CENS Technical Seminar Series

Environmental monitoring and study applications for embedded physiochemical and microbiological sensors

powerpoint slides (pdf)

Invited Speaker: Christine Lee, Civil and Environmental Engineering, UCLA
Date: December 14, 2007
Time: 1:00 PM - 2:00 PM
Venue: 4760 Boelter Hall, UCLA

Abstract

I will be presenting two different environmental engineering applications for embedded, distributed or novel sensors. The first application I will talk about is how multiple and distributed physical and chemical sensors have contributed greatly to our understanding of arsenic mobilization in groundwater at our field site in a rural Bangladeshi village. Next, I will talk about a rapid biosensor that can measure microbiological parameters in marine systems in less than one hour, allowing for greater density of samples that can quickly measure and reflect temporal changes in pathogen indicators in these systems. Both applications are motivated by important public health issues. Certain arsenic compounds act as a potent neurotoxin, which has contaminated the drinking and irrigation water for millions of people in Bangladesh. The rapid detection of pathogen indicators has its immediate use in safeguarding beachgoers, particularly in such a coastal-city state such as California. This method also has important research and future applications in that it can be customizable to different types and strains of bacteria and/or used for detection in drinking water.

Biography

Christine is a PhD student in the Civil and Environmental Engineering Department at University of California, Los Angeles. She intends to minor in Environmental Health Sciences and Urban Planning. She works primarily in environmental engineering laboratory under the direction of Professor Jenny Jay. Christine did her undergraduate work at UCLA and received a BS in Chemical Engineering and an MS in Civil and Environmental Engineering. Christine's interest in studying and mediating impact on the environment extends to her personal and extracurricular life, where she enjoys embarking on different environment or service-related projects.