Water security is becoming an increasing concern in water-stressed regions around the world including parts of the Middle East, where desalination plants supply a large share of drinking water.
Rice University experts are available to discuss desalination technology, water infrastructure vulnerabilities and the broader water security challenges facing arid regions.
Desalination technology and water treatment innovation
Menachem Elimelech, the Nancy and Clint Carlson Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, member of the Rice Center for Membrane Excellence and the Rice WaTER Institute
Expertise:
- Desalination technologies and reverse osmosis
- Global water scarcity and water supply solutions
- Energy use and environmental impacts of desalination plants
- Water reuse and advanced water purification technologies
- Water-energy nexus and sustainable water infrastructure
Qilin Li, the Karl F. Hasselmann Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering, co-director of Rice’s NSF Center for Nanotechnology-Enabled Water Treatment
Expertise:
- Desalination membranes and filtration systems
- Solar-powered and low-energy desalination technologies
- Nanotechnology for water treatment
- Water purification and wastewater reuse
- Contaminants in drinking water
Pedro Alvarez, the George R. Brown Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering, director of the Rice WaTER Institute and Rice’s NSF Center for Nanotechnology-Enabled Water Treatment
Expertise:
- Global water security and water scarcity
- Nanotechnology-enabled water treatment
- Environmental sustainability and water systems
- Water reuse and purification technologies
- Policy and innovation in water infrastructure
- Environmental biotechnology and bioremediation
Shihong Lin, associate professor of civil and environmental engineering, member of the Rice WaTER Institute
Expertise:
- Advanced desalination technologies
- Electrochemical water treatment systems
- Brine management and hypersaline wastewater
- Membrane separation technologies
- Resource recovery from desalination brines
Water policy, infrastructure and the water-energy nexus
Gabriel Collins, the Baker Botts Fellow in Energy and Environmental Regulatory Affairs at the Center for Energy Studies at Rice’s Baker Institute for Public Policy
Expertise:
- Economics of desalination and water infrastructure
- Water-energy nexus
- Produced water and water reuse in energy systems
- Policy and investment strategies for drought-prone regions
- Geopolitics of water and resource security
To schedule an interview with any of the experts, please contact media relations specialists Marcy de Luna at marcy.deluna@rice.edu and Alex Becker at alex.becker@rice.edu.