Kristen L. Jellison Associate Professor Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering STEPS Building Lehigh University 1 West Packer Avenue Bethlehem, Pennsylvania 18015 Phone:(610) 758-3555 Email: kjellison@lehigh.edu

Education:

• Ph.D. Civil and Environmental Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2003
• B.S. Civil and Environmental Engineering, Cornell University, 1997

  Awards and Honors:

• Lindbergh Foundation Grant, 2010-2011
• National Science Foundation CAREER Award, 2006-2010
• P.C. Rossin Assistant Professorship, 2003-2005
• American Water Works Association Academic Achievement Award for Best Doctoral Dissertation - Second Place, 2004
• Environmental Protection Agency Science to Achieve Results (STAR) Graduate Research Fellowship, 2000-2003
• National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship, 1997-2000

Research Interests:

The driving force behind my research is the control of waterborne disease transmission from both watershed protection and drinking water treatment perspectives.  Slow sand filtration is a water treatment option attractive for rural communities and developing countries because it is reliable, affordable, and requires minimal maintenance.  However, each filter run requires a ripening period during which filter effluent must be either wasted or recycled back for refiltration until the filter produces water that meets drinking water standards.  I am interested in making slow sand filtration more efficient, economical, and practical by using non-traditional media and media modifiers to enhance filter ripening and delay the onset of filter clogging.

Control of waterborne disease through a better understanding of pathogen ecology is a related research interest. Cryptosporidium parvum is a human and animal parasite responsible for an acute gastrointestinal disease that is self-limiting for otherwise healthy people but prolonged and life-threatening for the immunocompromised population.  Cryptosporidium spp. oocysts are a challenge to remove from drinking water supplies because they are resistant to chlorine disinfection and too small to effectively filter.  I have completed lengthy environmental studies tracking Cryptosporidium spp. oocysts in the Wachusett Reservoir watershed in central Massachusetts (the drinking water source for Boston and surrounding municipalities) to identify sources and species of Cryptosporidium oocysts as well as any seasonal trends associated with Cryptosporidium spp. presence.  I have shown that multiple species and genotypes of Cryptosporidium are present in the watershed, and because not all species cause disease in humans, this finding supports the need for species-specific detection methods to assess the potential health risks of Cryptosporidium spp. presence in the environment.  In addition, my work has shown that geese are an important source of Cryptosporidium spp. oocysts, particularly in agricultural areas.  I have identified novel 18S rRNA genotypes of Cryptosporidium spp. in geese, revealing more extensive parasite diversity in the environment than was initially reported.  The goal of my work is to provide a greater understanding of the environmental behavior of Cryptosporidium spp. oocysts so that watershed management can minimize public exposure to this waterborne pathogen.

Courses:

• Engineering 5: Freshman Design Experience
  • Read about the Fall 2003 Innovative Water Filtration Design Project
• CEE 12: Civil Engineering Statistics
• CEE 170: Introduction to Environmental Engineering
• CEE 275: Environmental, Geotechnics, and Hydraulics Laboratory
• CEE 379: Environmental Case Studies
• CEE 476: Environmental Biotechnology

Related Educational Activities:

• Engineers Without Borders/Students for Sustainable Development

In summer 2005, I travelled to Pueblo Nuevo, Honduras to assess a potential Lehigh University project to improve the water supply and sanitation systems for this rural village. Meetings with the local doctor, educational leaders, and the town mayor identified a need and a desire on the part of the local community to work with Lehigh University students on designing and implementing these improvements. In Fall 2005, we started a Lehigh University Chapter of Engineers Without Borders-USA within the broader Lehigh University student organization Students for Sustainable Development (check out our website) . Our goal is to work in multi-disciplinary teams to provide a safe drinking water supply for the community of Pueblo Nuevo. To read more about our project, see the article published in December 2005 in Lehigh Engineering News.

• SummerCHOICES:

SummerCHOICES (Charting Horizons and Opportunities in Careers in Engineering and Science) is an engineering summer camp for middle school girls. I lead a hands-on environmental engineering project in which students learn about the global importance of safe water and sanitation and the processes involved in drinking water treatment, and then create drinking water from muddy water by applying their knowlege in the laboratory. This project has been fun and eye-opening for the students who have participated! For more information on the summer camp, visit the SummerCHOICES website or read the article published about SummerCHOICES 2004 in Lehigh Engineering News.

