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  • May
    7

    EES Seminar: Bradley Stevenson

    McCormick - Civil and Environmental Engineering

    2:00 PM

    EVENT DETAILS

    Sewage Surveillance for Monitoring COVID-19 in Oklahoma Communities

    Monitoring sewage as a means of detecting the prevalence of pathogens dates back more than 60 years, when the focus was on the Polio virus. The realization that individuals with COVID-19 could have nearly as many virus particles in their stool as in their nasopharynx prompted many scientists around the world to apply the principles of wastewater-based epidemiology to monitor the prevalence of COVID-19. In the spring of 2020, I helped assemble a collaborative team of scientists with expertise in water sampling, microbial molecular biology, epidemiology, community planning and engagement. We began by monitoring the concentration of SARS-CoV2 in sewage coming from several dormitories on the OU-Norman campus and the City of Norman. This work quickly expanded to include the City of Oklahoma City, Tulsa, Midwest City, and Anadarko, representing over 1.2 million Oklahomans. Since August 2020, we have monitored populations at the building, neighborhood, and municipal level, from as few as 50 to over 500,000 people. Populations associated with college campuses can be transient, with significant fluctuations related to the academic calendar and sporting events. We are using cell phone and WIFI data associated with the OU-Norman campus and the City of Norman to adjust population levels and better understand fluctuations in concentrations of SARS-CoV2 in this sewage. Our data strongly predicts the prevalence of COVID-19 with a lead time of 7 days before positive cases are reported with a high correlation. This correlation between our data and reported cases has dropped significantly since health departments have transitioned from widespread testing to vaccination distribution, leaving sewage surveillance as the only reliable indication of COVID-19 in these populations. Sequencing of the viral genomes from our sewage samples suggests that subsequent waves of SARS-CoV2 infections have been connected to viral variants of concern (e.g., B.1.1.7) becoming more widely distributed. We continue to monitor municipalities for COVID-19 infection levels and the prevalence of various variants of concern, but we are also looking towards the future which we feel should include sewage-based monitoring of COVID-19 and other prominent or persistent respiratory, gastrointestinal, or vector-borne pathogens. The ability of wastewater-based epidemiology to provide an economical and testing-agnostic measure of public health has proven itself during the current pandemic but will likely remain to be a method of choice in the future.

    Dr. Bradley Stevenson is an Associate Professor at the University of Oklahoma, in the Department of Microbiology and Plant Biology. Dr. Stevenson earned his B.A. in Microbiology at Miami University in Oxford, OH and his Ph.D. in Microbiology at Michigan State University, where he also was an Agouron Geobiology Postdoctoral Fellow. Brad joined the faculty in the Department of Microbiology and Plant Biology in 2005. His research group studies the role of microbiomes of natural and engineered ecosystems. Dr. Stevenson’s research is supported through funding and collaborations with the NASA Exobiology program, the Air Force Research Laboratories (AFRL), the Secretary of Defense Office of Corrosion Protection Technical Corrosion Collaboration program, and several industry partners. Dr. Stevenson’s research group is also part of the OU Institute for Natural Products Research and Technologies (INPART). With funding from the National Institutes of Health, his group studies the metabolites from microbial assemblages as a means to better understand interactions between populations and to identify novel antibacterial, antifungal, and anticancer drug candidates.

    Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, Dr. Stevenson has drawn upon the expertise of his research group to focus on monitoring COVID-19 in sewage across the OU-Norman campus, several cities and municipalities and other partners. Dr. Stevenson helped form the OU Sewage Surveillance Team, which is a growing collaboration of scientists from the School of Civil Engineering and Environmental Sciences, OK Water Survey, OU Medicine, and the OU Hudson School of Public Health and Environmental Safety. They are currently monitoring over 2 million Oklahomans for COVID-19 and SARS-CoV-2 variants through detection and sequencing of sewage samples at the municipality, neighborhood, and building level.

