Kerry Hamilton

Kerry Hamilton is an Associate Professor in the School of Sustainable Engineering and the Built Environment at Arizona State University, with dual appointments as Faculty Member at the Biodesign Center for Environmental Health Engineering and Senior Global Futures Scientist. Her interdisciplinary work bridges environmental engineering and public health through pathogen quantification and risk modeling.

Her academic credentials include:

• Ph.D. in Environmental Engineering, Drexel University (2016)
• M.H.S. in Environmental Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health (2009)
• B.A. in Environmental Sciences, Johns Hopkins University (2008)

Hamilton specializes in quantitative microbial risk assessment for water systems, employing molecular biology and computational modeling to evaluate pathogens like Legionella and Cryptosporidium. Her research directly informs regulatory decisions for rainwater harvesting and reclaimed water, with strong emphasis on public health protection in built environments.

Analysis of her 15 most recent publications reveals consistent focus on waterborne pathogen risks across diverse contexts including roof-harvested rainwater, wastewater reuse, and recreational waters. Key methodological threads include microbial source tracking, aerosol exposure modeling, and seasonal variation analysis, demonstrating integration of environmental microbiology with engineering solutions.

No scientific awards were documented in the source materials.

Hamilton actively mentors graduate students through thesis/dissertation supervision (CEE 599/799) and research courses (CEE 792), while securing external funding such as the Water Research Foundation project 4813 on antibiotic resistance in wastewater (2019-2021). Her grant portfolio emphasizes practical risk management for emerging water contaminants.

She directs the Hamilton Lab (hamiltonlab.engineering.asu.edu), which operates within ASU's Biodesign Center to investigate environmental health engineering through laboratory experiments, field sampling, and computational risk modeling.