SWWS Workshop Program

DHS/NIST Workshop: Standards to Support an Enduring Capability in Wastewater Surveillance for 

Public Health (SWWS Workshop)

DAY 1: MONDAY, JUNE 14, 2021 

Welcome & Introductory Remarks

Mr. Philip J. Mattson

Standards Executive

Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) | USA

Philip.mattson@hq.dhs.gov

Mr. Philip J. Mattson serves as the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Standards Executive and Senior Standards Advisor in the DHS 

Science and Technology Directorate (S&T). He coordinates standards and conformity assessment activities across the Department and manages 

a broad portfolio of standards development activities including detection and personal protective equipment standards and response robot test 

method development.

Mr. Mattson is the DHS representative to the Interagency Committee on Standards Policy, and currently chairs the ASTM E54 Committee on 

Homeland Security Applications. He serves on the Board of Directors of the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) and also serves on 

several ASTM Technical Committees, the ANSI Unmanned Aircraft Systems Standardization Collaborative Steering Committee, and on 

standing committees in ANSI, the Society for Standards Professionals and in the Interagency Board for Emergency Preparedness and Response.

He holds a bachelor’s degree in Nuclear Engineering Technology from Oregon State University, and a master’s degree in Nuclear Physics from 

the Naval Postgraduate School. He has extensive training in nuclear weapons and radiological incident management and is a registered 

Professional Engineer. Mr. Mattson is a retired U.S. Army officer; serving over 20 years as a combat engineer and nuclear physicist.

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U.S. Senator Gary Peters (MI)

Chair of the Homeland Security & Governmental Affairs Committee

U.S. Senate | USA

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Mr. Robert B. Newman

Director of Engagement and Partnerships, Office of Strategy and Policy 

Department of Homeland Security (DHS) | USA

robert.newman@hq.dhs.gov

Mr. Robert Newman has been with DHS S&T for over 2 years. He has served as a senior advisor to the under 

secretary and led the program office before assuming his new duties as Director of Engagement and 

Partnerships. In his new role, Mr. Newman leads efforts to identify technologies that can lead to new strategies for 

DHS for the security of our country and then to partner with organizations that can facilitate the adoption of those 

technologies. Mr. Newman is a retired Air Force general officer and has worked in the homeland security arena in 

state government for two Virginia governors.

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Dr. Eric K. Lin

Acting Associate Director for Laboratory Programs

National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) | USA

Dr. Eric K. Lin is currently serving as the Acting Associate Director for Laboratory Programs at the National Institute 

of Standards and Technology (NIST). In this role, he provides direction and operational guidance for all of NIST's 

scientific and technical laboratory, among other duties. Before this role, Dr. Lin served as Director of the 

Material Measurement Laboratory (MML) at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). MML 

activities include fundamental research in the composition, structure and properties of industrial, biological, and 

environmental materials and processes, to the development and dissemination of certified reference materials, critically 

evaluated data and other measurement quality assurance programs. His contributions have been recognized with the 

Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE), the Department of Commerce Silver Medal, 

and the William P. Slichter Award.

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Mr. Joseph Hamel

Director, ASPR Program Office for Innovation and Industrial Base Expansion (IBx)

Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response (ASPR)

Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) | USA

joseph.hamel@hhs.gov

Mr. Joseph Hamel is the Director, ASPR Program Office for Innovation and Industrial Base Expansion (IBx) for the Department of Health and 

Human Services (HHS) Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response (ASPR). He received his BA in molecular biology from 

Colgate University and his MS in biotechnology from John Hopkins University. Prior to joining the ASPR, Hamel worked as a biologist for the 

US Army, where he also served as a team leader and chief of planning and policy. Later, Mr. Hamel was a program director for the Department of 

Homeland Security, and then a program manager at Johns Hopkins University’s applied physics laboratory. You can find him on Twitter 

(@JoeHamel9). 

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Dr. Nancy J. Lin 

Biomaterials Group Leader, Material Measurement Laboratory

National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) | USA

nancy.lin@nist.gov

Talk Title: Overview and Goals for the 2021 SWWS Workshop

Dr. Nancy J. Lin is the Leader of the Biomaterials Group in the Biosystems and Biomaterials Division of the Material 

Measurement Laboratory at NIST. Her research focuses on developing measurements and standards to enable the detection 

and quantification of microbes and microbial communities, with an emphasis on total and viable cell count for microbial cell reference materials, 

biofilm-material interactions, antimicrobial efficacy, and biosurveillance. Dr. Lin holds a BS in Mechanical Engineering from Valparaiso 

University and a PhD in Biomedical Engineering from Case Western Reserve University.

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SWWS 101: Introduction to Wastewater Surveillance (WWS)

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Session Chair: Dr. Michael Focazio

Environmental Health Research Program Coordinator

U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) | USA

mfocazio@usgs.gov

Dr. Michael Focazio earned his Ph.D. from the University of Connecticut. He has been a scientist and manager with U.S. Geological Survey for 

30 years with research areas including drinking water, wastewater, environmental contaminants, ecosystems and human exposures. Dr. Focazio 

also serves on National Sewage Surveillance Interagency Leadership committee.

Speakers

Dr. Amy E. Kirby (Keynote Presentation)

National Wastewater Surveillance System Program Lead

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) | USA

agk1@cdc.gov

Talk Title: National Wastewater Surveillance System: Implementation for COVID and Beyond

The National Wastewater Surveillance System (NWSS) launched in 2020 to coordinate wastewater surveillance 

programs implemented by state, tribal, local, and territorial health departments to support the COVID-19 pandemic 

response. Community-level infection trends for SARS-CoV-2 can be efficiently tracked through wastewater testing, 

providing an early indicator of changing infections trends in the community. Municipal wastewater surveillance is 

unique in that it can provide systematic information on both symptomatic and asymptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infections, 

and it is not influenced by healthcare access or clinical testing capacity. Robust and sustainable implementation of wastewater surveillance 

requires public health capacity for wastewater sampling, testing, analysis, and interpretation, as well as effective partnerships between 

wastewater utilities and public health departments. As of January 2021, the network comprises 33 jurisdictions. State and local public health 

agencies have used wastewater surveillance data to generate alerts to local jurisdictions, allocate mobile testing resources, evaluate potential 

testing artifacts in clinical surveillance, refine health messaging, and forecast hospital resource needs. NWSS provides a robust, highly 
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adaptable platform for community-level disease surveillance that can be expanded to collect data on multiple pathogens, such as antibiotic 

resistant bacteria and enteric pathogens, and leveraged for rapid assessment of emerging threats and preparedness for future pandemics.

Dr. Amy E. Kirby is an Environmental Microbiologist in the Waterborne Disease Prevention Branch and the Program Lead for the National 

Wastewater Surveillance System (NWSS) at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). She has a Bachelor of Science in Agriculture 

(BSA, major: Microbiology) from the University of Georgia, a PhD in Microbiology from the University of Buffalo, SUNY, and a Master’s of 

Public Health in Epidemiology from Emory University. At CDC, Dr. Kirby is interested in leveraging environmental microbiology methods to 

measure pathogens, antibiotic resistance genes, and other health indicators in natural and man-made water systems. This data can be used to 

estimate health risks from environmental exposures, as well as measures of the health of the surrounding communities. Since February 2020, she 

has been working on the COVID-19 response as part of the Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene team. As part of that team, she led the development 

and implementation of NWSS.

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Dr. Kate R. Griffiths

Senior Molecular Biologist

National Measurement Institute of Australia | Australia 

kate.griffiths@measurement.gov.au

Talk Title: Australia's ColoSSoS Project: Inter-laboratory Study for SARS-CoV-2 in Wastewater

The WaterRA ColoSSoS project was initiated in the start of 2020 to co-ordinate the development of a national sampling and testing program for 

SARS-CoV-2 in wastewater within Australia. Once methods were developed across the country, the next phase was to compare the performance 

between the different testing approaches through participation in an inter-laboratory study. Twelve labs participated, representing a mix of 

water utilities, commercial labs, government labs and university research groups. Participants were provided with replicates of wastewater, 

inactivated SARS-CoV-2 virus for spiking and calibrant sets developed by Australia's National Measurement Institute. These calibrant sets 

consisted of a six-point dilution series of the inactivated virus quantified in "Copy Number Concentration of SARS-CoV-2 genome equivalents" 

using RT-dPCR. By providing the calibrant, all results were reported in the same units, allowing direct comparison of quantitative data from 

each lab. This study allowed protocols to be assessed, considering reproducibility, yield and RNA purity, identifying areas for improvement to 

increase testing consistency across the country.

Dr. Kate R. Griffiths is a senior molecular biologist working in the Bioanalysis Section of Australia's National Measurement Institute. She has 

many roles, including developing methods and managing the accredited DNA testing service, providing measurement uncertainty training to 

support biological measurements and designing bespoke DNA reference materials to achieve comparable quantitative data.

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Dr. Judith Wong

Director

National Environment Agency | Singapore

Judith_Wong@nea.gov.sg

Talk Title: Singapore's National Wastewater Based Surveillance Programme for COVID-19: Analytical Standards, Controls and Reference 

Materials

Singapore's National Environment Agency, together with its partners, have developed a surveillance programme to monitor the presence of 

SARS-CoV-2 in wastewaters. Three use cases have been established. First, the surveillance at wastewater reclamation plants and at wide-area 

sentinel regional nodes provides situational awareness of COVID-19 spread in Singapore. Second, the monitoring of high-density living 

premises including workers’ dormitories, nursing homes and student hostels provides early warning of emerging case(s), and thirdly, 

surveillance at clusters that have developed in the community provides an indicator if further case(s) are present. In the latter two use cases, 

data has translated into public health action, where targeted swab tests conducted have supported early case identification and isolation. As the 

programme relies on a network of testing laboratories, we will also describe analytical standards and proficiency testing criteria that have been 

implemented to ensure that tests conducted across laboratories are of high quality. Practical troubleshooting steps and corrective and 

preventive actions will also be discussed.

Dr. Judith Wong is the Director of the Microbiology and Molecular Epidemiology Division at the National Environmental Agency in Singapore. 

She oversees various COVID-19 related surveillance and research initiatives, including the development of Singapore's national wastewater-based 

epidemiology programme. The wastewater surveillance programme which she has set-up currently surveys wastewaters from more than a hundred 

sites across the country. Dr. Wong's other scientific interests include dengue diagnostics and surveillance, and the understanding anti-microbial 

resistance in the environment.

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Dr. Shane Synder

Professor of Civil & Environmental Engineering and Executive Director of the Nanyang Environment & Water Research Institute (NEWRI)

Nanyang Technological University (NTU) | Singapore

ssnyder@ntu.edu.sg

Talk Title: Wastewater Based Epidemiology: Monitoring of SARS-CoV-2 and Related Markers in Singapore 

The presentation focusses on optimisation to achieve a robust validated testing protocol for Covid-19 viral RNA.

