Two National Wastewater Surveillance System Centers of Excellence from Houston and North Carolina co-hosted a Cross-Sector Wastewater Surveillance Workshop with the Water Environment Federation (WEF).
The workshop was held August 5 and 6, 2025, at Rice's new Ralph S. O'Connor Building for Engineering and Science. The event was one of three in-person workshops co-hosted this year by WEF with five of the six NWSS Centers of Excellence (CoE) established in collaboration with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
The Houston-North Carolina workshop consisted of technical sessions and small group discussions focused on pathogen target selection for public health action, applications of ethical frameworks for target selection, building data visualization capabilities, and examining wastewater surveillance dashboards.
Houston Health Department Director Stephen Williams delivered the keynote lecture. Presentations and panel discussions featured experts in the field.
Nearly 60 participants who attended the workshop were primarily from health departments, academic and public laboratories, and wastewater utilities located in the Environmental Protection Agency and Health and Human Services regions four and six. These southwest regions encompass Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, all ELC-funded cities and counties, including Los Angeles County, Maricopa County, the District of Columbia, Philadelphia, and New York City, as well as 66 Tribal Nations.
WEF is a not-for-profit technical and educational organization of more than 30,000 individual members and 75 affiliated member associations representing water quality professionals worldwide.
WEF's activities with the CDC are designed to support wastewater utilities interested in wastewater surveillance, including connecting utilities with their health department partners to enable sustained program participation. As part of this initiative, WEF began offering free wastewater-based surveillance workshops and customized training programs.
Keynote
Stephen Williams, MEd, MPA
Director, Houston Health Department
Technical Presenters
Sharmila Bhandari, PhD,
Staff Analyst, Houston Health Department
Ariel Christensen, MPH
Environmental Epidemiologist, North Carolina Department of Health & Human Services
Emma Dempsey, MS
PhD candidate, University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill
Laura Langan, PhD
Assistant Professor, University of South Carolina
Rebecca Schneider, MS
Staff Analyst, Houston Health Department
Nicole Snyder, PhD
Epidemiologist, North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services
Lauren Stadler, PhD,
Associate Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Rice University
Jingjing Wu, PhD
Postdoctoral Associate, Rice University
Moderators
Ariel Christensen, MPH
Environmental Epidemiologist, North Carolina Department of Health & Human Services
Tom Clerkin, PhD
Research Specialist, UNC Chapel Hill
Virginia Guidry, PhD, MPH
Branch Head, Occupational and Environmental Epidemiology Branch, North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services
Jennifer Sabater, MS, MLS
Wastewater Surveillance Program Manager, Water Environment Federation
Panelists
Bradie Ahern, MPH
Wastewater Spatial Epidemiologist, Washington Wastewater-Based Epidemiology Program (WAWBE), Washington State Department of Health
Amanda Bidwell, MS
Scientific Program Manager, WastewaterSCAN
Andi Harding, MPH
Wastewater Surveillance Coordinator, Epidemiologist, Oklahoma State Department of Health
Amanda Ingram, MPH
Epidemiologist Supervisor, Alabama Department of Public Health
Layla Lustri, MPH
Epidemiologist, Texas Department of State Health Services
Kerry Regan
Wastewater Surveillance Epidemiologist, Utah Department of Health and Human Services
Adélaïde Roguet, PhD
Scientist, Wisconsin State Laboratory of Hygiene, University of Wisconsin – Madison
Ted Smith, PhD
Professor, University of Louisville
Houston & North Carolina Workshop Organizers
Ariel Christensen, MPH
Environmental Epidemiologist, North Carolina Department of Health & Human Services
Alverina Clay, MPH
Operations Manager and Deputy Head, North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services
Kaavya Domakonda
Senior Staff Analyst, Houston Health Department
Virginia Guidry, PhD, MPH
Branch Head, North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services
Shawn Hutchins
Communications and Marketing Specialist, Rice University
Anna Mehrotra, PhD, PE
Director, Wastewater Surveillance Program, WEF
Anthony Mulenga, MS
Staff Analyst, Houston Health Department
Jennifer Sabater, MS, MLS
Wastewater Surveillance Program Manager, Water Environment Federation
Rebecca Schneider, MS
Staff Analyst, Houston Health Department
Nicole Snyder, PhD
Epidemiologist, North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services
Lauren Stadler, PhD
Associate Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Rice University