Terry C. Hazen

Dr. Terry C. Hazen is the UT/ORNL Governor's Chair Professor in the Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, with additional appointments in Microbiology, Earth and Planetary Sciences, Genome Science and Technology, and the Bredesen Center. He leads the Hazen Lab, a multidisciplinary research group focused on microbial ecology and environmental engineering.

Education:

• Bachelor of Science (Biology), Michigan State University, 1973
• Master of Science (Biology, Parasitology), Michigan State University, 1974
• Ph.D. (Parasitology-Ecology, Microbiology-Immunology), Wake Forest University, 1978

His research centers on microbial ecology, particularly in the context of bioremediation, biofuels, enhanced oil recovery, and water quality. He investigates systems biology and environmental stress responses from the molecular to ecosystem level. His recent work explores groundwater microbial communities, nitrous oxide emissions, denitrification, and microbial genomics for nuclear nonproliferation monitoring.

The most recent publications highlight advanced work in reactive transport modeling, microbial community assembly, enrichment cultures, and dissolved organic matter analysis using machine learning. These studies are largely conducted at the ENIGMA Field Research Center at Oak Ridge, focusing on contaminated subsurface environments.

Scientific Awards and Recognition:

• ASM Award for Environmental Research (2021)
• UT/ORNL Governor's Chair Professor
• Seaborg Fellow
• Chancellor’s Fellowship (advised student)
• NSF Fellowship (advised postdoc)

Dr. Hazen has advised numerous Ph.D. and M.S. students and mentored many postdoctoral fellows and research associates. His lab has received significant recognition, with several members listed among the Stanford World’s Top 2% Cited Scientists. He has been actively involved in national and international responses to oil spills, including the Deepwater Horizon and Peru Repsol incidents. His lab holds multiple patents in bioremediation technologies and maintains strong collaborations with Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

Laboratories and Facilities: The Hazen Lab operates at both the University of Tennessee (SERF and Tickle Engineering Building) and Oak Ridge National Laboratory (JIBS), utilizing state-of-the-art equipment for microbial and environmental research.