Dr. Shane Snyder is a Professor of Civil & Environmental Engineering and is the Executive Director of the Nanyang Environment & Water 

Research Institute (NEWRI) at Nanyang Technological University (NTU), Singapore. For over 20 years, Dr. Snyder’s research has focused on 
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water quality, treatment, and sustainability, which resulted in over 300 published manuscripts with 28,000 citations. He serves as the Editor-inChief for the American Chemical Society journal, Environmental Science & Technology Water and is a Fellow of the International Water 

Association. Prof. Snyder was featured among the top 25 leading water researchers globally by Lux Research, and was awarded the Dr. Pankaj 

Parekh Research Innovation Award and the Agilent Thought Leader Award. Prof Snyder and his team were awarded the Nanyang Humanitarian 

Award for their philanthropic work in water and sanitation, which has benefited over two million people in underserved communities in Asia. 

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Dr. Beverley Margaret Stinson

Executive Vice President

AECOM | USA

Beverley.Stinson@aecom.com

Talk Title: Wastewater Infrastructure & Operations for an Enduring Public Health Partnership

Dr. Beverley Margaret Stinson is the Executive Vice President of AECOM Global Water with a technical 

background in water and wastewater treatment processes. Dr. Stinson has extensive experience nationally and 

internationally with wastewater epidemiology programs and a detailed understanding of wastewater infrastructure and operations. She will share 

her perspectives on the opportunity and challenges of establishing a sustainable and enduring wastewater surveillance program for the protection 

of Public Health.

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SWWS 201: Sampling

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Session Chair: Ms. Renee Stevens

Program Manager

Department of Homeland Security (DHS) | USA

renee.stevens@hq.dhs.gov

Ms. Renee Stevens is currently on detail within DHS from Customs and Border Protection to the Science and Technology Directorate (S&T). In 

her role at S&T, Ms. Stevens coordinates voluntary consensus standards and related projects for DHS mission needs, including the integration of 

standards for unmanned aircraft systems (UAS). 

Speakers

Mr. Claudio Ternieden

Senior Director of Government Affairs

The Waters Environment Federation 

Talk Title: Utilities Perspectives and Needs

Mr. Claudio Ternieden is Sr. Director of Government Affairs & Strategic Partnerships for the Water Environment Federation (WEF). Ternieden 

is responsible for leading WEF’s regulatory and legislative activities, including WEF’s Global Programs. Ternieden is part of WEF’s team 

working on wastewater-based epidemiology, coordinating with other organizations in the water sector such as municipalities, state agencies and 

universities. Ternieden served on WEF’s Blue Ribbon Panel on wastewater operator safety due to COVID-19. Before coming to WEF, Claudio 

worked with Concurrent Technologies Corporation (CTC), a Department of Defense technologies innovator and integrator, and before that with 

the Water Environment Research Foundation (WERF) (now The Water Research Foundation) helping lead innovative research in infrastructure, 

disinfection, wet weather management, emerging contaminants, stormwater, climate adaptation, resilience, water reuse and decentralized 

systems. Ternieden has also worked with the American Association of Airport Executives (AAAE) where he worked in regulatory and 

legislative issues associated with environmental management at airports. Previously, he worked with the US EPA in Washington, DC and 

helped in the development of numerous federal regulations. Before the US EPA, Ternieden worked with the State of Indiana Department of 

Environmental Management (IDEM) supporting the implementation of the State’s Great Lakes Water Quality Standards in NPDES permits, the 
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pretreatment program, operators’ certification program and the implementation of the drinking water capacity development program. Before 

working for the State of Indiana, Ternieden directed the City of Elkhart, IN pretreatment enforcement program. As part of his work with WEF 

over the last two years, Ternieden organized, presented and moderated sessions on technology innovation and transfer, water reuse and 

regulatory policy in Rio de Janeiro and Brasilia, Brazil, and in Cartagena de Indias, Colombia. As a volunteer, Ternieden has also organized and 

executed delegation visits to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia as part of development projects on water and sanitation with PRIDE (a non-profit 

organization doing development work in Ethiopia)

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Mr. Patrick J. Phillips 

Quality Assurance Specialist

US Geological Survey (USGS) | USA

pjphilli@usgs.gov

Talk Title: USGS Experience in Wastewater Sampling: 3 Issues to Guide Wastewater Surveillance for Public Health

The talk examines three crucial questions to guide wastewater sampling based on USGS experiences.

Mr. Patrick Phillips has been a USGS employee for over 35 years, focusing on data quality and the understanding of links between wastewater 

and public health.

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Dr. Aruni Bhatnagar

Professor of Medicine

University of Louisville | USA

aruni@louisville.edu

Talk Title: Case Study-Wastewater Monitoring for COVID-19 in Louisville

Dr. Aruni Bhatnagar is Professor of Medicine and Distinguished University Scholar at the University of Louisville. 

He is the Director of the Christina Lee Brown Envirome Institute and Co-Director of the American Heart 

Association Tobacco Regulation Center. He is a leading expert on the mechanisms by which environmental 

exposures such as air pollution affect cardiovascular disease risk. Dr. Bhatnagar’s initial work involved the 

purification and characterization of aldose reductase and its role in diabetic complications. To this end, he established the identity of this enzyme 

in several tissues and investigated its structural, kinetic, and inhibitory properties. His work has shown that increasing NO availability prevents 

aldose reductase activation and sorbitol accumulation in diabetic tissues. Additionally, his recent studies show that glucose activates multiple 

protein kinases and that the activation of these kinases is required for the inflammatory effects of glucose in vascular tissues. At UofL, Dr. 
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Bhatnagar’s work also led to elucidation of the mechanisms by which free radicals and lipid peroxidation products affect the function of individual 

ion channels. He was the leader of a Program Project Grant from the NIEHS to study the cardiovascular toxicity of environmental aldehydes. In 

this program-project he directed a large multi-disciplinary team of investigators studying the molecular and cellular mechanisms of aldehyde 

toxicity. His studies at UofL have led to the development of the new field of Environmental Cardiology. He was the Deputy Editor of Circulation 

Research for 10 years. He has participated in over 50 NIH review panels and chaired several review panels. He was the recipient of the President’s 

Award for Outstanding Scholarship, Research and Creative Activity, University of Louisville, and Partner in Healthcare Award – Contributing to 

Greater Louisville Healthcare Community, in 2007. In 2007, he also received the first Outstanding Faculty Mentor of Graduate Students, and the 

Outstanding Mentor Award from the Conference of Southern Graduate Schools. In 2017, he was designated Research Exemplar by Washington 

University. Dr. Bhatnagar has published 340 peer-reviewed manuscripts, 25 book chapters and reviews and over 200 abstracts. He has mentored 

48 graduate students and post-doctoral fellows in his laboratory and has served on the dissertation committee of 18 Ph.D. students.

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Mr. Kaushal Trivedi

Business Development Manager

Teledyne ISCO | USA

Kaushal.Trivedi@Teledyne.com

Talk Title: Wastewater Sampling for WBE Surveillance

Analysis of wastewater provides an early alert of WBE before symptoms surface out in individuals and clinical tests are performed. Proactive 

actions can be taken to prevent pandemic with alerts. In this presentation you will learn how to collect wastewater samples for WBE 

surveillance. Sampling types and methods will be presented. The location and purpose (WBE prevalence vs Trend) impact types and methods. 

Mr. Kaushal Trivedi earned a Bachelor’s in Electronics Engineering and a Bachelor’s in Physics. Mr. Trivedi has been a water and wastewater 

professional for 32 years and spent with the last 21 years at Teledyne ISCO. He has managed large product portfolios of open channel flow meters 

and automatic samplers. He has also been involved in product development of field measurement technologies, interface protocols, m2m (machine 

to machine) remote communication, as well as sever and cloud-based software. Mr. Trivedi lives in Lincoln Nebraska, USA.

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Dr. Aaron W. Bivins

Post-Doctoral Research Fellow

University of Notre Dame | USA

abivins@nd.edu

Talk Title: Building-level Wastewater Monitoring for COVID-19 using Tampon Swabs and RT-LAMP for Rapid SARSCoV-2 RNA Detection 

We piloted a wastewater surveillance workflow using tampons as passive swabs and reverse transcription loop-mediated 

isothermal amplification (RT-LAMP) to detect SARS-CoV-2 RNA in wastewater. Results for the developed workflow 

were available same day, with a time to result following tampon swab collection of approximately three hours. The 

workflow demonstrated a same-day positive predictive value (PPV) of 33% and negative predictive value (NPV) of 80% 

for incident COVID-19 cases. Even with lower analytical sensitivity the tampon swab and RT-LAMP workflow offers a cost-effective and rapid 

approach that could be leveraged for scalable same-day building-level wastewater monitoring for COVID-19.

Dr. Aaron W. Bivins is a public health engineer leading research at the intersection of microbiology, civil engineering systems, and human health. 

He seeks to characterize interactions between humans and pathogens mediated by water of all kinds – drinking, surface, ground, waste, and reuse. 

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, he established the COVID-19 Wastewater-based Epidemiology (WBE) Collaborative, a global research 

collaboration. Dr. Bivins has led the development of robust and sensitive methods for detecting and quantifying SARS-CoV-2 RNA in wastewater 

and has contributed to WBE efforts throughout the state of Indiana. His research activity builds on his professional experience designing and 

permitting various hydraulic infrastructure including water distribution, wastewater collection, and stormwater systems.

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Panel Discussion: Need for Standards to Support Wastewater Sampling

Moderator: Ms. Sarah Wright

Environmental Laboratories Manager

Association of Public Health Laboratories | USA

wright.sarah@gmail.com

Ms. Sarah Wright, MS, is an environmental laboratories manager at the Association of Public Health Laboratories in 

Silver Spring, MD. In this role, she works to strengthen state and local environmental laboratories. Current projects 

include working with the CDC National Wastewater Surveillance System to build public health laboratory wastewater 

surveillance testing capacity. Previously, she conducted watershed assessments in Wisconsin for the City of Racine and 

worked on national water policy at The Johnson Foundation at Wingspread. She has a master’s degree in environmental 

monitoring from Ohio University and an environmental science and policy degree from Duke University.

Panelists:

Mr. John Birkner, Jr.

Manager Technical Services

Bergen County Utilities Authority | USA

jbirkner@bcua.org

Mr. John Birkner, Jr. attended Bergen Community College and Ramapo College as an undergraduate student. He has 

continued professional studies at Rutgers University/Cooke College and California State University with a focus on 

industrial wastewater treatment and wastewater microbiology.

Mr. Birkner is employed in the wastewater treatment industry where he is the Manager of Technical Services for the 

Bergen County Utilities Authority. Previously he was employed with Envirogen Technologies and Bigler Associates 

where served as the Industrial Pretreatment Program Manager at the Northwest Bergen county Utilities Authority and the Two Bridges Sewerage 

Authority. He has served 12 years as mayor of Westwood, NJ and currently sits on the Board of Trustees for Hackensack Riverkeeper, Inc. & 

Comprehensive Behavioral Health Care.

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Dr. Raul A. Gonzalez

Environmental Scientist

Hampton Roads Sanitation District | USA

rgonzalez@hrsd.com

Dr. Raul A. Gonzalez is an Environmental Scientist at Hampton Roads Sanitation District (HRSD) where he applies molecular methods to 

manmade infrastructure and their adjacent waters. His current projects use DNA-based markers for a variety of applications, including identifying 

compromised sewer infrastructure and quantifying pathogen removal of various wastewater and water reuse treatment trains.

