Research in this specialty area focuses on understanding the occurrence and behavior of harmful microorganisms in the environment and developing engineering applications for beneficial microorganisms and microbial communities.

Active research projects include development of devices for microbial detection (e.g., DNA biochips, biosensors, and hand-held microfluidic devices), occurrence, transport, and modeling of microbial and viral contaminants in watersheds, and develop biological systems to remediate sites with various chemical contaminants of national interest (e.g., trichloroethylene, trinitrotoluene, polychlorinated biphenyls, and methyl tert-butyl ether). Future research projects in the area of environmental microbiology and biotechnology are expected to be closely tied to the national needs with respect to microbiological safety and contaminant clean-up goals.