ENVIRONMENTAL MICROBIOLOGY

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ABOUT ME

Archana Anand is an engineer and marine biologist. She primarily works on the interface between environmental engineering and coastal marine microbiology. Archana is intrigued by microbes that drive several vital biogeochemical processes in the land and ocean. Today, she researches microbes in wastewater while developing and applying bioinformatics techniques to understand the mixed microbial communities involved in nutrient removal and cycling as well as emerging infectious disease pathogens.

Applications of her work have ranged from SARS-CoV-2 tracking in wastewater to inform community health in the United States, development and application of marine monitoring methods using stable isotope analysis, characterizing the impact of wastewater-derived nutrients on coastal ecosystems in megacities, and educating adults and children on the 'hidden life of the sea'.

Archana won the National Geographic Explorer Award in 2019 to support her work in mapping coastal biodiversity in the scientifically understudied Andaman & Nicobar Islands. She obtained her PhD in Ecology & Biodiversity from the University of Hong Kong and her B.Eng from the National University of Singapore.

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Archana featured in Women Blaze Trails 2022 organized by
Exploring By the Seat of Your Pants

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I grew up in Chennai near the Bay of Bengal. I come from a family of teachers and I am super passionate about education. I spent majority of my life in Singapore and Hong Kong, and I now live with my family in the San Francisco Bay Area. My science journey has taken me through several projects spanning marine biology, environmental science and wastewater epidemiology. Microbes excite me! I love to dance, paint and swim!

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MY SCIENCE JOURNEY

MARINE POLLUTION

I spent a significant portion of my PhD characterizing eutrophication impacts using a varied toolkit - geochemistry, stable isotope analysis as well as next-generation sequencing. This continues to be one of my favorite areas of research with a focus on developed coastal megacities.

BIOGEOCHEMICAL CYCLING

In light of the rapid human population growth and current challenges facing the oceans, I am broadly interested in interdisciplinary projects that unravel the molecular mechanisms underlying biogeochemical cycling in the coastal ocean. I wish to study various types of coastal ecosystems (kelp, seagrass, coral reefs, mangroves), and their associated microbes to understand how carbon, nitrogen and sulfur transport pathways drive fundamental protein synthesis.

WASTEWATER EPIDEMIOLOGY

COVID-19 has brought about increased awareness on the usage of wastewater-based epidemiology to shed light on the health of associated communities. Even before the pandemic though, since 2014, I've been fascinated by wastewater! I've used wastewater influent and effluent in my research to demystify nitrogen cycling in the coastal ocean. I've also used coastal sediment to understand the links between the various elemental cycles. In 2020, I was involved in a campus surveillance effort in Stanford University to characterize SARS-CoV2 in waste streams. Going forward, I'm broadly interested in using wastewater at the core of my research to shed further insights on public health and biogeochemical cycling.

SCIENCE EDUCATION

In an effort to give back to the community that has contributed to my development, I have been involved in several means of science education - I am very proud of my relationship with the National Geographic Society that has lent me several opportunities to work with adults and children across Asia. I have also taught several courses, the most recent one being Urban Water at Stanford University. I continue to learn from my students everyday, and this is my most favorite part about being in academia!

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MEDIA & OUTREACH

Teaching has always been the most enjoyable part of my job! I approach every class, as an opportunity to provide more than knowledge enrichment. I work hard to connect environmental science to other fields such as law, politics, economics, environmental justice, and history. I strive for students to feel my passion in every teaching moment.

Reflecting on my own life from childhood through my masters degree, I have always wanted to teach and enjoyed teaching whenever I got an opportunity. So, in addition to science, I taught traditional Indian dance in the University of Hong Kong to a diverse body of international students. In fact, my grandmother and mother are extraordinary women who have one thing in common – they are educators. Unsurprisingly, this instilled in me the importance of intellectual curiosity and spurred me to the choice of an academic career.

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TEACHING

Taught courses & workshops

CEE 173: STANFORD UNIVERSITY

This course explores both quantitatively and qualitatively - technical, economic, institutional, social, policy, and legal aspects of urban water. The course will include lectures and discussions covering the following themes (1) history of urban water (2) journey of urban water including human health and ecosystem health impacts (3) sanitation (4) global urban water conflicts (5) disease prevention and pandemic response (6) practical and technical aspects of water quality analysis (7) economics of water (8) technology and water (9) seeds of hope. Lectures will provide foundational information on drinking water, wastewater treatment processes, contaminants, role of various stakeholders in the outcome of water conflicts as well as policies and guidelines (local national and WHO). Discussion sessions will include case studies of nuanced water conflicts that students will dive deep into using engaging conversation and debate. Technical classes will include water quality analysis on contaminants that students will work through during in-class discussions and homework assignments.

NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC LEARNING & SPOTLIGHT TALKS WITH NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC SOCIETY

I have worked with the National Geographic Society since 2018 and I'm especially proud of our relationship. We have worked together to deliver several spotlight talks and workshops to both adults and children across Asia and United States.

MENTORING

I've had the opportunity to work with students through my PhD, and postdoctoral research experience. This has played a significant role in shaping my teaching philosophy.

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TESTIMONIALS

What my students are saying

I liked the open platform, I felt comfortable speaking even with the online environment. I think you did a great job of staying unbiased when introducing the topics to encourage people to form their own views. I also loved the diversity of topics many of which I’d never considered.

The topics were interesting, especially the geopolitical conflicts over water scarcity. The project was also an incredible opportunity to learn much more about my interests related to water issues

I LOVED the range of topics. It made me feel both excited and curious about hydrology and passionate about including water as a consideration in all future endeavours. WELL DONE on making me excited about the subject.

The discussion sessions! Very inspiring classmates and rich perspectives!

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PUBLICATIONS

2022, medXriv

ANALYSIS OF SARS-COV-2 AMINO ACID MUTATIONS IN NEW YORK CITY METROPOLITAN WASTEWATER (2020-2022) REVEALS MULTIPLE TRAITS WITH HUMAN HEALTH IMPLICATIONS ACROSS THE GENOME AND ENVIRONMENT-SPECIFIC DISTINCTIONS

Anand Archana, Chenghua Long, Kartik Chandrandoi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2022.07.15.22277689

2022

SARS-COV-2 RNA AND N ANTIGEN QUANTIFICATION VIA WASTEWATER AT THE CAMPUS LEVEL, BUILDING CLUSTER LEVEL, AND INDIVIDUAL-BUILDING LEVEL

EST, 2022. https://doi.org/10.1021/acsestwater.2c00050

2021

SCALING OF SARS-COV-2 RNA IN SETTLED SOLIDS FROM MULTIPLE WASTEWATER TREATMENT PLANTS TO COMPARE INCIDENCE RATES OF LABORATORY-CONFIRMED COVID-19 IN THEIR SEWERSHEDS

2021

INVESTIGATING THE LINK BETWEEN PEARL RIVER-INDUCED EUTROPHICATION AND HYPOXIA IN HONG KONG SHALLOW COASTAL WATERS

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2021

MODIFICATION OF FATTY ACID PROFILE AND BIOSYNTHETIC PATHWAY IN SYMBIOTIC CORALS UNDER EUTROPHICATION

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