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Dr. Rochelle Holm

Researcher

University of Louisville | USA

Rochelle.holm@louisville.edu

Dr. Rochelle Holm has broad interests in water and sanitation technologies to improve the well-being of the most vulnerable population groups, 

ranging from fecal sludge management to rural water supply. Her current research includes pathogen detection in pit latrines, SARS-COV-2 

surveillance in wastewater, and the role of occupational mobility on the effects of household water, sanitation and hygiene access. Dr. Holm is 

currently with the University of Louisville, and also holds a faculty appointment at Mzuzu University, in Malawi, Africa.

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Mr. Greg Kester

Director of Renewable Resources Programs

California Association of Sanitation Agencies (CASA) | USA

gkester@casaweb.org

Mr. Greg Kester is the Director of Renewable Resource Programs for the California Association of Sanitation Agencies (CASA). Mr. Kester

serves as both the technical and programmatic contact for CASA members and conduit for emerging issues on the state and federal levels on all 

biosolids, renewable energy, and climate change mitigation issues. Recently this has included issues related to SARS-CoV-2 and wastewater-based 

epidemiology. He has worked with the wastewater sector in California, along with researchers and public health officials to advance the use of 

WBE since the pandemic began. He holds a BS in Civil and Environmental Engineering from the University of Wisconsin – Madison.

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Mr. Bruce E. Smith

Environmental Engineer

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) | USA

smith.bruce@epa.gov

Mr. Bruce E. Smith, now with EPA’s Office of Research and Development, is formerly the Assistant Superintendent of 

the Compliance Services Division with the Metropolitan Sewer District of Greater Cincinnati, Ohio. In addition to 

regulatory compliance and divisional administrative duties he also led the innovation efforts, including applied research, 

and was actively involved in the district’s efforts to identify, evaluate and adopt innovative technologies for the 

management and control of wet weather flows. He was a key team member developing MSDGC’s next phase of its $3+ 

billion Wet Weather Improvement Program. Mr. Smith has served as a Senior Engineer with MSDGC managing large capital projects with Ohio 

EPA from 1990 – 2007 in its Surface Water Division.

Mr. Smith has a BS Chemical Engineering from the University of Cincinnati where he also completed Environmental Engineering Masters course 

curriculum. He has also served as an adjunct instructor at Cincinnati State Technical College from 2006 - 2016.

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Mr. David Swain

Associate Vice President

AECOM | USA

David.swain@aecom.com

Mr. David Swain is a Department Manager with the EHS Practice of AECOM. Mr. Swain is currently supervising the field sampling effort on a 

wastewater sampling project for the Commonwealth of Kentucky. He has extensive experience with field environmental assessments and sampling 

of soil, soil vapor, ground water, wastewater, air and sediment.

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Closing Remarks for Day 1

Mr. Philip J. Mattson

Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) | USA

Dr. Nancy J. Lin 

National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) | USA
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DAY 2: TUESDAY, JUNE 15, 2021 

Welcome & Logistics

Mr. Philip J. Mattson

Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) | USA

Dr. Nancy J. Lin 

National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) | USA

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SWWS 202: Testing Methods

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Session Chair: Ms. Sally C. Gutierrez

Senior Advisor for Water

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) | USA

Gutierrez.sally@epa.gov

Ms. Sally C. Gutierrez has recently returned to the Office of Research and Development as Senior Advisor to the 

Director of the Center for Environmental Solutions and Emergency Response. She is assisting in the development of 

wastewater-based epidemiology as an early warning of Covid-19 infections in communities, PFAS treatment for water 

matrices and advancing diversity, equity and inclusion.

From 2018 to mid-2000, she served as the Acting Director of Water Permits Division in the Office of Wastewater Management, Office of Water 

at USEPA in Washington, DC. She was responsible for leading the Agency’s largest environmental permitting program, covering more than 

800,000 wastewater facilities in the US through the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination Program. These include permits for stormwater, 

animal feeding operations, construction sites, and municipal and industrial wastewater. Before taking the detail to Washington DC, she was the 

Director of EPA’s Environmental Technology Innovation Cluster Development and Support Program within the ORD. The program advanced 

environmental protection in tandem with economic development through the formation of public private partnerships. She was the lead on EPA’s 

efforts to leverage its research and development capability in Cincinnati, Ohio with community-based assets to establish the region as a water 

technology innovation hub and leading an effort to network water innovation clusters across the globe. Prior to this new appointment, she was the 

Director of the National Risk Management Research Laboratory (NRMRL) in Cincinnati, Ohio for 8 years. NRMRL was one of three Federal 

research laboratories within the USEPA’s ORD and consisted of 400 scientists and support staff. The Laboratory was responsible for conducting 
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engineering and environmental technology research to support the Agency in policy and regulatory development and implementation. She was 

the Director of the Water Supply and Water Resources Division in NRMRL before becoming its Director and was responsible for leading a national 

technology demonstration program for control of arsenic in drinking water. Before coming to USEPA she was responsible for administering water 

programs for the State of Texas environmental agency in the areas of drinking water, water monitoring, wastewater permitting, dam safety, water 

rights and utility rates. She is a hydrologist by training and has completed over 21 years of service at EPA. When first appointed in 2000, she was 

the first Hispanic woman career Senior Executive Service member hired by USEPA. 

Speakers

Dr. Christobel M. Ferguson

Chief Innovation Officer

The Water Research Foundation | USA

christobelf@gmail.com

Talk Title: Global Update on Wastewater Surveillance for SARS-CoV-2

In April 2020, The Water Research Foundation (WRF) convened global leaders in an international summit to identify 

best practices and high-priority research needs around wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE) in response to the 

COVID-19 pandemic. Because WBE approaches have continued to develop over the past 12 months, WRF convened a 

follow-up global symposium to share updates on WBE activities from around the world, with a focus on how this 

information is being used to support health agencies in their COVID-19 response.

Dr. Christobel M. Ferguson has a Biomedical Science degree and a Master of Science from the University of Technology 

Sydney and a Ph.D. from the University of New South Wales. Dr. Ferguson has led scientific, technical, research and consulting teams in the 

Australian water and environment sector for over 30 years and in early 2020 joined the Water Research Foundation as their Chief Innovation 

Officer. Her focus is supporting the implementation of innovation and new technologies to solve complex problems facing the water resource 

sector to enable utilities to mitigate risk and improve performance.

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Dr. Nichole Brinkman

Biologist

US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) | USA

brinkman.nichole@epa.gov

Talk Title: Overview of the Ohio Wastewater Monitoring Network

Dr. Nichole Brinkman is a Biologist with USEPA’s Office of Research and Development. Her research focuses on the 

presence and dissemination of waterborne pathogens and antimicrobial resistance determinants in the environment. 

Nichole received her Ph.D. in Biological Sciences from the University of Cincinnati.

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Ms. Rebecca Fugitt

Assistant Chief, Bureau of Environmental Health and Radiation Protection

Ohio Department of Health | USA

rebecca.fugitt@odh.ohio.gov

Talk Title: Overview of the Ohio Wastewater Monitoring Network

Ms. Rebecca Fugitt is the Assistant Chief of the Bureau of Environmental Health and Radiation Protection at the Ohio Department of Health 

where she oversees programs related to residential water and sewage, harmful algal blooms, fish consumption advisories and health assessment, 

Legionella, radioactive materials licensing, X-ray registration and inspection, and radiation health and safety. She holds a B.S. and M.S. degrees 

in Geological Sciences from Ohio University and is a registered sanitarian in the state of Ohio. She was the program manager for the Residential 

Water and Sewage program at ODH for 19 years, and program manager for the Water Resources Section at the Ohio Department of Natural 

Resources for 11 years. Prior to joining the state, Rebecca served as a research hydrogeologist for the National Ground Water Association.

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Dr. Alexandria B. Boehm

Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering

Stanford University | USA

aboehm@stanford.edu

Talk Title: Scalable, Sensitive, Representative, and Comparable Approach for High Throughput SARS-CoV-2 RNA Analysis in Settled Solids

We have been quantifying "pan-SARS-CoV-2" RNA targets (N, S, ORF1a) and variant mutations (HV69-70, E484K/N501Y) in settled solids 

from eight wastewater treatment plants in Northern California on a daily basis since November 2020. A focus on SARS-CoV-2 RNA in solids 
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enabled us to scale-up our measurements with a commercial lab partner. Samples were collected daily and results were posted to a website 

within 24-hours. SARS-CoV-2 RNA in daily samples correlated to incidence COVID-19 cases in the sewersheds; a 1 log10 increase in SARSCoV-2 RNA in settled solids corresponds to a 0.58 log10 (4X) increase in sewershed incidence rate. SARS-CoV-2 RNA signals measured with 

the commercial laboratory partner were comparable across plants and to measurements conducted in a university laboratory when normalized 

by pepper mild mottle virus PMMoV RNA. Results suggest that SARS-CoV-2 RNA should be detectable in settled solids for COVID-19 incidence 

rates at least as low as 1/100,000. Variant mutations are detectable in settled solids matching clinical data on variant circulation. These 

sensitive, representative, scalable, and comparable methods will be valuable for future efforts to scale-up wastewater-based epidemiology.

Dr. Alexandria B. Boehm is a Professor with the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, at Stanford University. Dr. Boehm is also 

a Senior Fellow of the Woods Institute for the Environment and a Faculty Fellow at the Center for Innovation in Global Health. She received her 

Ph.D. in Environmental Engineering from the University of California, Irvine, and holds an M.S. in Environmental Engineering from the same 

university and a B.S. in Engineering and Applied Science from California Institute of Technology. (See full bio at www.stanford.edu/~aboehm).

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Dr. Jordan J. Schmidt

Director, Product Applications

LuminUltra Technologies | Canada

Jordan.schmidt@luminultra.com

Talk Title: Reducing Erosion: Using a Rapid Deployable Testing Solution to Reduce Time Between Sampling and Action

Wastewater surveillance has become a useful tool for monitoring the trend of COVID-19 cases at a community level. Wastewater testing for 

SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, is a non-invasive method that delivers accurate results that have been shown to give advanced 

warning of clinical case trends. Conventional methods typically require specialized equipment and skilled operators to pre-concentrate large 

volumes of wastewater prior to analysis for SARS-CoV-2. LuminUltra® has developed the GeneCount® SARS-CoV-2 Wastewater Test Kit for 

extracting SARS-CoV-2 RNA directly from a 1 mL sample of raw wastewater using magnetic binding bead technology thereby removing the need 

for pre-concentrating samples. Furthermore, it allows for simultaneous testing of both the liquid and solids fraction of the wastewater increasing 

the accuracy of the result. By simplifying the protocol testing can be done near-sample reducing the time between sampling and action.

Dr. Jordan J. Schmidt is the Director of Product Applications at LuminUltra Technologies. Dr. Schmidt holds a PhD in Civil Engineering 

specializing in wastewater treatment. During his academic career he spent time assessing treatment systems in one of the most remote areas of the 

world - the Canadian Arctic. This experience reinforced his need for rapid, accurate tools to be used in a variety of environments and lab 

infrastructure. At LuminUltra, Dr. Schmidt spends his days developing and supporting customers with our accurate, rapid, field-ready tests kits 

for the measurement of microorganisms.

