Faculty
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STEVEN N. LISSProfessor;
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Research Programs
Research is focused in the areas of environmental biotechnology and engineering, applied microbiology, wastewater and water microbiology, and microbial ecology and structures in engineered and natural environmental systems. Projects include, factors affecting filament occurrence and bulking in secondary treatment, understanding the structure-function relationships associated with extracellular polymeric substances in flocs and films towards a better understanding of bioflocculation and formation microbial films, the fate of pathogens and their association with EPS in flocs and films, molecular basis for bioflocculation, and the biochemistry of EPS. Emphasis is placed on heterogeneous films and flocs in engineered or environmentally important processes. Areas of application include aerated membrane biofilm reactors, hydbrid fixed-film wastewater treatment systems, biofilters treating volatile organic and reduced sulfur compounds in gaseous air emissions, aquatic bed sediments, and where biofouling occurs (membranes and water wells (drilled and fractured rock). New initiatives include biorefining strategies for enhancing the value of waste streams and includes the application of anaerobic membrane bioreactors for hydrogen production from wastewater and biosolids, incorporation of secondary sludge into biocomposite materials, and utilization of glycerol (from biodiesel production) as a fermentation feedstock towards the production of added value chemicals and energy.
Recent Publications
Peer Reviewed Journals (Past 3 Years)
Liu, J.R. and S.N. Liss. 2007.
- The impact of reduced phosphorus levels on microbial floc properties during biological treatment of pulp and paper wastewaters. Wat. Sci. Technol. 55(6): 73-79.
Liao, B. and S.N. Liss. 2007.
- Treatment of a high strength wastewater using a thermophilic membrane aerated biofilm reactor. J. Environ. Eng. Sci. 6(2): 247-252.
Zhang, Y., S.N. Liss and D.G. Allen. 2007.
- The effect of methanol on pH and stability of inorganic biofilters treating dimethyl sulfide. Environ. Sci. Technol. 41(10): 3752-3757.
Zhang, Y., S.N. Liss and D.G. Allen. 2007.
- Enhancing and modeling the biofiltration of dimethyl sulfide under dynamic methanol addition Chem. Eng. Sci. 62:2474-2481.
Droppo, I.G., N. Ross, M. Skafel, and S.N. Liss. 2007.
- Biostabilization of cohesive sediment beds in a freshwater wave dominated environment. Limnol. and Oceanogr. 52(2): 577-589.
Liao, B.Q., I.G. Droppo, G.G. Leppard and S.N. Liss. 2006.
- Effect of solids retention time on structure and characteristics of sludge flocs in sequencing batch reactors. Wat. Res. 40: 2583-2591.
Zhang, Y., S.N. Liss and D.G. Allen. 2006.
- The effects of methanol in the biofiltration of dimethyl sulfide in inorganic biofilters. Biotechnol. Bioeng. 95(4): 734-743.
Liu, J.R., E.A. Edwards and S.N. Liss. 2006.
- The effect of phosphorus limitation on microbial floc structure and gene expression in activated sludge. Wat. Sci. Technol. 54(1): 247-255.
Liu, J.R., E.A. Edwards and S.N. Liss. 2006.
- The effect of phosphorus limitation on microbial floc structure and gene expression in activated sludge. Wat. Sci. Technol. 54(1): 247-255.
Kyan, M., L. Guan and S.N. Liss. 2005.
- Dynamic feature fusion in the self organizing tree map-applied to the segmentation of biofilm images. Neural Networks. 18: 850-860.
Scott, H.E. D.G. Allen, S.N. Liss, and R.R. Farnood. 2005.
- Ultraviolet disinfection of sequencing batch reactor effluent: effects of microbial floc physicochemical properties. J. Environ. Engin. Sci. 4: S65-S74.
Bostan, V., L.H. McCarthy and S.N. Liss. 2005.
- Assessing the impact of land-applied pulp mill biosolids to a suite of terrestial and aquatic bioassay organisms under laboratory conditions. J. Waste Man. 25: 89-100.
Wang, D-Y., B. McKague, S.N. Liss, E.A. Edwards. 2004.
- