THE WATER INNOVATION & REUSE LAB
Department of Civil Construction & Environmental Engineering
San Diego State University

WIRLab trains and mentors undergraduate and graduate students from diverse groups to take on environmental challenges in water scarce environments by conducting research on sustainable water and sanitation technologies and biogeochemical processes in natural and engineered systems. Current projects investigate the transformation and persistence of emerging chemicals in anaerobic and aerobic decentralized water reuse systems, sources of anthropogenic contaminants in urban rivers,  water quality response to stream restoration, the fate of microplastics in the environment, and rapid fluorescence-based tracking of organic contaminants in source waters, streams, and groundwater.
WIRLab is led by Dr. Natalie Mladenov, Associate Professor and William E. Leonhard Jr. Chair in the Department of Civil, Construction, & Environmental Engineering at SDSU.
Please contact Dr. Mladenov (at nmladenov @ sdsu.edu) or stop by E404 for a tour.
Kumeyaay Land Acknowledgement
For millennia, the Kumeyaay people have been a part of this land. This land has nourished, healed, protected and embraced them for many generations in a relationship of balance and harmony. As members of the San Diego State University community, we acknowledge this legacy. We promote this balance and harmony. We find inspiration from this land, the land of the Kumeyaay.
San Diego River Studies
WIRLab's collaborative research with the Safe Water Lab, Disturbance Hydrology Lab, and Public Health at SDSU, reveals that leaky sewers have a major influence on stormwater quality in the San Diego River and that waste associated with homeless encampments is less of a contributor, but not negligible. For more information, please see the Executive Report, which summarizes our findings, and the Final Report, which includes detailed results.

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Check out Lauren and Fed's WIRLab
outreach video!
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Stephanie and Lauren install
outside-in ultrafiltration membrane
for water reuse.

WIRLAB NEWS

Join WIRLab as a MS student or undergraduate volunteer. TWO POSITIONS NOW AVAILABLE STARTING SUMMER/FALL 2022. Click here for more information.

Stay informed:  #BlackInSTEM      #BlackInTheIvory
-Important resources on anti-black racism here.
-On becoming an anti-racist university.
-Links to increasing transparency in recruiting, how allies can support racial justice, pledge to support SDSU's African American Community.
Jun 2022
- Congratulations! MS student, Keyshawn Ford, receives the 2022 Minority Scholarship from Brown and Caldwell.
- Elisa Rivera and Keyshawn Ford awarded the ASCE Pipeline & Environmental Scholarship!!!
- Grace McKenzie, Mauricio Estrada,  and Lena Bagnol, selected to conduct summer undergraduate research in WIRLab.
May 2022
- Graduating senior, Elisa Rivera, receives the Gannett Fleming Scholarship from the American Water Works Association!!
- Congratulations WIRLab graduates: Mia Gil, Elisa Rivera, Alma Rocha!
Apr 2022
-Kelly Hollman receives the CSU COAST Graduate Student Scholarship to support her research on microfibers and tire wear particles in coastal environments. Congratulations Kelly!
- Alma Rocha publishes first paper in ES&T Water! "Detection, Quantification, and Simplified Wastewater Surveillance Model of SARS-CoV-2 in the Tijuana River"
-  WIRLab researchers in the news ! Elisa Rivera and Vanessa Gonzales receive the American Public Works Association (APWA) San Diego Chapter Scholarship!
- WIRLab students Lily Astete Vasquez and Vanessa Gonzales selected for the NSF International Research Experience for Students (IRES) program in Brazil.
Mar 2022
- Mia Gil receives CSU COAST Undergraduate Scholarship to study microfibers in coastal waters.
- Margaret Stack with Kelly Hollman present research on tire wear particles and Thomas Morales presents research on irradiation of treated wastewater at the ACS conference in San Diego.
- Mladenov named one of the Top 50 Women of Influence in Engineering in San Diego by the San Diego Business Journal.
- Elijah Sowunmi receives the Undergraduate Research Excellence Award at the SDSU Student Research Symposium for his presentation on solids and nutrients in a waterless flushing toilet. Congratulations Elijah!
- Kelly Hollman presents research on tire wear particle leachates and Elisa Rivera and Grace McKenzie present research on anammox enrichment at the SDSU Student Research Symposium.
Feb 2022
- Mladenov receives the 2022 Outstanding Engineering Educator Award by the San Diego County Engineering Council.
- Welcome new WIRLab volunteers, Bremer De la Cruz and Lena Bagnol, assisting with the Tijuana River monitoring study.
Jan 2022
- Undergraduate Elisa Rivera receives LSAMP funding to study anammox bacteria enrichment methods for nitrogen-removal from anaerobically-treated wastewater.
Dec 2021
- WIRLab and SafeWaTER Lab graduate student, Alma Rocha, in the news for receiving the Sally Cassanova Scholarship. Read the story here!
Nov 2021
- Welcome to our new WIRLab volunteers, Grace McKenzie, Tasia Meyer, and Kameron Lumanlan!
 Aug 2021
- Welcome to our new WIRLab graduate students, Kelly Hollman and Keyshawn Ford!
- Congratulations to Kelly Hollman for receiving the SDSU Master's Scholarship!
 May 2021
- Congratulations to Lily Astete Vasquez for passing her Qualifying Exams for the Joint PhD Program in Mechanical Engineering (UCSD) and Civil/Environmental Engineering (SDSU)!
- Congratulations to Alma Rocha, who received the Sally Casanova Scholarship and the WEFTEC Conference Scholarship.
- We also welcome undergraduate students, Elisa Rivera and Elijah Sowumni, who are joining WIRLab this summer!
 April 2021
Congratulations WIRLab students!
- Federick Pinongcos was awarded a prestigious Fulbright Scholarship. Congratulations Fed! Fed also won best oral presentation at the 2021 Pacific Northwest Water Research Symposium.
- Lily Astete-Vasquez was awarded the Society of American Military Engineers Scholarship! Lily  also represented SDSU at the CSU-wide Research Symposium.
- Alma Rocha placed in the top 5 at the American Water Works Association National Conference Student Poster Event.
NEWS ARCHIVES...

OPEN POSITIONS

SEEKING POSTDOC!!!
The postdoctoral fellow will conduct research on advanced optical spectroscopic techniques to evaluate anthropogenic contamination of riverine and coastal environments.  Applicants from groups under-represented in engineering strongly encouraged to apply. Apply here.
WIRLab is always on the lookout for undergraduate and graduate students who are interested in volunteer work or paid research positions. Under-represented minorities in engineering are strongly encouraged to apply. Click here for more information.
Important information on diversity in engineering from the National Action Council on Minorities in Engineering:
"...more work is needed to diversify the engineering pathway.
  • African Americans constituted 14.8 percent of the college-age population (18 to 24 years old), but earned only 3.8 percent of engineering degrees.
  • American Indian/Alaska Natives constituted 0.9 percent of the college-age population, yet earned only 0.3 percent of engineering degrees.
  • Latinos earned 9.6 percent of engineering degrees despite making up 21.4 percent of the college-age population.
  • In 2013, under-represented minorities (URMs) constituted 12.1 percent of employed engineers, which paled in comparison to their representation in the overall population (31.5 percent).
  • URMs constituted only 6.6 percent of engineering faculty, which continued a troubling trend of minute minority representation in academic settings.
...The solution to America’s competitiveness problem is to activate the hidden workforce of young men and women who have traditionally been underrepresented in STEM careers—African Americans, American Indians, and Latinos. "