Jennifer Underwood
Biography
My primary research focus is to understand the fate, transport and survival of waterborne microbial pathogens as well as to identify how good microbes can be used to enhance the removal of chemical pollutants in our nations waters. Combining the use of culturing, microscopy and molecular tools is useful to identify sources of microbial contamination as well as to understand the environmental controls on the survival and transport of pathogens. Additionally, identifying relationships between microbial communities and biogeochemical processes in pristine and altered environments aid our understanding of what constitutes “healthy” ecosystems.
Education
M.S. Biology
University of Colorado Denver, 2009
Advisor: Timberly Roane
B.A. Sociology
Missouri State University, 2001
Science and Products
Effects of the antimicrobial sulfamethoxazole on groundwater bacterial enrichment
The effects of “trace” (environmentally relevant) concentrations of the antimicrobial agent sulfamethoxazole (SMX) on the growth, nitrate reduction activity, and bacterial composition of an enrichment culture prepared with groundwater from a pristine zone of a sandy drinking-water aquifer on Cape Cod, MA, were assessed by laboratory incubations....
Underwood, Jennifer C.; Harvey, Ronald W.; Metge, David W.; Repert, Deborah A.; Baumgartner, Laura K.; Smith, Richard L.; Roane, Timberly M.; Barber, Larry B.