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Amy Pruden

W. Thomas Rice Professor and
  • University Distinguished Professor
Amy Pruden, W. Thomas Rice Professor
403 Durham Hall
Blacksburg, VA, USA 24061
Mail Code: (0246)

Program Area : Environmental and Water Resources Engineering
Personal Homepage : https://www.pruden.cee.vt.edu

Area of Interest

Applied environmental microbiology, antibiotic resistance genes as emerging contaminants, opportunistic pathogens in premise plumbing, environmental implications of nanotechnology, biomolecular tools, sustainable water infrastructure, microbiome of the built environment

  • Ph.D. Environmental Science, University of Cincinnati, 2002
  • B.S. Biological Sciences, University of Cincinnati, 1997
  • 2017 Outstanding Graduate Student Mentoring Award, Virginia Tech College of Engineering and the Graduate School
  • 2015 Dean's Award for Excellence in Research, Virginia Tech College of Engineering
  • 2014 Editor's Choice Award - Best Feature Article, Environmental Science and Technology, American Chemical Society
  • 2014 Paul L. Busch Award, Water Environmental Research Foundation
  • 2010 College of Engineering Faculty Fellow, Virginia Tech College of Engineering
  • 2008 Selected to attend Frontiers of Engineering Symposium by the National Academy of Engineers
  • 2007 Presidential Early Career Award in Science and Engineering (PECASE) from the Executive Office of the President of the U.S.A.
  • 2006 CAREER Award from the National Science Foundation (NSF)
  • 2006 Editor's Choice Award (2nd Runner Up) for paper published in Environmental Science & Technology.
  • 2006 Faculty Award for Excellence in Research from the Department of Civil Engineering at Colorado State University.
  • CEE 5194 : Environmental Engineering Microbiology
  • CEE 3104 : Introduction to Environmental Engineering
  • CEE 2804 : Introduction to Civil and Environmental Engineering
  • SusChEM: GOALI: Harnessing the Antimicrobial Properties of Copper to Control Legionella in Plumbing Systems, NSF GOALI, 2017-2020, $448,188, with Edwards
  • Developing Computational Tools To Identify Critical Control Points For Mitigating The Spread Of Antibiotic Resistance In Agro-Ecosystems, US Department of Agriculture, 2017-2021, $1.1 M, with Heath, Zhang, Xia, Knowlton
  • Characterization of Organic Carbon and Microbial Communities for the Optimization of Biologically-Active Carbon (BAC) Filtration for Potable Reuse, Water Environment and Research Foundation, 2017-2019, $150,000, with Vikesland, Edwards, Xia
  • PIRE: Halting Environmental Antimicrobial Resistance Dissemination (HEARD), NSF Partnership for International Research and Education (PIRE), 2015-2020, $3.6 M, with Vikesland
  • NNCI: National Center for Earth and Environmental Nanotechnology Infrastructure (NCE2NI), NSF National Nanotechnology Coordinated Infrastructure, 2015-2020, $2.6 M, with Hochella
  • RAPID: Synergistic Impacts of Corrosive Water and Interrupted Corrosion Control on Chemical/Microbiological Water Quality: Flint, MI, 2015-2016, $50,000, with Edwards
  • USDA NIFA. Identification and Management of Critical Control Points in the Spread of Antibiotic Resistance from Animal Manure to Raw Produce. 2015-2017, $2.25 million, with Knowlton, Xia, Krometis, Hession, Ponder, Archibald, Vallotton
  • NSF. Relative Abundance and Diversity of Antibiotic Resistance Genes and Pathogens in Reclaimed Versus Potable Water Distribution Systems, 2014-2017, $330,000, with Edwards, McLain & Engelthaler
  • Water Environment Research Foundation. Next generation tools for the assessment of death and decay of critical wastewater bacteria, 2013-2015, $160,000
  • The Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. Effect of Pipe Material. Water Flow, and Chemistry on the Building Plumbing Microbiome, 2012-2016, $500,000, with Co-Pl Marc Edwards
  • NSF. Harnessing Microbial Ecology for Inhibition of Opportunistic Pathogens in Premise Plumbing, 2010-2013, $350,000, with Co-PI Marc Edwards
  • Proctor, C.R., Dai, D., Pruden, A., and Edwards, M.A. Effect of Various Water Chemistry Factors on Legionella Proliferation and the Premise Plumbing Microbiota Composition. (2017). Microbiome 5: 130 doi: doi.org/10.1186/s40168-017-0348-5.
  • Rhoads, W.J.; Garner, E.D.; Ji, P.; Zhu, N.; Parks, J.; Schwake, D.O.; Pruden, A.; Edwards, M.A. (2017). Distribution System Operational Deficiencies Coincide with Reported Legionnaires' Disease Clusters in Flint, MI. Environmental Science & Technology. 51(20):11986-11995 DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.7b0158.
  • Dai, D., Prussin, A.J., Edwards, M.A., Marr, L.C., Pruden, A., Vikesland, P.J. (2017). Factors Shaping the Human Exposome in the Built Environment: Opportunities for Engineering Control. Environmental Science & Technology. 51(14):7759–7774. DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.7b01097
  • Garner, E., Benitez, R., von Wagoner, E., Sawyer, R., Schaberg, E., Hessian, W.C., Krometis, LAH, Badgley, B.D., Pruden, A. (2017). Stormwater loadings of antibiotic resistance genes in an urban stream. Water Research 123: 144–152. DOI: 10.1016/j.watres.2017.06.046
