Faculty Directory
Erica Hartmann

Assistant Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering

Contact

2145 Sheridan Road
Tech A322
Evanston, IL 60208-3109

847-467-4528Email Erica Hartmann

Website

Hartmann Website

Centers

Center for Water Research

Departments

Civil and Environmental Engineering

Affiliations

PhD Program in Interdisciplinary Biological Sciences

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Education

Ph.D. Biological Design, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ

B.S. Cellular & Molecular Biology, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD


Research Interests

My research focuses on understanding, at the molecular level, how microbial communities respond to anthropogenic chemicals and then using that information to influence real-world outcomes, especially by controlling the spread of undesirable traits (e.g., antibiotic resistance). This work falls into two main areas: observation of phenomena in situ and working with model systems in the laboratory. For the first, my lab collects samples in the field, such as by vacuuming dust in buildings, and uses shotgun DNA sequencing along with other -omics methods to detect genes or proteins of interest. We combine these data with analytical chemistry measurements to obtain statistical correlations between chemicals and traits of interest. For the second, we maintain and develop model organisms and bacterial communities to determine what responses are elicited by chemicals or treatments of interest. The ultimate goal for all of the work in my lab, whether focused on bioremediation or the prevention of antibiotic resistance, is to promote sustainability and protect public health.


Selected Publications

  • Barber, Olivia Williams; Miramontes, Iria Mañas; Jain, Manu; Ozer, Egon A.; Hartmann, Erica M., The future of bacteriophage therapy will promote antimicrobial susceptibility, mSystems 6(4).
  • Crofts, Terence Spencer; McFarland, Alexander G.; Hartmann, Erica M., Mosaic ends tagmentation (METa) assembly for highly efficient construction of functional metagenomic libraries, mSystems 6(3).
  • Blaustein, Ryan A.; Seed, Patrick C.; Hartmann, Erica M., Biotransformation of Doxorubicin Promotes Resilience in Simplified Intestinal Microbial Communities, mSphere 6(3):e0006821.
  • Hu, Jinglin; Hartmann, Erica M., Anthropogenic chemicals and their impacts on microbes living in buildings, Microbial Biotechnology 14(3):798-802.
  • McFarland, Alexander G.; Bertucci, Hanna K.; Littman, Erica; Shen, Jiaxian; Huttenhower, Curtis; Hartmann, Erica M., Triclosan Tolerance Is Driven by a Conserved Mechanism in Diverse Pseudomonas Species, Applied and Environmental Microbiology 87(7):1-17.
  • Shen, Jiaxian; McFarland, Alexander G.; Young, Vincent B.; Hayden, Mary K.; Hartmann, Erica M., Toward Accurate and Robust Environmental Surveillance Using Metagenomics, Frontiers in Genetics 12.
  • Maamar, Sarah Ben; Glawe, Adam J.; Brown, Taylor K.; Hellgeth, Nancy; Hu, Jinglin; Wang, Ji Ping; Huttenhower, Curtis; Hartmann, Erica M., Mobilizable antibiotic resistance genes are present in dust microbial communities, PLoS pathogens 16(1).
  • Johnson, Clayton R.; Tran, Mia Nhu; Michelitsch, Lisa Marie; Abraham, Simi; Hu, Jinglin; Gray, Kimberly A.; Hartmann, Erica M., Nano-enabled, antimicrobial toothbrushes – How physical and chemical properties relate to antibacterial capabilities, Journal of Hazardous Materials 396.

Research areas

Environmental microbiology; microbiology of the indoor environment; built environment microbiomes; microbial responses to anthropogenic chemicals; bioremediation; antibiotic resistance; public health