Better Water For All Network Organised #8 Webinar On Environmental Biotechnology given by Dr Bruce E. Rittmann
Friday 16 October 2026 at 16:00 BST
Click for Registration or Scan the QR code
Symposium: Although biological processes have been part of wastewater treatment for more than 170 years, developments beginning in the 1980s have opened up many new options and created what we now call “Environmental Biotechnology.” Research in environmental biotechnology aims to understand microbial communities so that we can “think like the microorganisms,” which then allows us to design systems that “work for the microorganism so that they can work for us.” This is an ideal partnership that relies on integrating multiple research and development tools: engineering quantification, multiple omics, and materials science. Thus, environmental biotechnology utilizes the power of human intelligence to harness the incredibly wide range of microbial metabolisms. The talk exemplifies this win-win partnership with the hydrogen-based membrane biofilm reactor, or H2-MBfR. The H2-MBfR delivers H2 gas directly to a biofilm of H2-oxidizing bacteria that can reduce and remove a very wide range of oxidized water pollutants. The talk addresses two distinct examples. The first is reduction of selenate (SeO42-) to elemental selenium (Se0). The second is reduction of Pd2+ to yield nanoparticles of elemental Pd (Pd0NPs), which are outstanding catalysts the enable reductive defluorination and ultimately biodegradation of perfluoroalkyl substances. The talk concludes with some highlights of the 2018 Stockholm Water Prize, which Dr. Rittmann shared with Dr. Mark van Loosdrecht.
Speaker: Dr Bruce E. Rittmann
Bio: Dr Bruce E. Rittmann is Regents Professor of Environmental Engineering and Director of the Biodesign Swette Center for Environmental Biotechnology at Arizona State University. His research focuses on the science and engineering needed to “manage microbial communities to provide services to society.” Services include generating renewable energy, cleaning water and soil, and improving human health. Dr. Rittmann is a member of the National Academy of Engineering; a Fellow of AAAS, WEF, IWA, AEESP, and NAI; and a Distinguished Member of ASCE. Dr. Rittmann was awarded the first Clarke Prize for Outstanding Achievements in Water Science and Technology from the NWRI, the Walter Huber Research Prize and the Simon Freese Award from ASCE, the G.M. Fair Award from AAEES, the Perry L. McCarty/AEESP Founders Award, and the Camp Applied Research Award from WEF. He is the co-winner of the 2018 Stockholm Water Prize. Dr. Rittmann has published over 920 journal articles, books, and book chapters, and he has 27 patents. With Dr. Perry McCarty, Dr. Rittmann co-authored the textbook Environmental Biotechnology: Principles and Applications (McGraw-Hill Book Co.), which is now out in its second edition.