  • Rhoads, W.J., Pruden, A., and Edwards, M. (2017). Interactive Effects of Corrosion, Copper, and Chloramines on Legionella and mycobacteria in Hot Water Plumbing. Environmental Science & Technology. 51(12): 7065–7075 DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.6b05616
  • Wang, H., Bédard, E., Prévost, M., Camper, A.K., Hill, V.R., Pruden, A. (2017). Methodological approaches for monitoring opportunistic pathogens in premise plumbing: A review. Water Research. 15(117):68-86. DOI: 10.1016/j.watres.2017.03.046
  • Ji, P., Rhoads, W.J., Edwards, M.A., and Pruden, A. (2017). Impact of water heater temperature setting and water use frequency on the building plumbing microbiome. ISME Journal, 11, 1318–1330. DOI: 10.1038/ismej.2017.14
  • Ray, P., Chen, C., Knowlton, K.F., Pruden, A., and Xia, K. (2017). Fate and effect of antibiotics in beef and dairy manure during static and turned composting. Journal of Environmental Quality. 46(1):45-54. DOI: 10.2134/jeq2016.07.0269
  • Friedrich, M.; Jimenez, J.; Pruden, A.; Miller, J.H.; Metch, J. (2017). Rethinking growth and decay kinetics in activated sludge - towards a new adaptive kinetics approach. Water Science & Technology. 75(3): 501-506. DOI: 10.2166/wst.2016.439.
  • Garner, E., Wallace, J.S., Arango Argoty, G., Wilkinson, C., Fahrenfeld, N., Heath, L.S., Zhang, L., Arabi, M., Aga, D.S., and Pruden, A. (2016). Metagenomic profiling of historic Colorado Front Range flood impact on distribution of riverine antibiotic resistance genes. Scientific Reports 6, Article number: 38432.
  • Arango-Argoty, G., Singh, G., Heath, L.S., Pruden, A., Xiao, W., and Zhang, L. MetaStorm: A Public Resource for Customizable Metagenomics Annotation. (2016). PLoS One. doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0162442.
  • Pruden, A. (2014). Balancing Water Sustainability and Public Health Goals in the Face of Growing Concerns about Antibiotic Resistance. Environmental Science and Technology. doi.org/10.1021/es403883p Editor's Choice, Best Feature Article of 2014.
  • Wang, H.*, Edwards, M., Falkinham III, J. O., and Pruden, A. (2013). Probiotic approach to pathogen control in premise plumbing systems? A review. Environmental Science and Technology. 47(18): 10117–10128.
  • Wang, H.*, Pryor, M., Edwards, M., Falkinham III, J.O., and A. Pruden. (2013). Effect of GAC Pre-Treatment and Disinfectant on Microbial Community Structure and Opportunistic Pathogen Occurrence. Water Research 47(15): 5760-5772.
  • Pruden, A., Larsson, D.G.J., Amézquita, A., Collignon, P., Brandt, K.K., Graham, D.W., Lazorchak, J.R., Suzuki, S., Silley, P., Snape, J.R., Topp, E., Zhang, T., Zhu, Y-G. (2013). Management Options for Reducing The Release of Antibiotics and Antibiotic Resistance Genes to the Environment. Environmental Health Perspectives 121 (8): 1-9.
  • Fahrenfeld, N.*, Ma, Y.*, O'Brien, M.*, and A. Pruden. (2013). Reclaimed water as a reservoir of antibiotic resistance genes: distribution system and irrigation implications. Frontiers in Microbiology Special Issue on Mechanisms of Antibiotic Resistance doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2013.00130.
  • Veeramani, H.*, Scheinost, A., Monsegue, N., Qafoku, N., Kukkadapu, R., Newville, M., Lanzirotti, A., Pruden, A., Murayama, M., Hochella, M. (2013). Abiotic reductive immobilization of U6+ by biogenic mackinawite. Environmental Science and Technology. 47 (5): 2361–2369.
  • Miller, J.H.*, Novak, J.T., Knocke, W.R., Young, K.*, Hong, Y-J*, Hull, M., Vikesland, P.J., and A. Pruden. (2013). Effect of Nanosilver and Antibiotic Loading on Fate of Antibiotic Resistance Genes in Thermophilic and Mesophilic Anaerobic Digesters. Water Environment Research 85(5):411-421.
  • Aruguete, D.M., Kim, B., Hochella, M.F. Jr., Ma, Y.*, Cheng, Y., Hoeg, A., Liu, J., and A. Pruden. (2013). Antimicrobial Nanotechnology: Implications for the Management of Multiple Drug-Resistant Pathogens. Environmental Science: Process & Impacts. 15(1): 93-102.
  • Riquelme Breazeal, M.V.*, Vikesland, P.J., Novak, J.T., and A. Pruden. (2013). Effect of Wastewater Colloids on Membrane Removal of Microconstituent Antibiotic Resistance Genes. Water Research 47: 130-140.
  • Fahrenfeld, N.*, Widdowson, M., Zoeckler, J. and A. Pruden. (2013). Effect of Biostimulants on 2,4,6-Trinitrotoluene (TNT) Degradation and Bacterial Community Composition in Contaminated Aquifer Sediment Enrichments. Biodegradation 24 (2): 24:179-190.
  • McKinney, C.W.* and A. Pruden. (2012). Effect Cell Type and DNA Sequence Variation on UV Damage of Antibiotic Resistance Genes. Environmental Science and Technology 46 (24):13393-13400.
  • Pruden, A., Arabi, M., and Storteboom, H.N.* (2012). Correlation of upstream human activities with riverine antibiotic resistance genes. Environmental Science and Technology 46 (21): 11541–11549.
  • Wang, H.*, Masters, S.*, Hong, Y-J.*, Stallings, J.*, Falkinham, III, J.O., Edwards, M.A., and A. Pruden. (2012). Effect of Disinfectant, Water Age, and Pipe Material on Occurrence and Persistence of Legionella spp., Mycobacterium spp., P. aeruginosa, and two amoebas. Environmental Science and Technology 46 (21): 11566-11574.