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 (once we're back in person!).
Donate to support
our research
The virtual WIRLAB team
meeting on Zoom, Spring 2020
The WIRLAB team, Spring 2019.
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 2021. Click here for more information.

Stay informed:  #BlackInSTEM      #BlackInTheIvory
-Important resources on anti-black racism here.
-Excellent actions described 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.
 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.
March 2021
Congratulations are in order!
- Lily Astete-Vasquez and Denise Garcia were both awarded the prestigious NSF Graduate Research Fellowship!
- Lily Astete-Vasquez received the President's Award at the SDSU Student Research Symposium.
- Alma Rocha received the Provost's Award at the SDSU Student Research Symposium. Alma Rocha also received 1st place for her poster on SARS-CoV-2 in natural waters at the American Water Works Association CA-NV Conference.
January 2021
Kristen Snyder and other members of WIRLab and the Hoh Lab report on the release of the 488 persistent and potentially toxic water soluble compounds from the 2015 Refugio Oil Spill near Santa Barbara, which is more than 3 times as many as were released from a nearby natural oil seep. Our study has just been published open access in Marine Pollution Bulletin.
December 2020
Congratulations!!!
Federick Pinongcos received the Robert L. Wiegel Scholarship for Coastal Studies from the San Diego Foundation for his research on San Diego River pollution during storm events.
November 2020
WIRLab Director Mladenov is part of a team selected to study microfibers and micro-tire wear particles, their chemical inputs and toxicity in coastal waters, for the COAST State Science Information Needs Program.
October 2020
Congratulations!!!
Kristen Snyder (MS 2019) was recognized at the Association of Environmental Engineering and Science Professors Awards Banquet for receiving the MS Thesis Award, one of only two awards for an outstanding Environmental Engineering/Science thesis.

SDSU, ROCK THE VOTE!!!
September 2020
Congratulations to these WIRLab members!
- WIRLab and SDSU alum, Cari Campbell is recognized in the CA-NV AWWA Spotlight
- MS student Alma Rocha awarded the Leonard Endowment Scholarship.
- JDP student Rachel Astete Vasquez awarded the Global Policy & Strategy Science Policy Fellowship at UCSD
- MS students Alma Rocha and Fed Pinongcos received the McMahon Chi Epsilon Scholarship
NEWS ARCHIVES...

OPEN POSITIONS

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. "