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, 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.

ABOUT WIRLAB

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 water quality in the San Diego River during storms and that waste associated with homeless encampments is less of a contributor. 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
ultrafiltration membrane
for water reuse.

WIRLAB NEWS

May 2023
- Lily's first-authored paper "Waste evolution in onsite sanitation systems: varied waste introduction methods and periods of operation" just accepted in Scientific Reports!
- Congratulations! Lily and Poly in the news for winning second place in the Chinyeh Hostler Social Venture Challenge for their Septic Mixer pitch.
Apr 2023
- Kelly presents CSU COAST funded research on tire wear particles and Kenisha presents SDRC funded research on urban water quality monitoring at the CSU-Water Conference. Great job!
- Congratulations to Lily for winning 3rd place in the UCSD Grad Slam competition! These are presentations by the best of the best at UCSD. Lily is pursuing her PhD in the UCSD-SDSU Joint Doctoral Program.
- Congratulations to Poly for winning the American Council of Engineering Companies, California (ACEC) Scholarship! See the news article here.
Mar 2023
- Ella Knight, Glorya Escobar, Poly Popova, Grace McKenzie, Kelly Hollman and Lily Astete Vasquez presented their research at the SDSU Student Symposium. Great job!
- Congratulations to Lily for winning the Women In Engineering Award at S3!
Dec 2022
- Congratulations Dr. Shipley on the new addition to your family! WIRLab welcomes baby Shyne!
Nov 2022
- PhD student Lily Astete Vasquez wins first place!! at the Onsite Wastewater Mega Conference for her poster on non-sewered flushing sanitation solutions.
- Undergraduate Poly Popova receives the STEM Advantage Fellowship!
 Sep 2022
- Dr. Kenisha Shipley joins WIRLab as a Postdoctoral Scholar.
- Pinongcos et al. article on  San Diego River Contamination  just out.
Our study was also featured in the Sept 11 edition of the San Diego Union Tribune and on CBS8 News.
- Lily Astete Vasquez receives SDSU Aztec Scholarship, San Diego Chapter of Women in Defense!
- Our undergrad student-led paper on the Performance of an Anammox Anaerobic Baffled Reactor just accepted!!
Aug 2022
- PhD student Lily Astete Vasquez awarded the Achievement Rewards for College Scientists(ARCS)  Scholarship!
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
- Mladenov named one of the Top 50 Women of Influence in Engineering in San Diego by the San Diego Business Journal.
- Mia Gil receives CSU COAST Undergraduate Scholarship to study microfibers in coastal waters.
- Margaret Stack, Kelly Hollman, and Thomas Morales present at the ACS conference in San Diego.
- Elijah Sowunmi receives the Undergraduate Research Excellence Award at the SDSU Student Research Symposium. Congratulations Elijah!
- Kelly Hollman, Elisa Rivera and Grace McKenzie present at the SDSU Student Research Symposium.
NEWS ARCHIVES...