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Dr. Brian Swalla

Staff Scientist

IDEXX Laboratories, Inc. | USA

brian-swalla@idexx.com

Talk Title: The Importance of Validation for Wastewater Surveillance

Wastewater surveillance has delivered actionable public health data over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Because of the urgent nature of the pandemic, the extent of validation for currently used methods varies widely. 

Many methods were deployed before significant data was gathered on performance, and may not have been 

widely tested with a diversity of wastewater samples. As wastewater surveillance moves into the mainstream, it is 

critical that methods be thoroughly validated using real-world wastewater samples, that the validation captures 

as much natural variation as possible (such as ensuring the validation is performed with samples from many different geographies), and that 

validation data be made available to laboratories interested in using the method. Such data are critical to evaluate method performance 

capabilities and limitations, facilitate successful adoption in new laboratories, and ensure consistent and reliable results can be achieved over 

time.

Dr. Brian Swalla received a Ph.D. in Microbiology from the University of Illinois and has 17+ years of experience developing new technologies 

and products in a wide array of microbiological and molecular applications, including microbial and protein biocatalysts, cellulosic biofuels, and 

water quality. Since 2011, he has worked for IDEXX Laboratories Inc. on new products for water microbiology, where he is currently a Staff 

Scientist and most recently led the technical development and validation of a RT-qPCR test for SARS-CoV-2 in wastewater.

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Ms. Carolyn Reifsnyder

Director, Global Product Marketing, Digital Biology Group

Bio-Rad Laboratories | USA

carolyn_reifsnyder@bio-rad.com

Talk Title: SARS-CoV-2 Quantification in Wastewater by Droplet Digital PCR

Ms. Carolyn Reifsnyder leads a high-performing team of product marketers and application scientists in the 

development and execution of DBG's strategic plans and product roadmaps to conceive, incubate and launch 

differentiated products to customers in the translational research, biopharma and molecular diagnostic markets. 

(See full bio at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/carolyn-reifsnyder-a269102/.) 

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Dr. Michael Bussmann

Associate Director, Global Product Management - dPCR

QIAGEN | Germany

michael.bussmann@qiagen.com

Talk Title: Nanoplate Digital PCR for Wastewater Surveillance

Dr. Michael Bussmann has spent 6 years at QIAGEN Product Management for Assay Technologies. He has 10 

years industry experience in total and earned his Ph.D. in Biochemistry.

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Dr. Ellen M. Beasley

CSO

Pangolin Health | USA

ellen.beasley@panoglinhealth.com

Talk Title: SARS-CoV-2 Variant Profiling in Wastewater by Sequencing 

Novel viral strains continue to emerge and to spread, complicating management and containment of the COVID19 pandemic. A smaller number of “Variants of Concern” and “Variants of Interest” have been defined by the 

CDC and WHO. Of these, at present, 13 variants, all have multiple mutations documented in the spike protein gene, as well as further mutations 

across their entire genome. Next generation sequencing (NGS) of the S gene allows unambiguous quantitative identification of these strains in 

wastewater samples. The advantages of this approach are that it is less likely to require frequent versioning of the assay as new strains emerge, 

and the results generally have multiple points of support for viral strain identification or elimination. Disadvantages are the complexity of 

developing a robust amplicon set for profiling S gene mutations, which covers all variants and avoids positioning primers over variants; and the 

data management and analysis pipeline required for analysis and interpretation of the results. We have a version 1 assay that provides excellent 

profiling of the current CDC Variant Strains. We have been able to apply this assay to longitudinal characterization of a specific outbreak, by 

testing dorms on a campus to ascertain and describe variant succession.

Dr. Ellen M. Beasley is an experienced biotechnology executive with a history of working at the intersection between diagnostics and genomics. 

She has had success moving technology into products, DNS sequencing technologies, intellectual property, and diagnostic test development (LDT 

& IVD). Dr. Beasley has a passion for team development, organizational design, communication, and collaboration. (full bio at

https://www.linkedin.com/in/ellen-beasley-b58577/)

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Mr. Ryan Gregerson

Product Marketing Manager

BioFire Defense | USA

Ryan.Gregerson@BioFireDefense.com

Talk Title: BioFire Defense Overview

An introduction to the BioFire FilmArray and available PCR test panels.

Mr. Ryan Gregerson is the Product Marketing Manager for BioFire Defense. He started is career in molecular biology labs and has moved into 

customer facing roles. Ryan previously worked in technical support and helped BioFire customers on-board and troubleshoot their products. In 

his current role he acts as an evangelist for the BioFire FilmArray products.

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Dr. Roberto J. Barbero

Chief Business Officer

Ceres Nanosciences | USA

rbarbero@ceresnano.com

Talk Title: Viral Concentration with Nanotrap Magnetic Virus Particles

Nanotrap Magnetic Virus Particles, from Ceres Nanosciences, rapidly capture and concentrate SARS-CoV-2 from raw 

sewage, requiring no filtration or centrifugation. Automated and manual methods available. The automated method 

enables 96 raw sewage samples to be processed in 4.5 hours (from concentration to RT-qPCR result) and has higher 

recovery efficiencies than conventionally used methods for viral wastewater concentration. At University of California 

San Diego campus, the automated method has been used to process over 9,500 samples from 121 autosamplers covering 

350 buildings. The sensitivity of the high-throughput protocol was shown to detect 1 asymptomatic individual in a building of 415 residents. To 

date, nearly 85% of the individual cases on the UCSD campus have been preceded by positive wastewater samples. Extracted RNA samples from 

this high-throughput method can be used for genome sequencing.

Dr. Roberto J. Barbero has over 15 years of experience operating across a range of responsibilities in the biotechnology sector, including in public 

policy, product development, process engineering, R&D, quality control, manufacturing, and customer-facing roles in startups, at MIT, and in the 

White House. Dr. Barbero has extensive experience building and maintaining strategic partnerships with leading foundations, universities, private 

research institutes, non-profit organizations, federal agencies, and companies across a variety of scientific and technical topics. 

In the White House, Dr. Barbero spent more than four years developing and implementing policy on global and national life science issues, 

including the BRAIN Initiative, the Precision Medicine Initiative, biotechnology regulatory policy, emerging biotechnologies, genome editing, 
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reducing the organ transplant waiting list, cancer diagnostics for the developing world, the federal government’s response to the Zika virus, student 

innovation and entrepreneurship, and federal R&D agency budgets. 

Dr. Barbero received his Ph.D in biological engineering from MIT, where he led or co-led projects on antimicrobial peptides, carbon capture, and 

industrial biocatalysts. He was named an MIT Presidential Fellow and a Siebel Scholar and his research resulted in four publications and two 

granted patents. Before graduate school, he spent five years working for three biotechnology startups – GlycoFi (acquired by Merck), Quantum 

Dot Corporation (acquired by Invitrogen), and Nanostream. He also holds A.B. and B.E. degrees in engineering sciences from Dartmouth College. 

(full bio at https://www.linkedin.com/in/robbie-barbero-6b18a31/)

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Panel Discussion: Need for Standards to Support Testing Methods

Moderator: Dr. Jay L. Garland

Associate Director for Research, Office of Research and Development 

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) | USA

garland.jay@epa.gov

Dr. Jay L. Garland joined the EPA’s Office of Research and Development in 2011. Dr. Garland received a Ph.D. in Environment Science from the 

University of Virginia and spent over 20 years working on NASA’s efforts to develop closed, bioregenerative life support systems for extended 

human spaceflight. NASA recognized him for innovative technical achievements four separate times. He has worked on a range of topics, including 

methods for microbial community analysis, factors affecting survival of human associated pathogens, and various biological approaches for 

recycling wastes. Dr. Garland has completed visiting fellowships and professorships at the Institute for Environment Sciences in Japan, the 

University of Innsbruck in Austria, and the University of Buenos Aires in Argentina. His current efforts focus on advancing innovative approaches 

to water infrastructure, including decentralized water reuse, and mitigating risks associated with antimicrobial resistance in the water cycle.
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Panelists:

Dr. Kartik Chandran

Professor of Environmental Engineering

Columbia University | USA

kc2288@columbia.edu

Dr. Kartik Chandran is an environmental engineer at Columbia University, where he is a Professor in the Department of Earth and 

Environmental Engineering. He primarily works on the interface between environmental molecular and microbiology, environmental 

biotechnology and environmental engineering. Applications of his work have ranged from energy and resource efficient treatment of nitrogen 

containing wastewater streams, development and implementation of sustainable approaches to sanitation to novel models for resource recovery. 

Under his stewardship, the directions of biological wastewater treatment and biological nutrient removal were established for the first time ever 

in the history of Columbia University. In 2015, he received the MacArthur Fellowship for his innovative work on “integrating microbial ecology, 

molecular biology, and engineering to transform wastewater from a troublesome pollutant to a valuable resource”. (See full bio at:

www.columbia.edu/~kc2288)

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Mr. Kahlil Lawless

Microbiology Segment Manager – Americas

Illumina | Canada

klawless@illumina.com

Mr. Kahlil Lawless is currently the Agrigenomics and Microbiology Segment Manager for the Americas at Illumina, 

based in Toronto, Canada. After studying genetics at Victoria University of Wellington in New Zealand he worked in 

Australia as a researcher and molecular biologist in the Department of Primary Industries and the Environment before 

joining Illumina.

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Dr. Mia Mattioli

Environmental Engineer

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) | USA

kuk9@cdc.gov

Dr. Mia Mattioli is the Principle Investigator for the CDC’s Waterborne Disease Prevention Branch’s Domestic WASH 

Lab within Environmental Microbiology and Engineering Laboratory Team. Her research focuses on the intersection 

between the environment and human health with a specific interest in the relationship between, and fate and transport 

of, fecal indicators and enteric pathogens. Her lab is engaged in a wide range of environmental research areas including 

drinking water, irrigation water, wastewater, recreational water, soil, food, water distribution systems, and the 

development of advanced molecular detection technologies. Dr. Mattioli also leads CDC’s environmental investigations of waterborne outbreak 

responses and currently serves as the Science Lead for the CDC National Wastewater Surveillance System. She has a Bachelor of Science in 

Biological Engineering from the University of Georgia and a Master and Ph.D. in Environmental Engineering from Stanford University.

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Dr. Gertjan Medema

Principal Microbiologist

KWR Water Research Institute

gertjan.medema@kwrwater.nl | Netherlands

Dr. Gertjan Medema is principal microbiologist at KWR Water Research Institute in the Netherlands. He is part-time 

professor of Water & Health at Delft University of Technology and Visiting Hannah Professor at Michigan State 

University. His main area of expertise is detection methods, transmission, risk assessment and epidemiology of 

waterborne pathogens. He has been the scientific coordinator of the joint research program of the Netherlands water 

utilities. He is advisor of the WHO and the European Commission on microbial safety of water and initiated research on sewage surveillance of 

COVID-19.

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Dr. Martin Shafer

Senior Scientist

University of Wisconsin-Madison, State Laboratory of Hygiene | USA

mmshafer@wisc.edu

Dr. Matt Shafer is a Senior Scientist with the University of Wisconsin-Madison State Laboratory of Hygiene (WSLH). 

