Ryan Newton

Ryan Newton is an Associate Professor at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee's School of Freshwater Sciences, focusing on microbial ecology and aquatic systems. His research integrates genomic and environmental data to understand microbial community dynamics in urban and natural water systems, particularly wastewater infrastructure, antimicrobial resistance, and microbial adaptation.

Dr. Newton holds a PhD in Microbiology (University of Wisconsin-Madison, 2008) and a BSc in Biological Sciences (University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2002). His work emphasizes urban water microbiology, including sewer microbial ecosystems, microbial contributions to water quality, and the impacts of contaminants like microplastics and corrosion byproducts.

His research interests span microbial systematics, genome sequencing, and the interplay between microbial communities and environmental processes. Notable projects include developing forensic tools for fecal source tracking (e.g., FORENSIC platform) and investigating the ecological consequences of antibiotic resistance genes in water systems. He leads the Newton Lab, advancing methods for wastewater epidemiology and aquatic microbiome analysis.

Dr. Newton's grants include studies on microbial community shifts in recirculating aquaculture systems and the impact of corrosion inhibitors on drinking water microbiology. His lab contributes to the Great Lakes Atlas of Multi-omics Research (GLAMR) database, synthesizing genomic and environmental data for ecosystem modeling.

He collaborates on initiatives such as wastewater-based epidemiology for public health monitoring and has pioneered methods to quantify activated sludge foaming in wastewater treatment. His work bridges fundamental microbial ecology with applied solutions for urban water challenges.