About

As of November 2009 I am an  Aquaculture Project Director at the Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future (CLF). My current research at CLF addresses industrial food animal production from the sea (i.e. aquaculture) and its potential impacts on human health and the environment.  My interest in aquaculture began as a crabber, and an oyster and clam gardener growing up on a tributary of the Chesapeake Bay in Virginia. My research background is in public health microbiology, water quality, and shellfish safety, which is furthered by a deep appreciation for the complex interactions between oceans and human health.

Image from the CLF website

From 2008-2009 I was postdoc in the Civil and Environmental Engineering Department at UC Berkeley (Nelson Lab). My work related to the spread of infectious microbial diseases in water and waste. Research projects I was involved in at Berkeley include tertiary rapid sand filtration of wastewater for reuse on farms in California; and swimmer health, water pollution and the role of UV/sunlight to kill microbes at Doheny Beach, CA and Avalon, CA– two of the most polluted beaches in CA.

Fluorescent microscopy image of SYBR Gold stained bacteria (rods) and viruses (points) attached to a particle in primary treated wastewater. The image is roughly 10 um across.