 2024. The Kennedy Water Lab aims to characterize microbial community dynamics, occurrence, and persistence in the engineered water cycle, and apply these data to protect public health and wellbeing as well as the environment. Ideal candidates are interested in microorganisms in the engineered water cycle, and particularly potable reuse. El Paso, TX is on track to build the first full-scale treated water augmentation system (also called direct-to-distribution direct potable reuse) in the United States. Our research group frequently collaborates with this water utility, El Paso Water, to apply our research findings.
Applicants should submit the following to Dr. Kennedy by March 31st:
The review of applications will begin immediately and continue until the positions are filled. Applicants also need to submit the required materials to the Civil Engineering program at The University of Texas at El Paso.
Please contact Dr. Kennedy if you have any questions.