Biography

Dr. Michael Dodd is an Associate Professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and an Adjunct Associate Professor in the Department of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences at the University of Washington. He received a B.S. in Civil Engineering (2001) and M.S. in Environmental Engineering (2003) from the Georgia Institute of Technology, Ph.D. in Environmental Sciences from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich (2008), and was a postdoctoral fellow in the Environmental Engineering Program of Yale University from 2008-2009, prior to beginning his appointment at the UW in 2009. Dr. Dodd’s research interests focus on the characterization of chemical and photochemical redox processes in engineered and natural aquatic systems, particularly with regard to their application in optimizing pollutant and pathogen elimination during water and wastewater treatment. Dr. Dodd has received a number of honors for his work, including an NSF CAREER Award, the CH2M Hill/AEESP Outstanding Doctoral Dissertation Award from the Association of Environmental Engineering and Science Professors, the ETH Medal from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology-Zurich, and Excellence in Review and Outstanding Reviewer awards from Environmental Science and Technology and the ASCE Journal of Environmental Engineering.

Dr. Dodd also oversees the K-12 outreach program, WaterWorks, an NSF-sponsored environmental engineering workshop series hosted at the UW each summer during the second half of August. This free program is open to Seattle-area high school STEM teachers and 11th-12th grade students, and consists of a 1-week workshop for teachers and a 1-week workshop for students - each designed to introduce participants to various aspects of water supply and treatment through a mix of labs, lectures, and field trips. A major aim of the teacher workshop is to assist participants in developing instructional resources focused on water and environmental science/engineering principles for use in high school STEM classes. Additional details on the program (including application forms and resources from prior year workshops) are available at: http://faculty.washington.edu/doddm/Personal/WaterWorks.html

Education

• Ph.D. in Environmental Sciences, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology-Zurich (ETH-Zurich); Zurich, Switzerland, 2008
• M.S. in Environmental Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology; Atlanta, GA, 2003
• B.S. in Civil Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology; Atlanta, GA, 2001

Previous appointments

• Assistant Professor, University of Washington, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Seattle, WA (USA) (9/09 – 9/15)

Research Statement

Our research addresses the characterization of chemical and photochemical redox processes in engineered and natural aquatic systems, particularly with regard to their application in optimizing pollutant and pathogen elimination during water and wastewater treatment. Focus areas include elucidating and modeling the behavior of chemical and microbiological contaminants during chemical oxidation and disinfection processes, developing assays to quantify the impacts of such processes on contaminants’ chemical and biological properties and effects, and engineering novel approaches to centralized and decentralized water treatment.

Honors & awards

• Outstanding Reviewer Award; 2013; Journal of Environmental Engineering, American Society of Civil Engineers
• Adviser to recipient of 2013 MWH/AEESP Master’s Thesis Award (1st Place) – MS graduate Jenna Forsyth
• NSF CAREER Award (2012-2017); Awarded 2012; US NSF
• Outstanding Teacher Award; 2012; University of Washington Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
• ETH Medal; 2010; Swiss Federal Institute of Technology-Zurich (ETH-Zurich) (awarded to the top 8% of PhD dissertations completed at ETH-Zurich each year)
• Young Scientist Award; 2009; German Chemical Society, Division for Environmental Chemistry and Ecotoxicology
• CH2M Hill/AEESP Outstanding Doctoral Dissertation Award; 2009; Association of Environmental Engineering and Science Professors
• Excellence in Review Award; 2006; Environmental Science & Technology, American Chemical Society
• Outstanding M.S. Thesis; 2003; School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology
• Gaylord Donnelley Environmental Postdoctoral Fellowship (2008-2009); Awarded 2008; Yale Institute for Biospheric Studies
• Graduate Research Fellowship (2003-2006); Awarded 2002; US NSF
• Science to Achieve Results (STAR) Fellowship (2001-2003); Awarded 2001; US EPA
• Georgia Tech Institute Fellowship (2001-2003); Awarded 2001; Georgia Tech Foundation, Inc.

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