The Dean's Luncheon is an opportunity for alumni to come together in celebration of the school’s great history and alumni accomplishments as well as to network, reminisce, and engage in mindful discussion about the future of our institution. A special tribute honoring the Class of 1966 will also take place. Members will be welcomed into the Golden Jubilee Society and receive their Certificates of Induction from Dean Katepalli R. Sreenivasan.
Alumni and their guests will hear an update from the dean and remarks by one of our newest faculty members, Andrea Silverman. Her talk is titled, Sunlight disinfection of waterborne pathogens: Modeling inactivation rates for the improved design of natural wastewater treatment systems.
Presentation Overview
Natural wastewater treatment systems, including wastewater treatment ponds and constructed wetlands, are used globally for treatment of domestic sewage and polishing of wastewater treatment plant effluent. Sunlight disinfection is the dominant mode of inactivation of viruses and bacteria in these systems, and has additional important and far-reaching applications, including microbial ecology of sunlit surface waters, recreational water quality, and the fate of microbial fecal markers in the environment. The goals of this work were to determine the mechanisms and rates of inactivation of human viruses, bacteriophages, and bacteria in natural waters and wastewater, and develop new numerical models for predicting sunlight inactivation rates. Improved inactivation rate models are important tools for optimizing natural wastewater treatment systems to promote disinfection, and designing systems that meet health-related treatment objectives.
Andrea Silverman
Assistant Professor, Department of Civil and Urban Engineering at the NYU Tandon School of Engineering, and the Department of Environmental Health Sciences at the NYU College of Global Public Health.
The overarching goal of Dr. Silverman’s work is to develop sustainable and appropriate wastewater treatment systems, in an effort to protect public and environmental health. Within the broad topics of water quality and wastewater treatment, she focuses on the detection and control of waterborne pathogens, the design of natural wastewater treatment systems, and the safe reuse of human waste. Dr. Silverman works in both high- and low-income settings, and has conducted field research in California, USA; Accra, Ghana; and Nairobi, Kenya.
Price: $20.00