He is an environmental biogeochemist, working at the interface of chemistry, biology and toxicology. He serves as 

research lead at the Environmental Health Division of the WSLH, directs the WSLH Trace Element Research Group, and 

oversees Quality Assurance for the National Atmospheric Deposition Program (NADP). His research program addresses 

the cycling of metals and emerging contaminants in aquatic, biologic, and atmospheric systems with a focus on the 

interface of environmental chemistry and human health. Dr. Shafer’s current studies focus on interrelationships between trace element speciation 

and biological effect and element source attribution using elemental and isotopic fingerprinting. He is an expert in the analytical chemistry 

(particularly plasma mass spectrometry and electrochemistry) of metals in clinical and environmental matrices and helped develop many of the 

clean sampling and analytical approaches for trace elements now used by the scientific and regulatory communities. His research group developed 

new tools for quantification of the oxidative activity of atmospheric aerosols and has applied this toolbox to address chemical drivers of aerosolassociated toxicity in a large body of publications. Dr. Shafer has authored and co-authored more than 185 peer reviewed manuscripts.

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SWWS 203: Data Reporting and Analytics

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Session Chair: Mr. Paul Storella

Senior Vice President Water Business Line

AECOM | USA

paul.storella@aecom.com

Mr. Paul Storella leads the New York Metro Water Business Line and AECOM’s national SARS CoV-2 

wastewater surveillance program. The Water business line provides planning, design, and construction/program 

management services for large-scale water and wastewater infrastructure projects throughout the globe. Under Paul’s leadership, the Water has 

expanded AECOM's portfolio to include a number of wastewater surveillance projects including the Bergen County Utility Authority and the 

Commonwealth of Kentucky Department of Corrections programs. In his more than 30-year career, Paul has worked on many significant water 

and wastewater projects, including the Deer Island Sewage Treatment Plant, the centerpiece of the Massachusetts Water Resource Authority’s 

program to protect Boston Harbor; the F. Wayne Hill Water Resources Center in Atlanta, a tertiary treatment facility; and the US Agency for 

International Development’s expansion of the wastewater collection system in Alexandria, Egypt.

Speakers

Dr. Wiley Jennings

Health Scientist

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) | USA

oht6@cdc.gov

Talk Title: Available Data Tools: National Wastewater Surveillance System

This talk will provide an overview of CDC's National Wastewater Surveillance System DCIPHER data platform, data submission process, and 

analytics. It will touch on the utility of standard materials for data comparability and the CDC-NCBI collaboration to develop a BioSample 

attribute package for submission of wastewater surveillance sequencing data to NCBI.

Dr. Wiley Jennings serves as the Data Lead for CDC's National Wastewater Surveillance System. He holds a Ph.D. in Environmental Engineering 

and Science from Stanford University.

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Dr. Lauren Stadler

Assistant Professor

Rice University | USA

lauren.stadler@rice.edu

Talk Title: SARS-CoV-2 Wastewater Surveillance and Public Health Applications in Houston, TX

In this talk we describe the SARS-CoV-2 wastewater monitoring program implemented in Houston, TX. In this 

collaborative effort, we have been collecting, processing, and analyzing weekly wastewater samples over the past 13 

months from 39 wastewater treatment plants in Houston that serve 2.3M+ people, 53 schools, and 22 congregate living facilities. We describe 

the types of data that are generated, and how the data are used to inform public health action, both at the wastewater treatment plant level, and 

at upstream (manhole) sampling locations.

Dr. Lauren Stadler is an assistant professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Rice University. Her research is focused 

on advancing sustainable and safe wastewater management systems that can be used to generate valuable resources and monitored to inform public 

health.

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Dr. Loren Hopkins

City of Houston Chief Environmental Science Officer, Chief of the Bureau of Community and Children’s 

Environmental Health at the Houston Health Department, and a Professor in the Practice in the Department of Statistics 

at Rice University

Houston Health Department and Rice University | USA

loren.hopkins@houstontx.gov

Talk Title: SARS-CoV-2 Wastewater Surveillance and Public Health Applications in Houston, TX

In this talk we describe the SARS-CoV-2 wastewater monitoring program implemented in Houston, TX. In this 

collaborative effort, we have been collecting, processing, and analyzing weekly wastewater samples over the past 13 months from 39 wastewater 

treatment plants in Houston that serve 2.3M+ people, 53 schools, and 22 congregate living facilities. We describe the types of data that are 

generated, and how the data are used to inform public health action, both at the wastewater treatment plant level, and at upstream (manhole) 

sampling locations.

Dr. Loren Hopkins is the City of Houston Chief Environmental Science Officer, Chief of the Bureau of Community and Children’s Environmental 

Health at the Houston Health Department, and a Professor in the Practice in the Department of Statistics at Rice University. In this dual capacity, 

she conducts applied research and uses the results to inform policies at the City of Houston to improve the health of the community. She leads the 

city’s COVID-19 data science team.

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Ms. Aparna Keshaviah

Senior Statistician

Mathematica | USA

akeshaviah@mathematica-mpr.com

Talk Title: Translating Wastewater Data for Policymaking

With hundreds of communities across the country now implementing wastewater surveillance for the SARS-CoV-2 

virus, standards for analysis and reporting are needed to ensure that the resulting data are reliable and comparable. 

More work is needed to identify robust metrics for reporting wastewater viral concentrations and criteria for 

triggering alerts and action. To communicate findings for policymakers charged with pandemic management and 

response decisions, lab results can be presented alongside administrative data sources that officials are already monitoring. Such data 

contextualization should move beyond confirmed cases to also include local and regional indicators of risk and population vulnerability. 

Aligning and synthesizing wastewater data with community data can provide a more holistic picture of the threat, facilitate data triangulation, 

and yield novel policy insights. For the opioid epidemic, such approaches have been used to predict the need for overdose response, assess the 

impacts of law enforcement, and measure black-market activity.

Ms. Aparna Keshaviah is a senior statistician at Mathematica who brings advanced analytics and innovative data to clarify urgent questions across 

multiple public health arenas. Her translational approach to wastewater surveillance uses data integration and dynamic visualization to help officials 

manage infectious diseases and drug epidemics. Her work aims to communicate scientific findings to technical audiences, academic research 

communities, and the general public alike. Prior to joining Mathematica, she conducted head-to-head comparisons of the safety and efficacy of 

breast cancer treatments to help clinicians tailor patient management decisions. She also analyzed and validated psychiatric symptom profiles to 

inform the diagnosis and treatment of debilitating mental health conditions. Her research has been widely published in leading journals such as the 

New England Journal of Medicine, JAMA Psychiatry, and Environmental Health Perspectives. Ms. Keshaviah is a 2006-2007 Fulbright fellow 

and holds a Master’s degree in biostatistics from the Harvard School of Public Health.

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Dr. Mariana Matus

CEO and Cofounder

Biobot Analytics, Inc. | USA

mariana@biobot.io

Talk Title: Biobot: Building early warning health analytics from data available in our sewers

Over the past year, Biobot has tested close to ten thousand wastewater samples from across the U.S. for SARS-CoV-2. 

The communities that have worked with Biobot include large metro areas, cities, rural areas, Indian territories, as well 

as building-level communities such as nursing homes, prison systems, places of work, and places of study. More 

recently, Biobot got an award from HHS to collect a nationwide dataset covering 320 communities and 100 million 

people. Outside some early method development, the vast majority of Biobot's data has been produced with a single 

standardized method that relies on commercially-available kits. The depth of data collected plus close collaborations with public health officials 

and academics have highlighted three successful applications of wastewater epidemiology data: i) Independent confirmation of clinical data 

trends; ii) Outbreak detection in a background of little disease activity; iii) Nationwide ranking based on all other recent samples. Before Covid19, Biobot had an opioid use monitoring product on the market to inform harm-reduction programs in cities.

Dr. Mariana Matus is CEO and Cofounder at Biobot Analytics where she leads the development of a wastewater epidemiology data platform to 

make public health more proactive and equitable. With a background in microbiology and computational biology, Dr. Matus specialized in 

wastewater epidemiology in Professor Eric Alm’s laboratory at the Biological Engineering Department at MIT. Through Biobot, aims to bring 

wastewater epidemiology platform across the globe to serve all of the world’s cities and stop outbreaks before they become pandemics. She values 

wastewater epidemiology for its accurate and privacy-protected data as an invaluable tool for public health and public safety officials.

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Ms. Ana Grace Alvarado

Graduate Student

University of California Merced | USA

aalvarado55@ucmerced.edu

Talk Title: Rapid Fire – Global COVID-19 Wastewater Monitoring Efforts: Development of the COVIDPoops19 

Dashboard

A year since the declaration of the global coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic there have been over 110 

million cases and 2.5 million deaths. Using methods to track community spread of other viruses such as poliovirus, 

environmental virologists and those in the wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE) field quickly adapted their existing 

methods to detect SARS-CoV-2 RNA in wastewater. Unlike COVID-19 case and mortality data, there was not a global 

dashboard to track wastewater monitoring of SARS-CoV-2 RNA worldwide. Here, we’ll discuss the development of the 
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COVIDPoops19 dashboard to disseminate information regarding sites, universities, research institutions and private laboratories in countries 

that are involved in WBE for SARS-CoV-2. Methods to assemble the dashboard combined standard literature review, direct submissions, and 

daily, social media keyword searches. Over 200 universities, 1,000 sites, and 50 countries with 59 dashboards monitor wastewater for SARSCoV-2 RNA. However, data is not widely shared publicly or accessible to researchers to inform public health actions, meta-analysis, better 

coordinate, and determine equitable distribution of monitoring sites. For WBE to be used to its full potential during COVID-19 and beyond, 

show us the data.

Ms. Ana Grace F. Alvarado is a graduate student in Environmental Systems at the University of California Merced. She received a BA in Chemistry 

and Hispanic Studies at the College of Saint Benedict in Minnesota and her research interests include Life Cycle Assessment, the effects of COVID19 on the food supply chain, and how wastewater based epidemiology can be used to inform actions to improve public health.

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Panel Discussion: Need for Standards to Support Data Reporting and Analytics

Moderator: Mr. Paul Storella (see above for photo and bio)

Senior Vice President Water Business Line

AECOM | USA

paul.storella@aecom.com

Panelists:

Dr. Ellie Graeden

Chief Executive Officer

Talus Analytics | USA

egraeden@talusanalytics.com

Dr. Ellie Graeden is the founder and CEO of Talus Analytics and an associate adjunct professor with the Georgetown 

University Center for Global Health Science and Security (GHSS). She leads an interdisciplinary research and 

development team that applies data analysis, modeling, and visualization to solve challenging problems at the 

intersection of policy, science, and strategy. Dr. Graeden has applied her expertise to developing quantitative approaches for global-scale decision 

making. With an emphasis on applying the best available data to decision making during emergencies, she has led projects in support of FEMA 
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and the White House National Security Council to coordinate data-driven decision making for public health emergencies and other hazards. Most 

recently, Dr. Graeden and her team have worked with CDC National Center of Immunization and Respiratory Diseases to develop platforms for 

health care visibility, vaccination coverage, and response efforts for influenza and COVID-19. In collaboration with the Georgetown University 

GHHS, her team helped lead development of a comprehensive inventory of policies implemented to mitigate COVID-19 and model the impact of 

those policies. 