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    TIME Friday, May 7, 2021 at 2:00 PM - 3:00 PM

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    CONTACT Tierney Acott    tierney.acott@northwestern.edu EMAIL

    CALENDAR McCormick - Civil and Environmental Engineering

  • Apr
    24

    SPREE Seminar Series - From Dots In Space To Space-Time-Magnitude Connections: Evolution of Energy Release Research As Applied to Damage Mechanics and Induced Seismicity- Jesse Hampton

    McCormick - Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE)

    11:00 AM A236, Technological Institute

    EVENT DETAILS

    TIME Wednesday, April 24, 2024 at 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM

    LOCATION A236, Technological Institute    map it

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    CONTACT Andrew Liguori    andrew.liguori@northwestern.edu EMAIL

    CALENDAR McCormick - Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE)

  • Apr
    26

    EES Seminar Series- Kaize Ding

    McCormick - Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE)

    2:00 PM A236, Technological Institute

    EVENT DETAILS

    TIME Friday, April 26, 2024 at 2:00 PM - 3:00 PM

    LOCATION A236, Technological Institute    map it

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    CONTACT Andrew Liguori    andrew.liguori@northwestern.edu EMAIL

    CALENDAR McCormick - Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE)

  • May
    1

    SPREE Seminar Series- Roman Makhenko

    McCormick - Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE)

    11:00 AM A236, Technological Institute

    EVENT DETAILS

    TIME Wednesday, May 1, 2024 at 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM

    LOCATION A236, Technological Institute    map it

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    CONTACT Andrew Liguori    andrew.liguori@northwestern.edu EMAIL

    CALENDAR McCormick - Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE)

  • May
    3

    EES Seminar Series- X-ray fluorescence microscopy for life and environmental studies at the Advanced Photon Source- Si Chen

    McCormick - Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE)

    2:00 PM A236, Technological Institute

    EVENT DETAILS

    TIME Friday, May 3, 2024 at 2:00 PM - 3:00 PM

    LOCATION A236, Technological Institute    map it

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    CONTACT Andrew Liguori    andrew.liguori@northwestern.edu EMAIL

    CALENDAR McCormick - Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE)

  • May
    6

    AED/MPM PD Seminar Series- Steve Nargang

    McCormick - Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE)

    11:00 AM 1101, Pancoe-NSUHS Life Sciences Pavilion

    EVENT DETAILS

    TIME Monday, May 6, 2024 at 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM

    LOCATION 1101, Pancoe-NSUHS Life Sciences Pavilion    map it

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    CONTACT Andrew Liguori    andrew.liguori@northwestern.edu EMAIL

    CALENDAR McCormick - Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE)

  • May
    8

    SPREE Seminar Series- Investigating Single & Multi-Component Polymer Grafted Nanoparticles using Molecular Modelling- Subhadeep Pal

    McCormick - Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE)

    11:00 AM A236, Technological Institute

    EVENT DETAILS

    TIME Wednesday, May 8, 2024 at 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM

    LOCATION A236, Technological Institute    map it

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    CONTACT Andrew Liguori    andrew.liguori@northwestern.edu EMAIL

    CALENDAR McCormick - Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE)

  • May
    8

    Extending Care: A Conversation about Conservation and Futurity

    Block Museum of Art

    6:00 PM Block Museum of Art, Mary and Leigh

    EVENT DETAILSmore info

    TIME Wednesday, May 8, 2024 at 6:00 PM - 7:30 PM

    LOCATION Block Museum of Art, Mary and Leigh    map it

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    CONTACT Block Museum of Art    block-museum@northwestern.edu EMAIL

    CALENDAR Block Museum of Art

  • May
    10

    EES Seminar Series- Phosphorous Recycling- Jade Basinski

    McCormick - Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE)

    2:00 PM A236, Technological Institute

    EVENT DETAILS

    TIME Friday, May 10, 2024 at 2:00 PM - 3:00 PM

    LOCATION A236, Technological Institute    map it

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    CONTACT Andrew Liguori    andrew.liguori@northwestern.edu EMAIL

    CALENDAR McCormick - Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE)

  • May
    13

    AED/MPM PD Seminar Series- Albert Mena & Maya Stuhlbarg

    McCormick - Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE)

    11:00 AM 1101, Pancoe-NSUHS Life Sciences Pavilion

    EVENT DETAILS

    TIME Monday, May 13, 2024 at 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM

    LOCATION 1101, Pancoe-NSUHS Life Sciences Pavilion    map it

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    CONTACT Andrew Liguori    andrew.liguori@northwestern.edu EMAIL

