Lisa Alvarez-Cohen

Lisa Alvarez-Cohen is the Vice Provost for Academic Planning and Fred and Claire Sauer Professor of Environmental Engineering at the University of California, Berkeley. She is affiliated with the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering. Her research focuses on environmental microbiology and ecology, biotransformation, wastewater contaminants, molecular and isotopic techniques, and microbial communities. Her work includes studying the fate of environmental contaminants, bioremediation, and nutrient removal from wastewater. She is also involved in research on the biodegradation of emerging contaminants and the application of omics-based tools to understand microbial interactions in complex environments.

Lisa Alvarez-Cohen is a researcher whose work focuses on environmental engineering science, particularly in the areas of contaminant transformation, microbial degradation, and bioremediation. Her research explores the biodegradation of chlorinated solvents, including trichloroethylene and 1,4-dioxane, as well as the microbial reductive debromination of polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs). She also investigates the role of microbial communities in wastewater treatment and their response to environmental stressors such as oil spills. Alvarez-Cohen's studies emphasize the kinetics and mechanisms of aerobic and anaerobic biotransformation processes, including the influence of environmental factors like temperature and reductant supply. Her work contributes to understanding the fate and transport of environmental contaminants and the development of sustainable remediation strategies.