Dr. Graeden earned her undergraduate degree in microbiology from Oregon State University and her doctorate in biology from the Massachusetts 

Institute of Technology (MIT), where she held a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship. She was named a 2013 Emerging 

Leader in Biosecurity Fellow with the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health Center for Health Security.

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Mr. Robert Greenberg

CEO

G&H International Services, Inc. | USA

rgreenberg@ghinternational.com

Talk Title: Ensuring Trusted Data to Ensure Trustworthy Analysis 

Mr. Robert Greenberg is founder and Chief Executive Officer of G&H International Services Inc., a Washington D.C. based and national consulting 

firm that provides services to enhance the safety and security of communities across the nation. G&H is a national leader in developing processes 

and the cost-effective technical capabilities to enable organizations to identify, acquire, store, manage, share, analyze and report on the data needed 

to make timely and informed decisions. During the COVID 19 pandemic G&H developed logistics management systems for various State 

emergency management agencies and partnered with AECOM to develop the Data Integrity and Reporting System as a chain of custody system 

for quality control over the data being analyzed from wastewater sampling. 

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Mrs. Stacie Reckling

GIS Analyst

NC Department of Health and Human Services, Division of Public Health | USA

Stacie.reckling@dhhs.nc.gov

Mrs. Stacie Reckling is a GIS analyst at the NC Department of Health and Human Services. She also works as a Research Associate at the Center 

for Geospatial Analytics at NC State University. By wearing ‘two hats’ Mrs. Reckling can use her geospatial research to enhance public health 

programs. Her creative thinking has led to the development of new GIS methods for wastewater surveillance including systematic sewershed 
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delineation, and population weighted estimates of COVID-19 cases in the sewershed. In her free time, she enjoys hiking with her family, fiber 

arts and brewing new flavors of kombucha.

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Dr. Rachel R. Spurbeck

Senior Genomics Research Scientist

Battelle Memorial Institute | USA

spurbeck@battelle.org

Dr. Rachel R. Spurbeck is a senior genomics research scientist at Battelle Memorial Institute and serves as a subject matter 

expert and principal investigator for wastewater-based epidemiology, metagenomics, forensic genomics, and emerging 

genomic technology studies. She has over 15 years of professional laboratory experience and istrained in genetics, bacterial 

pathogenesis, and biotechnology research and development. Dr. Spurbeck previously worked in the biotechnology 

industry, developing novel Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) library preparation kits and applications for whole genome 

sequencing, targeted sequencing methods including both amplicon and hybridization sequencing, transcriptomics, metagenomics, and 

epigenomics. She has published 19 peer-reviewed publications and book chapters with two manuscripts currently in press (full bibliography is at 

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/myncbi/1bgwvVrdtVTQQr/bibliography/57543137/public/?sort=date&direction=ascending).

Dr. Spurbeck will bring experience with wastewater sequencing the whole genome of SARS-CoV-2 to detect variants of importance to diagnostics 

and vaccine efficacy to the proposed study. She is currently the principal investigator on National Science Foundation grant number 2033137 

where her team has successfully sequenced and distinguished variants in SARS-CoV-2 across time and space within the city of Toledo, Ohio. Her

genomics laboratory will contribute biweekly sequencing for sites within the Ohio Coronavirus Wastewater Monitoring Network.

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SWWS 204: Role of Standards in Supporting the Use of WWS Data

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Session Chair: Dr. Ted Smith

Associate Professor

University of Louisville School of Medicine | USA

ted.smith@louisville.edu

Dr. Ted Smith has a breadth of experience and record of accomplishment in the academic, civic, and private sectors that 

will contribute to the success of the proposed research. In his career, he has specifically focused on delivering new 

models and methods for clinical research. Many of Dr. Smith’s projects have included robust engagement between 

academic institutions and local government, and they often involve applications of new technologies with significant 

community participation. His interest in novel technological approaches dates back to his graduate and post- doctoral 

studies when he was awarded a NASA graduate fellowship to develop first-generation virtual environment technology 

studies to demonstrate a promising theory of sensorimotor integration which has since informed a generation of virtual reality space medical 

applications. Dr. Smith possess a decade of experience in developing new applications of digital technology for respiratory disease, directly 

associated with environmental factors such as air pollution. He also has extensive experience working in local government, having served as the 

city of Louisville, Kentucky’s first Chief Innovation Officer. In that role, a major focus of his work was translating research to provide public 

health benefits. Dr. Smith’s work was funded, in part, by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and was foundational to the city government 

prioritizing place-based clinical research. In his recent role as the Research Translation Core leader for the Louisville Superfund Research Center 

he has developed place-based environmental monitoring methods. Most recently, these methods have included wastewater monitoring of SARSCoV-2 in Louisville Metropolitan area. Today Dr. Smith leads the adaptation and build-out of the university’s wastewater-based epidemiology 

capability.
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Speakers

Dr. Sandra McLellan

Professor

University of Wisconsin School of Freshwater Sciences | USA

mclellan@uwm.edu

Talk Title: Communicating Sewage Surveillance Data for a Public Health Response

Dr. Sandra McLellan’s training in clinical laboratory sciences, medical microbiology, and environmental toxicology 

has given her the unique skill set to pursue questions related to microorganisms that flux between the primary habitat 

of human hosts and environmental reservoirs. For the past 12+ years Dr. McLellan has been funded by NIH to identify 

new indicators of waterborne disease by sequencing sewage and other fecal pollution sources and characterizing the 

microbial population structure. In her lab she has used novel computational approaches to detect ecologically relevant 

patterns and thus identified a number of human cut microbiome members that are specific to humans, highly abundant, and appear to be “steady 

state” in human population. She has also developed a sequenced based source identification platform FORENSIC that she has made available to 

the larger scientific community as an open source, web-based tool. A primary goal of her lab is to translate their discoveries into tools that can be 

used by public health. (See full bio at https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/myncbi/sandra.mclellan.1/cv/497151/)

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Panel Discussion: Need for Standards to Support Data Reporting and Analytics

Moderator: Dr. Ted Smith (see above for photo and bio)

Associate Professor

University of Louisville School of Medicine | USA

ted.smith@louisville.edu
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Panelists:

Major Michael Dietrich, Ph.D.

Bioenvironmental Engineer

U.S. Air Force | USA

michael.t.dietrich4.mil@mail.mil

Dr. Michael Dietrich is a Bioenvironmental Engineer stationed at Tyndall Air Force Base in Panama City, Florida, where he is responsible for 

occupational health, environmental health, and radiation safety across the installation. Prior to his current assignment, he was an Air Force 

environmental health consultant. He has recently led a wastewater surveillance pilot study and participated in USAF and US Government 

working groups focused on the topic of wastewater surveillance, which has provided a glimpse of the promise and challenge associated with 

wastewater surveillance. 

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Ms. Rosa Inchausti

Deputy City Manager

City of Tempe | USA

Rosa_inchausti@tempe.gov

Ms. Rosa Inchausti’s 28 years with the City have included many firsts. She began her career as the first bilingual Marriage 

and Family Therapist then forged the City’s diversity efforts as the first Diversity Director. Her most recent promotion 

was to the role of the first Strategic Management and Diversity Director. In this role she is responsible for transforming 

the organization into a data-driven municipality and aligning the City Council’s priorities into an actionable Strategic Plan. 

As co-chair of Tempe’s Technology and Innovation Steering Committee, Ms. Inchausti identifies and recommends the 

adoption of new technologies and innovations that advance the quality of life for residents and businesses. Two notable 

projects that stemmed from this role was the creation of a roadmap for the integration of Autonomous Vehicles into a municipality and the launch 

of wastewater epidemiology via municipal infrastructure. Ms. Inchausti’s areas of responsibility are Special Projects: Public Safety Advisory Task 

Force and Covid19 Recovery efforts. Most importantly, Ms. Inchausti’s true passion and dedication is in prioritizing equity and inclusion in all 

city operations. 

Ms. Inchausti was raised in Southern California and received a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology from Loyola Marymount University. She then 

moved to Arizona and received a Master’s in Counseling from Northern Arizona University. She has been a proud resident of Tempe for over 25 

years where she raised her daughters Alexia and Andrianna. 
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Dr. Nathan LaCross

Wastewater Surveillance Program Manager

Utah Department of Health | USA

nlacross@utah.gov

Dr. Nathan LaCross is an epidemiologist with the COVID Active Response Team at the Utah Department of Health 

(UDOH). He received a Master of Public Health in 2006 and a doctorate in epidemiology in 2011, both from the 

University of Michigan. He first joined the Utah Department of Health in 2013 working with the Environmental 

Epidemiology Program on environmental health issues in Utah. Since March of 2020, he has been working on COVID19 surveillance and assisting the state’s pandemic response. In November 2020, Dr. LaCross moved to a new position 

within UDOH to manage Utah’s wastewater surveillance program.

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Dr. Sandra McLellan (see above for photo and bio)

Professor

University of Wisconsin School of Freshwater Sciences | USA

mclellan@uwm.edu

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Mrs. Halley Reeves

Vice President of Community Health Impact

Oklahoma University Medicine | USA

Halley.Reeves@oumedicine.com

As Vice President of Community Health Impact for OU Medicine, Halley Reeves brings her public health practice and 

economic development background to bear in her work, offering health data analysis, planning and assessment, and 

various approaches to thinking about community health improvement efforts for the state's only comprehensive 

academic medical system. through her oversight of the health system's community benefit and as a result of the multi-disciplinary nature of her 

work, she focuses on cross-sectorial collaboration building with the aim of collectively impacting health and defining new ways to measure that 

impact.

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Closing Remarks for Day 2

Mr. Philip J. Mattson

Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) | USA

Dr. Nancy J. Lin 

National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) | USA
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DAY 3: FRIDAY, JUNE 18, 2021 

Welcome & Logistics

Mr. Philip J. Mattson

Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) | USA

Dr. Nancy J. Lin 

National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) | USA

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SWWS 301: Building an Enduring Capability 

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Session Chair: Mr. Philip J. Mattson

Standards Executive

Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) | USA

Philip.mattson@hq.dhs.gov

Mr. Philip J. Mattson serves as the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Standards Executive and Senior Standards Advisor in the DHS 

Science and Technology Directorate (S&T). He coordinates standards and conformity assessment activities across the Department and manages 

a broad portfolio of standards development activities including detection and personal protective equipment standards and response robot test 

method development.

Mr. Mattson is the DHS representative to the Interagency Committee on Standards Policy, and currently chairs the ASTM E54 Committee on 

Homeland Security Applications. He serves on the Board of Directors of the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) and also serves on 

several ASTM Technical Committees, the ANSI Unmanned Aircraft Systems Standardization Collaborative Steering Committee, and on 

standing committees in ANSI, the Society for Standards Professionals and in the Interagency Board for Emergency Preparedness and Response.

