Pedro Alvarez

About

Pedro J.J. Alvarez is the George R. Brown Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Rice University. He serves as the founding Director of the NSF Engineering Research Center on Nanotechnology-Enabled Water Treatment (NEWT) and as Director of the Rice WaTER Institute. His research interests include environmental implications and applications of nanotechnology, bioremediation, fate and transport of toxic chemicals, water footprint of biofuels, water treatment and reuse, and antibiotic resistance control. Alvarez has received numerous awards for his research, including the 2012 Clarke Prize for outstanding research in water science and technology, and the Benjamin Franklin Medal in Civil Engineering for 2026. He has also been recognized for his contributions to environmental engineering education and practice, and has served on various advisory boards, including the scientific advisory board of the EPA and the NSF Engineering Directorate advisory committee. Alvarez holds a B. Eng. Degree in Civil Engineering from McGill University and MS and Ph.D. degrees in Environmental Engineering from the University of Michigan. He is a member of the National Academy of Engineering, the Chinese Academy of Engineering, and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

Research topics

• Computer Science
• Engineering
• Environmental science
• Biology
• Materials science
• Medicine
• Computer Security
• Environmental health
• Business
• Environmental engineering

Selected publications

• 2D N-Doped Porous Carbon Derived from Polydopamine-Coated Graphitic Carbon Nitride for Efficient Nonradical Activation of Peroxymonosulfate

  Environmental Science & Technology · 2020 · 547 citations

  /g) and unprecedentedly high N content (18.5 at%), and displayed the highest efficiency for 4-chlorophenol (4-CP) degradation via PMS activation. A positive correlation was observed between 4-CP oxidation rates and the total pyridinic and pyrrolic N content. These N dopants serve as Lewis basic sites to facilitate 4-CP adsorption on the PCN surface and subsequent electron-transfer from 4-CP to PMS, mediated by surface-bound complexes (PMS-PCN-0.5). The main degradation products were chlorinated…

  DOI

• Antibiotic resistance genes from livestock waste: occurrence, dissemination, and treatment

  npj Clean Water · 2020 · 546 citations

  Senior authorCorresponding

  Abstract Antibiotics are widely used in animal husbandry, and various types of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) are frequently detected in livestock waste around the world. Conventional livestock waste treatment processes do not completely remove ARGs, resulting in their release to soil and water environments. Various exposure routes of these ARGs to humans, including inhalation and ingestion of antibiotic-resistant bacteria (ARB) that harbor them, may be contributing to the rise in resistant…

  DOI

• Which Micropollutants in Water Environments Deserve More Attention Globally?

  Environmental Science & Technology · 2021 · 528 citations

  Senior authorCorresponding

  Increasing chemical pollution of aquatic environments is a growing concern with global relevance. A large number of organic chemicals are termed as "micropollutants" due to their low concentrations, and long-term exposure to micropollutants may pose considerable risks to aquatic organisms and human health. In recent decades, numerous treatment methods and technologies have been proposed to remove micropollutants in water, and typically several micropollutants were chosen as target pollutants to…

  DOI

• Rethinking wastewater risks and monitoring in light of the COVID-19 pandemic

  Nature Sustainability · 2020 · 318 citations

  DOI

• Electrified water treatment: fundamentals and roles of electrode materials

  Nature Reviews Materials · 2023 · 263 citations

  DOI

Recent grants

• RAPID: Molecular Imprinting of Coronavirus Attachment Factors to Enhance Disinfection by a Selective Photocatalytic “Trap-and-Zap” Approach

  NSF · $188k · 2020–2023

• Core E: Research Support - Chemical Core

  NIH · $22.2M · 2020–2030

• Collaborative Research: Developing Novel Surface Immobilized Photocatalysts Using Functionalized C60

  NSF · $200k · 2009–2012

Frequent coauthors

• Qilin Li

  Rice University

  84 shared

• Jacques Mathieu

  Rice University

  65 shared

• Pingfeng Yu

  Yangtze University

  65 shared

• Xiaolei Qu

  State Key Laboratory of Pollution Control and Resource Reuse

  55 shared

• Jae‐Hong Kim

  Yale University

  47 shared

• Delina Y. Lyon

  Concawe

  44 shared

• Mark R. Wiesner

  Duke University

  37 shared

• Heyun Fu

  Nanjing University

  32 shared

Education

• PhD, Environmental Engineering

  University of Michigan

  1992

• MSE, Environmental Engineering

  University of Michigan

  1989

• BEngr, Civil Engineering

  McGill University

  1982

Awards & honors

• 2012 Clarke Prize laureate for outstanding research in water…
• AAEES Grand Prize for Excellence in Environmental Engineerin…
• Collegiate Excellence in Teaching Award
• Perry McCarty AEESP Founders’ Award for Outstanding Contribu…
• AEESP Frontiers in Research Award

Similar researchers at Rice University

• Menachem Elimelechh-209
• Pulickel Ajayanh-204
• Frederick C. MacKintoshh-94