Civil and Environmental Engineering
A129 Engineering Research Complex
East Lansing, MI 48824

Phone: (517) 432-3370
Fax: (517) 355-0250
E-mail: cupplesa@msu.edu
Web: http://www.egr.msu.edu/~cupplesa

• Microbiology for Environmental Health Engineers (CE 487)
• Principles of Environmental Engineering and Science (CE280)
• Traditional and Emerging In Situ Remediation Methods (ENE 890)

• Biodegradation and biological removal kinetics of trichlorethene, cis-dichloroethene and vinyl chloride
• Herbicide degradation
• Stable isotope probing as a tool for identifying bacteria degrading contaminants in situ.
• Fate and occurrence of pharmaceuticals in biosolids and in the environment

Microbial degradation of soil and water contaminants. Previous research has focused on the dechlorination of the groundwater contaminants tetrachloroethene and trichloroethene. The use of molecular methods to identify and quantify the microorganisms responsible for xenobiotic degradation.

Stanford University, Ph.D. Environmental Engineering and Science

Awards and Honors:

• Sun, W., Sun, X. and A. M. Cupples. 2012. Anaerobic MTBE degrading microorganisms identified in wastewater treatment plant samples using stable isotope probing, Applied and Environmental Microbiology, 78, 2973-2980.
• Sun, W. and A. M. Cupples. Diversity of five anaerobic toluene degrading microbial communities investigated using stable isotope probing (SIP), Applied and Environmental Microbiology,78: 972-980.
• Cupples, A. M. 2011. The use of nucleic acid based stable isotope probing to identify the microorganisms responsible for anaerobic benzene and toluene biodegradation, Journal of Microbiological Methods, 85, 83-91.
• Xie, S., W. Sun, C. Luo and A. M. Cupples. 2011. Novel aerobic benzene degrading microorganisms identified in three soils by stable isotope probing, Bioegradation, 22, 71-81.
• Cha, J. and A. M. Cupples. 2010. Triclocarban and triclosan biodegradation at field concentrations and the resulting leaching potentials in three agricultural soils, Chemosphere, 81, 494-499.
• Xie, S., W. Sun, C. Luo and A. M. Cupples. 2010. Stable isotope probing identifies novel m-xylene degraders in soil microcosms from contaminated and uncontaminated sites. Water, Air and Soil Pollution, 212, 113-122.
• Sun, W., S. Xie, C. Luo and A. M. Cupples. 2010. Direct link between toluene degradation in contaminated-site microcosms and a Polaromonas strain, Applied and Environmental Microbiology, 76: 956-959.