He holds a bachelor’s degree in Nuclear Engineering Technology from Oregon State University, and a master’s degree in Nuclear Physics from 

the Naval Postgraduate School. He has extensive training in nuclear weapons and radiological incident management and is a registered 

Professional Engineer. Mr. Mattson is a retired U.S. Army officer; serving over 20 years as a combat engineer and nuclear physicist.
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Speakers

Dr. Kimberli Miller

Wildlife Disease Specialist

U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) National Wildlife Health Center | USA

kjmiller@usgs.gov

Talk Title: Making It Count-Keeping It Available: Wildlife Disease Situational Awareness

Healthy and resilient wildlife, domestic animal, plant, human, and water resources all contribute to a healthy thriving ecosystem. Compounding 

stressors affect resiliency and can lead to disease outbreaks. Worldwide, over 40% of emerging diseases are estimated to have a wildlife 

connection1. Knowing where and when wildlife diseases are occurring and what species are involved is important for not only for understanding 

immediate disease risks but also the factors contributing to wildlife resiliency. The USGS National Wildlife Health Center (NWHC) is the only 

federal Biosafety level 3 diagnostic and research facility in the US focused on wildlife health and disease. Working with State, Federal, and 

Tribal partners, NWHC has amassed an extensive 45+ year collection of wildlife diagnostic and mortality event information including passive 

and active disease surveillance. In addition, state department of natural resource agencies generate data through their own wildlife health 

programs. These disparate data sources are important for real-time situational awareness and biosurveillance efforts but difficult to access. To 

address this data sharing need, NWHC created the Wildlife Health Information Sharing Partnership-event reporting system (WHISPers) through 

partnership and funding by the Department of Homeland Security – Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction - National Biosurveillance 

Integration Center. This on-going project has required careful attention and creative solutions to curating disease data for public and partner 

use. (Jones and others. 2008. Global trends in emerging infectious diseases. Nature.)

Dr. Kimberli Miller has been a Wildlife Disease Specialist at the USGS National Wildlife Health Center since 1992. She has a Doctor of 

Veterinary Medicine degree and a BS degree in Animal Science from the University of Missouri-Columbia. Since joining the NWHC, Kim has 

worked on disease issues and questions across the country. This work has allowed Kim to practice non-traditional veterinary medicine and be 

involved in wildlife conservation on a large scale. One long term project involved representing NWHC as a founding partner in reintroducing 

whooping cranes to the Eastern US. Presently her efforts have been focused on data management and making Center wildlife mortality 

information more available for use by internal and external users. She has a DVM and a BS in Animal Science from University of MissouriColumbia. 

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Dr. Jayne B. Morrow

Assistant Vice President of Research and Economic Development

Montana State University | USA

jayne.morrow@montana.edu

Talk Title: Documentary Standards for Biological Response

Dr. Jayne B. Morrow has led a broad portfolio of research program and science policy development relevant to a range of priorities in the United 

States and abroad including dynamic technical and policy challenges presented by the biosurveillance and biological threat response communities. 

Dr. Morrow has demonstrated a career working across stakeholders to foster engagement, create strategic vision and build consensus including 

development of standards on a range of technical program and public policy areas including national security, environmental health, public health 

and safety and law enforcement for response to Anthrax, Ebola, SARS-CoV-2 and applied these same principles to the analytical characterization 

of the opioid epidemic. Dr. Morrow formerly led national science and technology (S&T) strategic policy development as the Executive Director 

of the National Science and Technology Council in the Executive Office of the President during the Obama Administration. Prior to that position

she led biothreat response and metrology for biological science programs at the National Institute of Standards and Technology. Her research 

efforts have resulted in 45 peer-reviewed articles, reports and standards; over 200 technical presentations and operational exercises. Recently, to 

enhance the response to COVID-19, Dr. Morrow partnered with motivated volunteers to form a non-for-profit entity, CLEAN2020 Summit, to 

bring together leaders from business, policy, standards development, science and engineering to better understand current knowledge and identify 

opportunities to work together to control viral transmission in the built environment. These efforts continue to help translate the research, standards 

and guidance into practice. She currently serves as the Assistant Vice President of Research and Economic Development at Montana State 

University where she is working to develop stronger connections between science, technology and research among academia, industry and 

government agencies. She has a B.Sc. degree in Civil Engineering from Montana State University as well as a M.S. and Ph.D. in Environmental 

Engineering with a specialty in molecular and microbiology from the University of Connecticut.

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Dr. Orin C. Shanks 

Senior Scientist

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) | USA

shanks.orin@epq.gov

Talk Title: Development and Performance of NIST SRM 2917 for Molecular Recreational Water Quality Testing

Dr. Orin Shanks is a Senior Scientist for the United States Environmental Protection Agency in the Office of Research and Development Center 

for Environmental Measurement and Modeling. Dr. Shanks has been with the EPA for over 15 years. His chief research interests include molecular 
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method development and implementation, fecal source identification, nucleic acid fate and transport, and wastewater surveillance. Dr. Shanks 

received his undergraduate and master’s degrees from the University of Wyoming and his Ph.D. from Oregon State University.

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Ms. Patsy Root

Regulatory Affairs Manager

IDEXX Water | USA

patsy-root@idexx.com

Talk Title: Draft Accreditation Checklist for Wastewater COVID PCR Testing

This talk will review the need for, and development of, a checklist for laboratories to follow when performing and 

requesting accreditation for methods that test for SARS CoV-2 virus in wastewater.

Ms. Patsy Root received her M.S. in Biochemistry from University of Maine, Orono. Ms. Root has over 14 years’ 

experience in water microbiology, water-related regulations and environmental laboratory accreditation. She has worked with a variety of 

regulatory agencies worldwide in attaining regulatory approval for IDEXX methods and on Validation/verification of methods. She is a long-time 

participant in various standards development organizations including with TNI, Standard Methods for the Examination of Water and Wastewater 

and ASHRAE. Ms. Root is an active member of the following organizations: 

• American Public Health Laboratories; Environmental Laboratory Science Committee, member ASHRAE, Standard 188:2015, Guideline 

12:2000, ASHRAE 514 on Legionellosis prevention

• American Water Works Association (AWWA), member

• AOAC, Water and Wastewater subcommittee, Chair

• American Council of Independent Laboratories (ACIL), 

• Environmental Science Section (ESS), member

• Wastewater/COVID Accreditation Task Group, Chair

• Canadian Water Works Association (CWWA), Drinking Water Committee, member 

• Environmental Laboratory Advisory Board (ELAB), a US EPA Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA) Board, reporting the US EPA 

Administrator; past Chair

• National Environmental Monitoring Conference (NEMC), Session Coordinator 

• Standard Method for the Examination of Water and Wastewater, Part 9000, reviewer and contributor; Part 9213 Joint Task Group

• TNI, The National Environmental Laboratory Accreditation Conference

• Executive Board of Directors, Secretary of the Board

• Policy Committee, Chair
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• Microbiology Expert Committee, Past Co-Chair

• Microbiology Proficiency Testing Committee, member

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Dr. Amy E. Kirby 

National Wastewater Surveillance System Program Lead

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) | USA

agk1@cdc.gov

Talk Title: Enduring Capability: NWSS Perspective 

Dr. Amy E. Kirby is an Environmental Microbiologist in the Waterborne Disease Prevention Branch and the 

Program Lead for the National Wastewater Surveillance System (NWSS) at the Centers for Disease Control and 

Prevention (CDC). She has a Bachelor of Science in Agriculture (BSA, major: Microbiology) from the University 

of Georgia, a PhD in Microbiology from the University of Buffalo, SUNY, and a Master’s of Public Health in 

Epidemiology from Emory University. At CDC, Dr. Kirby is interested in leveraging environmental microbiology 

methods to measure pathogens, antibiotic resistance genes, and other health indicators in natural and man-made water systems. This data can be 

used to estimate health risks from environmental exposures, as well as measures of the health of the surrounding communities. Since February 

2020, she has been working on the COVID-19 response as part of the Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene team. As part of that team, she led the 

development and implementation of NWSS.

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Dr. Tonya Lynn Nichols

Senior Science Advisor

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) | USA

Nichols.tonya@epa.gov

Talk Title: Enduring Capability: One Health Perspective

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Mr. Jeffrey A. Wenzel

Chief, Bureau of Environmental Epidemiology

Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services | USA

Jeff.Wenzel@health.mo.gov

Talk Title: Enduring Capability: Public Health Decision Maker Perspective

Presentation will discuss what would be needed for the nation to build an enduring capability in wastewater surveillance 

overall as it relates to standards (e.g., documentary standards, reference, materials, methods and data comparability).

Mr. Jeffrey A. Wenzel has worked for the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services for 19 years. During that 

time, he has served multiple roles including laboratory scientist, environmental specialist, epidemiologist, and has served 

in his current role of Bureau Chief of the Bureau of Environmental Epidemiology for the last 3 years.

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Dr. George A. Conway

Director

Deschutes County Health Services Department | USA

george.conway@deschutes.org

Talk Title: Enduring Capability: A Local Health Department Perspective

We have piloted and now routinely use wastewater sampling for supplemental SARS-CoV2 (COVID-19) genomic 

surveillance. This method is promising for early detection of arrival or re-emergence of pathogens, and also adds to our 

local screening for variants of interest (more pathogenic or more readily transmissible strains). To become a generally 

effective, reliable surveillance tool for early warning for this and other pathogens, the methods used for concentrating 

and testing samples will need to be better standardized, and the overall detection level made more sensitive, reliable, and reproducible in 

different laboratories.

George A. Conway, MD, MPH is a physician and epidemiologist known for his work in outbreak investigation, epidemic response, environmental 

health, and human adaptation to extreme environments. Director of the Health Services Department for Deschutes County, Oregon since 2016, 

Dr. Conway previously served in multiple senior level positions with the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), including 2012 

through 2015 as CDC Senior Advisor to the Chinese Centers for Disease Control and as Public Health Attaché for the U.S. Embassy in Beijing, 

concentrating on the epidemiology and mitigation of air pollution health effects and epidemic response. He also served as Senior Medical Officer 

and Epidemiologist for the United Nations Mission for Ebola Emergency Response in Liberia during the West Africa epidemic, November 2014 

to June 2015.
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Dr. Larry Madoff

Medical Director, Bureau of Infectious Disease and Lab Science

Massachusetts Department of Public Health | USA

larry.madoff@mass.gov

Talk Title: Wastewater Surveillance for COVID in Massachusetts

Dr. Larry Madoff is an infectious disease physician specializing in the epidemiology of emerging pathogens, bacterial 

pathogenesis, and international health. He is Professor of Medicine at the University of Massachusetts Medical School and 

Lecturer on Medicine at Harvard Medical School. Dr. Madoff serves as Medical Director of the Bureau of Infectious Disease 

and Laboratory Sciences for the Massachusetts Department of Public Health. 

Dr. Madoff directed the International Society for Infectious Diseases’ Program for Monitoring Emerging Diseases (ProMED), from 2002 to 2021. 

He is a member of the American Society for Microbiology, Massachusetts Medical Society, past President of the U.S. Lancefield Streptococcal 

Research Society, a Fellow of the Infectious Diseases Society of America and a Fellow of the American College of Physicians. A graduate of Yale 

College and Tufts Medical School, he performed his Internal Medicine Residency at New York Hospital-Cornell Medical Center and his Infectious 

Disease Fellowship at the Harvard Medical School-Longwood program. 

