Professor Wen-Tso Liu, the Arthur C. Nauman Endowed Professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, has been awarded an ISME-IWA Bio Cluster Award Grand Prize. The prize rewards interdisciplinary research of outstanding merit at the interface of microbial ecology and water/wastewater treatment.
Liu’s research focuses on the water microbiome, specifically the ecological roles of microbes in different water systems, including watersheds, drinking water systems and wastewater treatment and reclamation systems. His work seeks to illuminate microbial diversity and the different metabolic functions they perform with the goal of influencing or controlling them to improve water cycling within natural and engineered systems and protecting public health.
Liu holds a B.S. (National Taipei University of Technology, Taiwan) in civil engineering, an M.S. (Rutgers University) in Environmental Science, an M.Eng. (University of California at Berkeley) in Environmental Engineering, and a Ph.D. (University of Tokyo, 1995) in Urban Engineering. He has been a professor at the University of Illinois since 2008.
“Professor Liu’s research has had a profound impact on advancing our fundamental understanding of the interface of microbial ecology and water/wastewater treatment and exemplifies the intent of this award,” wrote a nominator.
The award will be presented to Liu at the IWA World Water Congress & Exhibition 2018 in Tokyo, Japan, September 16-21, 2018. Liu is invited to give an award lecture during the congress.
Also winning a Grand Prize title is CEE alumna Katherine McMahon (BS 95, MS 97), the Vilas Distinguished Achievement Professor at the University of Wisconsin – Madison.