Two civil engineering faculty at Pitt recognized by the journal Environmental Science & Technology

PITTSBURGH (November 16, 2016) … Kyle Bibby and Leanne Gilbertson, assistant professors of civil and environmental engineering at the University of Pittsburgh’s Swanson School of Engineering, were two of 17 engineering and science faculty from around the world recognized with the 2016 ES&T Excellence in Review Award from Environmental Science & Technology (ES&T).

The ES&T Excellence in Review Award was established in 2003 to recognize recognizes individuals who consistently provide the journal with scholarly and timely reviews. Environmental Science & Technology is a biweekly peer-reviewed scientific journal published since 1967 by the American Chemical Society. It covers research in environmental science and environmental technology, including environmental policy.

“Each year we present reviewer awards to recognize the efforts of exceptional reviewers who somehow found time in their busy schedules to review multiple papers and share deep insights with us,” noted Editor-in-Chief David L. Sedlak in the ES&T announcement. “These are the people who went the extra distance to provide reviews that bring authors back to ES&T. They are the ones who turned a good manuscript into an excellent paper. They are truly the peers behind our peer review.”

Dr. Bibby’s interests include understanding the presence, ecology, and diversity of microorganisms, such as viruses and bacteria, in an environmental engineering context. As the most abundant and genetically diverse biological entities on earth, microorganisms are at the core of many of society’s environmental challenges, including waste treatment and environmentally transmitted disease. Emerging molecular biology techniques such as proteomics, genomics, metagenomics and transcriptomics are integrated with fundamental, quantitative environmental engineering practice to develop new insights and solutions to these problems.

He received his bachelor of science in civil engineering and geological sciences from the University of Notre Dame, and his master of science, master of philosophy, and PhD in environmental engineering from Yale University. In 2015 he was one of 70 educators nationwide who were selected to participate in the National Academy of Engineering’s seventh annual Frontiers of Engineering Education Symposium.

Dr. Gilbertson’s research group (www.leannegilbertson.com) aims to inform sustainable design of emerging materials and products, ensuring their inherent safety while simultaneously realizing an improved or novel functional performance. To date, her group has focused on nanomaterials and nano-enabled products spanning molecular level design to systems-level analysis. At the molecular level, Gilbertson’s research probes interactions at the material-bio interface using carefully controlled and characterized material and biological systems to isolate governing mechanisms of the interaction as a path towards material manipulation for an intended outcome. Recognizing that materials are utilized in many environmental applications with tangible benefits, yet themselves have the potential to introduce adverse impacts, her group uses life cycle assessment as a tool to define the design space in which these products are able to meet or exceed the desired functionality while also being safe to humans and the environment.

After earning a bachelor’s degree in chemistry from Hamilton College in 2007 and serving several years as a secondary school teacher, Dr. Gilbertson earned her PhD in environmental engineering from Yale University in 2014 with support from a NSF Graduate Research Fellowship and an EPA STAR Fellowship. Her doctoral research identified underlying material properties that govern carbon nanotube cytotoxicity serving as a foundation for the development of safer nanomaterial design guidelines. She joined Pitt in 2015 after completing her postdoctoral research in Yale’s Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering and the Center for Green Chemistry and Green Engineering.

“I am thrilled to be recognized and thank the ES&T editors. Publications are an important factor in academic success and peer-review is a critical component of high-impact publications. It is an honor to be among this group of reviewers and I look forward to continued service to ES&T.”

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