    CALENDAR McCormick - Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE)

  • May
    15

    SPREE Seminar Series- Understanding Heat Transport at Grain Boundaries Through High Resolution Imaging- Elenora Isotta

    McCormick - Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE)

    11:00 AM A236, Technological Institute

    EVENT DETAILS

    TIME Wednesday, May 15, 2024 at 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM

    LOCATION A236, Technological Institute    map it

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    CONTACT Andrew Liguori    andrew.liguori@northwestern.edu EMAIL

    CALENDAR McCormick - Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE)

  • May
    17

    EES Seminar Series- Dave Lampert

    McCormick - Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE)

    2:00 PM A236, Technological Institute

    EVENT DETAILS

    TIME Friday, May 17, 2024 at 2:00 PM - 3:00 PM

    LOCATION A236, Technological Institute    map it

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    CONTACT Andrew Liguori    andrew.liguori@northwestern.edu EMAIL

    CALENDAR McCormick - Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE)

  • May
    20

    AED/MPM PD Seminar Series- Andres Marulanda Escobar

    McCormick - Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE)

    11:00 AM 1101, Pancoe-NSUHS Life Sciences Pavilion

    EVENT DETAILS

    TIME Monday, May 20, 2024 at 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM

    LOCATION 1101, Pancoe-NSUHS Life Sciences Pavilion    map it

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    CONTACT Andrew Liguori    andrew.liguori@northwestern.edu EMAIL

    CALENDAR McCormick - Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE)

  • May
    22

    SPREE Seminar Series- Mechanism-Based Multi-Scale Models for Damage and Failure in Heterogeneous Materials- Kedar Kirane

    McCormick - Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE)

    11:00 AM A236, Technological Institute

    EVENT DETAILS

    TIME Wednesday, May 22, 2024 at 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM

    LOCATION A236, Technological Institute    map it

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    CONTACT Andrew Liguori    andrew.liguori@northwestern.edu EMAIL

    CALENDAR McCormick - Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE)

  • May
    24

    EES Seminar Series- PFAS Characterization- Gordon Getzinger

    McCormick - Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE)

    2:00 PM A236, Technological Institute

    EVENT DETAILS

    TIME Friday, May 24, 2024 at 2:00 PM - 3:00 PM

    LOCATION A236, Technological Institute    map it

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    CONTACT Andrew Liguori    andrew.liguori@northwestern.edu EMAIL

    CALENDAR McCormick - Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE)

  • Jun
    6

    CEE Department Graduation Recognition and Ceremony

    McCormick - Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE)

    4:00 PM 1702 Chicago Ave

    EVENT DETAILS

    TIME Thursday, June 6, 2024 at 4:00 PM - 8:00 PM

    LOCATION 1702 Chicago Ave   

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    CONTACT Andrew Liguori    andrew.liguori@northwestern.edu EMAIL

    CALENDAR McCormick - Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE)

  • Jun
    7

    CEE Graduating Undergraduate Celebrating

    McCormick - Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE)

    6:00 PM 623 W Howard St

    EVENT DETAILS

    TIME Friday, June 7, 2024 at 6:00 PM - 9:00 PM

    LOCATION 623 W Howard St   

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    CONTACT Andrew Liguori    andrew.liguori@northwestern.edu EMAIL

    CALENDAR McCormick - Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE)

  • Jun
    10

    Northwestern Engineering PhD Hooding and Master's Degree Recognition Ceremony

    McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science

    9:00 AM Welsh-Ryan Arena

    EVENT DETAILSmore info

    TIME Monday, June 10, 2024 at 9:00 AM - 11:00 AM

    LOCATION Welsh-Ryan Arena   

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    CONTACT Amy Pokrass    amy.pokrass@northwestern.edu EMAIL

    CALENDAR McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science

  • Jun
    10

    Northwestern Engineering Undergraduate Convocation

    McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science

    2:00 PM Welsh-Ryan Arena

    EVENT DETAILSmore info

    TIME Monday, June 10, 2024 at 2:00 PM - 4:00 PM

    LOCATION Welsh-Ryan Arena   

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    CONTACT Amy Pokrass    amy.pokrass@northwestern.edu EMAIL

    CALENDAR McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science