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Panel Discussion: Enduring Capability and Role of Standards

Moderator: Mr. Philip J. Mattson (see above for photo and bio)

Standards Executive

Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) | USA

Philip.mattson@hq.dhs.gov

Panelists:

Dr. George A. Conway (see above for photo and bio)

Director
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Deschutes County Health Services Department | USA

george.conway@deschutes.org

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Dr. Amy E. Kirby (see above for photo and bio)

National Wastewater Surveillance System Program Lead

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) | USA

agk1@cdc.gov

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Dr. Larry Madoff (see above for photo and bio)

Medical Director, Bureau of Infectious Disease and Lab Science

Massachusetts Department of Public Health | USA

larry.madoff@mass.gov

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Dr. Tonya Lynn Nichols (see above for photo and bio)

Senior Science Advisor

US Environmental Protection Agency | USA

Nichols.tonya@epa.gov

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Mr. Jeffrey A.Wenzel (see above for photo and bio)

Chief, Bureau of Environmental Epidemiology

Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services | USA

Jeff.Wenzel@health.mo.gov

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CONCURRENT BREAKOUT SESSIONS

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SWWS 302: Methods and Data Comparability Breakout

Session Co-Leads

Dr. Scott A. Jackson

Leader of Microbial Metrology Group, Material Measurement Laboratory

National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) | USA

scott.jackson@nist.gov

Dr. Scott A. Jackson leads efforts internationally to improve microbiome and pathogen detection measurements through the development of 

standards. (See full bio at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thescottjackson/)

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Dr. Mia Mattioli

Environmental Engineer

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) | USA

kuk9@cdc.gov

Dr. Mia Mattioli is the Principle Investigator for the CDC’s Waterborne Disease Prevention Branch’s Domestic WASH 

Lab within Environmental Microbiology and Engineering Laboratory Team. Her research focuses on the intersection 

between the environment and human health with a specific interest in the relationship between, and fate and transport 

of, fecal indicators and enteric pathogens. Her lab is engaged in a wide range of environmental research areas including 

drinking water, irrigation water, wastewater, recreational water, soil, food, water distribution systems, and the 

development of advanced molecular detection technologies. Dr. Mattioli also leads CDC’s environmental investigations of waterborne outbreak 

responses and currently serves as the Science Lead for the CDC National Wastewater Surveillance System. She has a Bachelor of Science in 

Biological Engineering from the University of Georgia and a Master and Ph.D. in Environmental Engineering from Stanford University.

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Ms. Sarah Wright

Environmental Laboratories Manager

Association of Public Health Laboratories | USA

wright.sarah@gmail.com

Ms. Sarah Wright, MS, is an environmental laboratories manager at the Association of Public Health Laboratories in Silver 

Spring, MD. In this role, she works to strengthen state and local environmental laboratories. Current projects include 

working with the CDC National Wastewater Surveillance System to build public health laboratory wastewater surveillance 

testing capacity. Previously, she conducted watershed assessments in Wisconsin for the City of Racine and worked on 

national water policy at The Johnson Foundation at Wingspread. She has a master’s degree in environmental monitoring 

from Ohio University and an environmental science and policy degree from Duke University.

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Session Scribe: Dr. Paulina K. Piotrowski 

Research Chemist

National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) | USA

paulina.piotrowski@nist.gov

Dr. Paulina Piotrowski is currently a Research Chemist within the Organic Chemical Metrology Group at the National 

Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) in Gaithersburg, MD. Dr. Piotrowski is an expert in untargeted mass 

spectrometry-based analyses of complex matrix samples. At NIST, she develops omics-based measurement techniques and 

standards for the microbiome and complex microbial systems.

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SWWS 303: Reference Materials Breakout

Session Co-Leads

Dr. Katrice A. Lippa

Leader, Organic Chemical Metrology Group

National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) | USA

katrice.lippa@nist.gov

Dr. Katrice Lippa obtained her Ph.D. in environmental chemistry from Johns Hopkins University in 2002 and then joined NIST as a research 

chemist after completing an NRC postdoctoral fellowship in 2005. Dr. Lippa is currently Leader of the Organic Chemical Metrology Group within 

the Material Measurement Laboratory at NIST, a position she has held since 2016. She manages numerous laboratory QA/QC products and 

programs for clinical diagnostics and metabolomics, food nutrition and safety, natural and plant-based products, chemical manufacturing, forensics 

and drug standard sectors.

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Dr. Orin C. Shanks 

Senior Scientist

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) | USA

shanks.orin@epq.gov

Dr. Orin Shanks is a Senior Scientist for the United States Environmental Protection Agency in the Office of Research and Development Center 

for Environmental Measurement and Modeling. Dr. Shanks has been with the EPA for over 15 years. His chief research interests include molecular 

method development and implementation, fecal source identification, nucleic acid fate and transport, and wastewater surveillance. Dr. Shanks 

received his undergraduate and master’s degrees from the University of Wyoming and his Ph.D. from Oregon State University.

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Ms. Briana Benton

Technical Manager

ATCC | USA

bbenton@atcc.org

Ms. Briana Benton is the Technical Manager for ATCC’s Sequencing and Bioinformatics Center (SBC). She is a key member leading the 

development of the ATCC Genome Portal and is currently responsible for the next-generation sequencing (NGS) of the various collections within 
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ATCC. During her time with ATCC, she has developed numerous microbiome standards, as well as molecular assays for the authentication of 

infectious viral and bacterial pathogens.

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Session Scribe: Dr. Stephanie L. Servetas

Microbiologist

National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) | USA

stephanie.servetas@nist.gov

Dr. Stephanie L. Servetas is a microbiologist in the Complex Microbial Systems Group at the National Institute of 

Standards and Technology (NIST). Her research is focused on whole cell and multi-omic measurements of microbial 

communities, both natural and contrived. While at NIST, Dr. Servetas has worked on the development of reference 

materials for pathogen detection and development of the Whole Stool Gut Microbiome reference material.

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SWWS 304: Documentary Standards – Guidance Documents Breakout

Session Co-Leads

Dr. Nancy J. Lin 

Biomaterials Group Leader, Material Measurement Laboratory

National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) | USA

nancy.lin@nist.gov

Dr. Nancy J. Lin is the Leader of the Biomaterials Group in the Biosystems and Biomaterials Division of the Material 

Measurement Laboratory at NIST. Her research focuses on developing measurements and standards to enable the detection 

and quantification of microbes and microbial communities, with an emphasis on total and viable cell count for microbial cell 

reference materials, biofilm-material interactions, antimicrobial efficacy, and biosurveillance. Dr. Lin holds a BS in 

Mechanical Engineering from Valparaiso University and a PhD in Biomedical Engineering from Case Western Reserve University.

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Ms. Patsy Root

Regulatory Affairs Manager

IDEXX Water | USA

patsy-root@idexx.com

Ms. Patsy Root received her M.S. in Biochemistry from University of Maine, Orono. Ms. Root has over 14 years’ 

experience in water microbiology, water-related regulations and environmental laboratory accreditation. She has worked 

with a variety of regulatory agencies worldwide in attaining regulatory approval for IDEXX methods and on 

Validation/verification of methods. She is a long-time participant in various standards development organizations

including with TNI, Standard Methods for the Examination of Water and Wastewater and ASHRAE.

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Session Scribe: Dr. Sandra Da Silva

Research Chemist

National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) | USA

sdasilva@nist.gov
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Session Scribe: Dr. Joy P. Dunkers

Physical Scientist

National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) | USA

joy.dunkers@nist.gov

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SWWS 401: Summary of Breakout Sessions

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Session Chair: Mr. Yonas Nebiyeloul-Kifle

Program Manager

Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) | USA

yonas.nebiyeloul-kifle@hq.dhs.gov

Mr. Yonas Nebiyeloul-Kifle coordinates voluntary consensus standards and related measurement science R&D projects for DHS mission needs 

to include grants, procurement, systems engineering, S&T policy and tech-transfer projects.

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Final Remarks & Next Steps

Mr. Philip J. Mattson

Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) | USA

Dr. Nancy J. Lin 

National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) | USA

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

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Workshop Co-Chairs

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Dr. Nancy J. Lin

Biomaterials Group Leader, Material Measurement Laboratory

National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) | USA

Nancy.lin@nist.gov

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Mr. Philip J. Mattson

Standards Executive

Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) | USA

Philip.mattson@hq.dhs.gov

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Organizing Committee Members

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Dr. Michael Focazio

Environmental Health Research Program Coordinator

U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) | USA

mfocazio@usgs.gov

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Ms. Sally C. Gutierrez

Senior Advisor for Water

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) | USA

Gutierrez.sally@epa.gov

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Dr. Scott A. Jackson

Leader of Microbial Metrology Group, Material Measurement Laboratory

National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) | USA

scott.jackson@nist.gov

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Dr. Amy E. Kirby 

National Wastewater Surveillance System Program Lead

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) | USA

agk1@cdc.gov

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Dr. Nancy J. Lin

Biomaterials Group Leader, Material Measurement Laboratory

National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) | USA

Nancy.lin@nist.gov
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Dr. Katrice A. Lippa

Leader, Organic Chemical Metrology Group

National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) | USA

katrice.lippa@nist.gov

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Dr. Mia Mattioli

Environmental Engineer

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) | USA

kuk9@cdc.gov

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Mr. Philip J. Mattson

Standards Executive

Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) | USA

Philip.mattson@hq.dhs.gov

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Mr. Yonas Nebiyeloul-Kifle

Program Manager

Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) | USA

yonas.nebiyeloul-kifle@hq.dhs.gov-

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Mr. Kent Prinn

Division Chief, Environmental Health Engineering 

Army Public Health Center | USA

kent.b.prinn.civ@mail.mil

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Dr. Ted Smith

Associate Professor

University of Louisville School of Medicine | USA

ted.smith@louisville.edu

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Ms. Renee Stevens

Program Manager

Department of Homeland Security (DHS) | USA

renee.stevens@hq.dhs.gov

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Mr. Paul Storella

Senior Vice President Water Business Line

AECOM | USA

paul.storella@aecom.com

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Ms. Sarah Wright (also Session Chair or Panel Moderator, Breakout Co-Lead)

Environmental Laboratories Manager

Association of Public Health Laboratories | USA

wright.sarah@gmail.com

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Workshop Logistics Team

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Ms. Clare Beahn

Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) | USA

Ms. Lori Clark

University of Louisville | USA

Dr. Sandra Da Silva

National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) | USA

Ms. Jennifer Dootz

National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) | USA

Dr. Joy Dunkers

National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) | USA

Ms. Alexis Ecarma

University of Louisville | USA

Ms. Monique Hunter

National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) | USA

Dr. Christina Jones

National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) | USA

Mr. Shaswat Koirala

National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) | USA

Dr. Jason Kralj

National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) | USA

Dr. Alshae’ Logan

National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) | USA
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Dr. Kirsten Parratt

National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) | USA

Dr. Paulina Piotrowski

National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) | USA

Dr. Stephanie Servetas

National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) | USA

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