Soil Water Enviro Sci-Res

Ian L Pepper

Professor, Environmental Science-Ext
Professor, Public Health
Director, National Science Foundation Water Environmental Technology Center
Professor, Agricultural-Biosystems Engineering
Professor, BIO5 Institute
Primary Department
Department Affiliations
Contact
(520) 626-2322

Research Interest

Dr. Pepper is an environmental microbiologist whose research has focused on the fate and transport of pathogens in air, water, soils and municipal wastes. More recently he has investigated the potential for real-time detection of contaminants in water distribution systems. He also teaches a graduate level laboratory class on Environmental Microbiology, and an undergraduate class on Pollution Science. His latest adventure is the development of the Water and Energy Sustainable Technology Center (WEST), a new 22000 square foot laboratory complex which focuses on the water:energy nexus.

Raina Margaret Maier

Professor, Environmental Science
Professor, Pharmaceutical Sciences
Professor, Pharmacology and Toxicology
Professor, BIO5 Institute
Primary Department
Department Affiliations
Contact
(520) 621-7231

Research Interest

Raina M Maier, PhD, is a Professor of Environmental Microbiology in the Department of Soil, Water and Environmental Science and Director of the University of Arizona NIEHS Superfund Research Program. She also serves as Director of the University of Arizona Center for Environmentally Sustainable Mining and as Deputy Director of the TRIF Water Sustainability Program. Dr. Maier is internationally known for her work on microbial surfactants (biosurfactants) including discovery of a new class of biosurfactants and of novel applications for these unique materials in remediation and green technologies. She is also recognized for her work on the relationships between microbial diversity and ecosystem function in oligotrophic environments such as carbonate caves, the Atacama desert, and mine tailings. Dr. Maier has published over 100 original research papers, authored 23 book chapters, and holds a patent on the use of biosurfactants to control zoosporic plant pathogens. She is the lead author on the textbook “Environmental Microbiology” currently in its second edition.Dr. Maier emphasizes a multidisciplinary approach to her work and has served as PI or co-PI on several large granting efforts including the UA NIEHS Superfund Research Program, the UA NSF Kartchner Caverns Microbial Observatory, and the UA NSF Collaborative Research in Chemistry grant on biosurfactants.

Paul Carini

Associate Professor, Soil / Subsurface Microbial Ecology
Associate Professor, School of Plant Sciences
Associate Professor, Genetics - GIDP
Associate Professor, BIO5 Institute
Member of the General Faculty
Member of the Graduate Faculty
Primary Department
Department Affiliations
Contact
(520) 621-1646

Work Summary

We investigate the myriad of ways microbes living in the wild (soil, water and air) affect Earth processes and our health.

Research Interest

The Carini lab is focused on understanding how microbes help make Earth habitable for humans. This view leads us to diverse questions in both terrestrial and aquatic environments with the goal of understanding how microbial communities transform important nutrients, remove pollutants, affect soil fertility and influence aquatic productivity. By studying the growth of microbial cultures, their genome sequences and their environmental distributions, we design experiments that help uncover new and unusual biogeochemical cycles and provide hypothesis-based explanations for long standing geochemical observations. Keywords: Microbial ecology, environmental microbiology, microbiome, soil microbiology, microbial oceanography

Albert Barberan

Associate Professor, Earth Microbiome
Assistant Professor, Natural Resources and the Environment
Assistant Professor, BIO5 Institute
Member of the General Faculty
Member of the Graduate Faculty
Primary Department
Department Affiliations
Contact
(520) 621-1646

Research Interest

A more complete understanding of microbial processes and patterns is essential in order to understand the relationships among ecosystem functions, global change, and management of natural and working landscapes. Our research focuses on bridging the gap between the disciplines of general ecology and microbial ecology by analyzing large and complex molecular datasets.