Environmental Engineering for Pathogen Control

Wednesday, January 28, 2026

2:30 PM-4:00 PM

BIOMED Seminar

Title:
Environmental Engineering for Pathogen Control

Speaker:
Charles Haas, PhD
LD Betz Professor of Environmental Engineering
Department of Civil, Architectural, and Environmental Engineering
College of Engineering
Drexel University

Details:
Environmental engineering (EnvE) can be viewed as a discipline focused on designing solutions to reduce risks from exposures of humans and the ecosystem to adverse contaminants. I define “environmental engineering for pathogen control” to be the particularization of this when the contaminants of interest are disease causing organisms and when exposure can be mitigated by environmental interventions. Three broad paradigms in EnvE are applicable—the source-transport-receptor concept, the concept of intervention by (perhaps a series of) unit processes, and the concepts of risk assessment. I will highlight the unique features of pathogens in the environment which require the incorporation of new concepts. Illustrations from my work and those of others as applied to protection of human health from microorganisms in water, food, on surfaces and in air will be presented. Timely current interests include control of Legionella and understanding the role of environmental controls in mitigating risks from SARS-CoV-2. Research needs to improve our understanding and ability to improve public health will be outlined.

Biosketch:
Charles N. Haas, PhD, s the L.D. Betz Professor of Environmental Engineering, and Distinguished Professor at Drexel University, where he has been since 1991. He was also Head of the Department of Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering from 2004-2020. He received his BS (Biology) and MS (Environmental Engineering) from the Illinois Institute of Technology and his PhD in Environmental Engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He has served on the faculties of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and the Illinois Institute of Technology prior to joining Drexel. He co-directed the USEPA/DHS University Cooperative Center of Excellence – Center for Advancing Microbial Risk Assessment (CAMRA). He is a distinguished fellow of the International Water Association, and a fellow of the American Academy for the Advancement of Science, the Society for Risk Analysis, the American Society of Civil Engineers the American Academy of Microbiology and the Association of Environmental Engineering and Science Professors. 

Professor Haas is a Board Certified Environmental Engineering Member by eminence of the American Academy of Environmental Engineers and Scientists. He has received the Dr. John Leal Award and the AP Black Award of the American Water Works Association and the Clarke Water Prize. In 2021, he was elected to the National Academy of Engineering. Over his career, Professor Haas has specialized in the assessment of risk from and control of human exposure to pathogenic microorganisms, and in particular the treatment of water and wastewater to minimize microbial risk to human health. Professor Haas has served on numerous panels of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine. He is a past member of the Water Science and Technology Board of the National Academies, and the US EPA Board of Scientific Counselors. He is President-Elect of the American Academy of Environmental Engineers and Scientists.

Contact Information

Carolyn Riley
cr63@drexel.edu