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Dr. Caitlyn Butler

Assistant Professor

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College of Engineering
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
University of Massachusetts Amherst
16B Marston Hall
130 Natural Resources Road
Amherst, MA 01003-0724
Phone: (413)545-5396
Fax: (413)545-2202

E-mail: cbutler@ecs.umass.edu

 

Personal Academic Webpage

Full Curriculum Vitae

Research Interests

  • Biofilm processes for water and wastewater treatment
  • Bioelectrochemical systems for removal of organic and oxidized contaminants
  • Microbial community structure and function of electrode-associated biofilms

Education

Ph.D. Civil Engineering, Notre Dame, 2010.
B.S. Engineering Science, Smith College, 2004.

Experience

  • Assistant Professor, Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering, 2011 – present
  • Assistant Professor, Department of Environmental College of Technology and Innovation, Arizona State University, 2010 – present

Classes Taught

CE-ENGIN 671 Envirnmtl Biological Processes

CE-ENGIN 370 Intro to Envir&Water Res Engin

Recent Papers Published

Goel, R., Kotay, S.M., Butler, C.S., Torres, C.I., and Mahendra, S.,. Molecular Biological Methods
in Environmental Engineering - A Review. "Water Environment Research", vol 83, number 10,
2011.

Butler, C., Clauwaert, P., Green, S., Verstraete, W., Nerenberg, R., BioelectrochemicalPerchlorate Reduction in a Microbial Fuel Cell, Environmental Science and Technology, Vol. 44, No. 12, May 2010

Butler, C.. and Nerenberg, R., Microbial Fuel Cell Performance and Microbial Ecologyas a function of Air-Cathode Materials, Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology, Vol. 86, No. 5, April 2010

Clauwaert, P., Desloover, J., Shea, C., Nerenberg, R., Boon, N., Verstraete, W. Enhanced Nitrogen Removal in Bio-Electrochemical Systems by pH control, Biotechnology Letters Vol. 31, No 6, June 2009

Kulkarni, M., Green, S. K., Shea, C., and Queeney, K. T., The role of etching in aqueous oxidation of hydrogen-terminated Si(100), Journal of Physical Chemistry C, Vol. 113, No. 23, June 2009

Shea, C., Clauwaert, P., Verstraete, W., Nerenberg, R., Adapting a denitrifying biocathodefor perchlorate reduction, Water, Science and Technology., Vol 58, No 10, November 2008

Seders, L., Shea, C., Lemmon, M., Maurice, P., Talley J., LakeNet: An Integrated Sensor Network for Environmental Sensing in Lakes. Environmental Engineering and Science, Vol. 24, No. 2, March 2007

Voss S., Horton N., Woodbury R., Shea, C., Smith A., Sources of variability in re ectance measurements on normal human ears. Huber A. and Eiber A., editor. Proceedings of the 4TH International Symposium on Middle Ear Mechanics in Research and Otology; 2006 July 27-30, Zurich, Switzerland. World Scienti c; 2007. p. 78-86.

Recent Conference Proceedings

Dalrymple, O., Bekki, J., Butler, C.,. Work in Progress: Modifying Mastery Based Learning for use in Undergraduate Engineering Courses, Frontier in Education, Rapid City, SD. 10/2/2011.

Dulebohn, D., Reidhead, P., and Butler, C.. Sustainable Organic and Nutrient Re- moval from
Agricultural Waste Streams via Microbial Fuel Cells, International Bioremediation Symposium, Reno, NV. 6/2/2011.

Butler, C. and Nerenberg, R., E ects of Oxygen Crossover on Layered, Microbial FuelCell Assemblies. International Water Association/Water Environment Federation Bio lm Reactor Technology Conference, Portland, Oregon, August 2010

Butler C., Clauwaert, P., Verstraete, W., and Nerenberg, R, Bioelectrochemical Perchlo-rate Reduction in a Microbial Fuel Cell: Optimizing Cathode pH and Cathode Potential. IWA/WEF Bio lm Reactor Technology Conference, Portland, Oregon, August 2010

Brown, D.*, Burns, B.*, Cradic, Z.*, Petrakovitz, D.*, Reeg, M.*, Santos, N.*, and Butler, C., Optimization of Drinking Water Solutions for Rural Villages in Ghana, Africa, CapstoneDesign Conference, Boulder, CO, June 2010

Butler, C. and Nerenberg, R., E ects of Oxygen Crossover on Microbial Fuel Cell Per-formance and Microbial Community Structure. International Water Association Leading Edge Technology, - Phoenix, AZ, June 2010

Butler C., Clauwaert, P., Verstraete, W., and Nerenberg, R, Optimizing Cathode pHand Cathode Potential for Bioelectrochemical Perchlorate Reduction. International Water Association Leading Edge Technology, - Phoenix, AZ, June 2010

Shea, C. and Nerenberg, R., BOD and Total Nitrogen Removal from Wastewater UsingMicrobial Fuel Cells. Water Environment Federation Nutrient Removal Conference, Wash-ington D.C. - June 2009 Fuel Cells

Shea, C. and Nerenberg, R., A High-Performance, Air-Cathode Microbial Fuel Cell withPotential for Retro tting into Activated Sludge Plants. Water Environment Federation Technical Exhibition and Conference, Chicago, IL - October 2008

Shea, C. and Nerenberg, R., Performance of Air-Cathode Microbial Fuel Cells with Layered-Electrode Assemblies. International Water Association Young Water Professionals Confer-ence, Berkeley, CA - July 2008

Shea, C. and Nerenberg, R. Air-cathode microbial fuel cells with layered-electrode assem-blies. International Water Association Leading Edge Technologies, Zurich, Switzerland - June 2008

Shea, C. and Nerenberg, R. Adapting a Denitrifying Biocathode for Perchlorate Reduction.International Water Association Leading Edge Technologies, Zurich, Switzerland - June 2008

Shea, C. and Nerenberg, R. Air-cathode microbial fuel cells with layered-electrode assem-blies. Microbial Fuel Cells - First International Symposium, Pennsylvania State University, State College, PA - May 2008 

Shea, C. and Nerenberg, R. Hollow-Fiber Membrane Microbial Fuel Cells: Retro tting Ac-tivated Sludge for Direct Production of Electricity. Indiana Water Environment Federation Annual Conference, Indianapolis, IN - November 2007

McStay, F., Talley, J.W., Shea, C. A. Landfarming as a Bioremediation Techniques for Oil Contaminated Lands in Iraq. National Association for Environmental Professionals Annual Conference (NAEP), Alexandria, VA - April, 2005

Strom, S., Ja ray, S., Johnson, C., McCartney, J., Rossmeier, K., Shea, C., Zhang, M., Changes in Spatial Perception as a Result of Changes in Gravity, Society of Women Engi-neers National Conference, Birmingham, AL - 2003

Recent Research Contracts Funded

Recent Awards and Honors

  • NSF Environmental Molecular Science Institute Fellowship, University of Notre Dame, 2009
  • Bayer Pre-doctoral Research Fellowship, University of Notre Dame, 2008
  • Excellence in Teaching Award, University of Notre Dame, 2007
  • Transatlantic Environmental Biotechnology Fellowship, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium, 2007
  • Adeline Devor Penberthy Memorial Prize