Professional Society Memberships:

• American Society for Microbiology (ASM)
• American Water Works Association (AWWA)
• American Chemical Society (ACS)
• American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)
• Association of Environmental Engineering and Science Professors (AEESP)

Publications:

• Lantagne, D., Preston, K., Blanton, E., Kotlarz, N., Gezagehn, H., van Dusen, E., Berens, J., and Jellison, K. (2011) Sodium hypochlorite expiry and stability in household water treatment in developing countries. ASCE Journal of Environmental Engineering 137(2): 131-136.
• Lantagne, D., Klarman, M., Mayer, A., Preston, K., Napotnik, J., and Jellison, K. (2010) Effect of production variables on microbiological removal in locally-produced ceramic filters for household water treatment. International Journal of Environmental Health Research 20(3): 171-187.
• Wolyniak, E.A., Hargreaves, B.R., and Jellison, K.L. (2010) Seasonal retention and release of Cryptosporidium parvum oocysts by environmental biofilms in the laboratory. Applied and Environmental Microbiology 76(4): 1021-1027.
• Preston, K., Lantagne, D., Kotlarz, N., and Jellison, K. (2010) Turbidity and chlorine demand reduction using alum and moringa flocculation before household chlorination in developing countries. Journal of Water and Health 8(1): 60-70.
• Jellison, K. (2010) Canada geese: Tranquil symbol of the wild or pathogen carrier? Opflow August 2010: 16-18.
• Wolyniak, E.A., Hargreaves, B.R., and Jellison, K.L. (2009) Retention and release of Cryptosporidium parvum oocysts by experimental biofilms composed of a natural stream microbial community. Applied and Environmental Microbiology 75(13): 4624-4626.
• Jellison, K.L., Lynch, A.E., and Ziemann, J.M. (2009) Source tracking identifies deer and geese as vectors of human-infectious Cryptosporidium genotypes in an urban/suburban watershed. Environmental Science and Technology 43(12): 4267-4272.
• Kotlarz, N., Lantagne, D., Preston, K., and Jellison, K.L. (2009) Turbidity and chlorine demand reduction using locally available physical water clarification mechanisms before household chlorination in developing countries. Journal of Water and Health 7(3): 497-506.
• Connelly, S.J., Wolyniak, E.A., Williamson, C.E., and Jellison, K.L. (2007) Artificial UV-B and solar radiation reduce in vitro infectivity of the human pathogen Cryptosporidium parvum. Environmental Science and Technology 41(20): 7101-7106.
• Connelly, S.J., Wolyniak, E.A., Dieter, K.L., Williamson, C.E., and Jellison, K.L. (2007) Impact of zooplankton grazing on the excystation, viability, or infectivity of the protozoan pathogens Cryptosporidium parvum and Giardia lamblia. Applied and Environmental Microbiology 73(22): 7277-7282.
• Grudzinski-Hall, M., Jellison, K.L., Stewart-Gambino, H., Weisman R. (2007) Engineering students in a global world: Lehigh University's Global Citizenship Program. Online Journal for Global Engineering Education 2(1): Article 1.
• Jellison, K. L., Distel, D. L., Hemond, H. F., and Schauer, D. B. (2007) Phylogenetic analysis implicates birds as a source of Cryptosporidium spp. oocysts in agricultural watersheds. Environmental Science and Technology, in press. (See news release about this publication)
• Jellison, K. L., Distel, D. L., Hemond, H. F., and Schauer, D. B. (2004). Phylogenetic analysis of the hypervariable region of the 18S rRNA gene of Cryptosporidium spp. oocysts in the feces of Canada geese (Branta canadensis): evidence for five novel genotypes. Applied and Environmental Microbiology 70(1): 452-458.
• Jellison, K. L., Hemond, H. F., and Schauer, D. B. (2002). Sources and species of Cryptosporidium oocysts in the Wachusett Reservoir Watershed. Applied and Environmental Microbiology 68(2): 569-575.
• Jellison, K.L., Dick, R. I., and Weber-Shirk, M. L. (2000). Enhanced ripening of slow sand filters. ASCE Journal of Environmental Engineering 126(12): 1153-1157.