Jennifer Weidhaas

Jennifer Weidhaas is an Associate Professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Utah since 2016. She holds a PhD and MS in Civil and Environmental Engineering from the University of California-Davis, and a BS in Civil Engineering from Montana State University. A registered Professional Engineer, her research spans environmental microbiology, wastewater epidemiology, and sustainable water treatment technologies.

• Education:
  • BS, Civil Engineering, Montana State University (1999)
  • MS, Civil and Environmental Engineering, UC Davis (2002)
  • PhD, Civil and Environmental Engineering, UC Davis (2006)

Her research focuses on environmental microbiology, quantitative microbial risk assessment, and water treatment innovations, particularly for munition compounds and PFAS. She leads the E-Sure Research Lab, integrating biotechnology with civil engineering to address challenges in wastewater reuse, biosolid application, and contaminant fate. Her work on ion exchange systems and nanofiltration models has advanced sustainable treatment train design.

Key findings from her publications include:

• Optimized ion exchange systems for NTO removal with 99% efficiency
• NSF CAREER-funded wastewater surveillance models for pathogen tracking
• Life cycle assessments showing 22% lower environmental impact with IX-AGR-ozone configurations
• Development of microbial degradation pathways for insensitive munition compounds

Scientific recognition includes:

• Outstanding Mentor (2018, University of Utah)
• Multiple Teaching Excellence Awards (2015-2017)
• Best Paper Award (ASEE, 2017)
• NSF CAREER Award (2016)

She actively engages in community outreach, training 80 K-12 teachers in engineering and organizing water quality testing events for Salt Lake City households. Her teaching portfolio includes graduate thesis supervision and undergraduate courses like Life Sciences in Engineering.