Erik R Coats

Erik R Coats serves as an Endowed Chair and Full Professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering within the College of Engineering at the University of Idaho. He additionally holds a Participating Faculty position at the Institute for Modeling Collaboration and Innovation under the Office of Research and Economic Development at the same institution.

His academic credentials include a BS (1990) and MS (1994) in Civil Engineering from the University of Idaho, followed by a PhD (2005) in Civil Engineering from Washington State University.

Professor Coats' research program centers on environmental engineering with emphasis on sustainable wastewater management and resource recovery. Key focus areas include:

• Wastewater-based epidemiology for public health surveillance
• Biopolymer (PHBV) synthesis from organic waste streams
• Nutrient removal and recovery processes
• Microbial ecology in engineered treatment systems
• Dairy manure valorization for sustainable agriculture
• Development of Water Resource Recovery Facilities (WRRFs)

Analysis of his 2019-2025 publications reveals a strategic pivot toward pandemic-responsive wastewater surveillance during the COVID-19 crisis, while maintaining core expertise in biopolymer production and nutrient cycling. His work consistently bridges laboratory-scale microbial studies with pilot-scale engineering implementations, particularly for rural and agricultural communities.

As a Participating Faculty member at the Institute for Modeling Collaboration and Innovation, he engages in cross-disciplinary initiatives. His publication record indicates active grant funding, including projects like "GOALI: WERF: WRF: Mainstream Nitritation and Polyhydroxybutyrate-co-valerate Synthesis in a Next-generation Water Resource Recovery Facility" (2017), though specific grant amounts and student advisees are not documented in the source material.