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Engineering
COLLEGE OF ARTS AND SCIENCES
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Evan O'Brien, PhD

Instructor

Dr. Evan P. O'Brien is an adjunct professor in Engineering with a specialization in the field of environmental engineering. Dr. O'Brien received his BS in Nuclear Engineering from The Pennsylvania State University in 2011 and his MS and Ph.D. in Environmental Engineering from Michigan State University in 2014 and 2018 respectively. After receiving his graduate degrees, he worked as a postdoctoral researcher in the Civil, Materials, and Environmental Engineering Department at the University of Illinois Chicago.

Research Interests

Dr. O'Brien's research interests include the areas of water and wastewater treatment, the detection, identification, and removal of pathogens in wastewater and environmental samples, and the intersection of public health and the environment. His graduate research included pioneering studies in the field of wastewater epidemiology for the identification and prediction of viral disease outbreaks, a methodology now widely applied following the COVID-19 pandemic.

Publications/Research Listings

O'Brien, Evan P.; Mondal, Karabi; Chen, Chien-Chia; Hanley, Luke; Drummond, James L.; Rockne, Karl J. “Relationships between composite roughness and Streptococcus mutans biofilm depth under shear in vitro.” Journal of Dentistry. (2023). 134: 104535.

O'Brien, Evan and Xagoraraki, Irene. "Removal of Viruses in Membrane Bioreactors." Journal of Environmental Engineering. (2020). 146: 03120007.

Xagoraraki, Irene and O’Brien, Evan. Book Chapter: “Wastewater-Based-Epidemiology for Early Detection of Viral Outbreaks” in Women in Water Quality (ed. O’Bannon, D. J.). Springer International Publishing. (2020). 75–97.

O’Brien, Evan and Xagoraraki, Irene. “A water-focused one-health approach for early detection and prevention of viral outbreaks”. One Health. (2019). 7: 100094.

O’Brien, Evan; Nakyazze, Joyce; Wu, Huiyun; Kiwanuka, Noah; Cunningham, William; Kaneene, John B.; Xagoraraki, Irene. “Viral Diversity and Abundance in Polluted Waters in Kampala, Uganda”. Water Research. (2017). 127: 41-49.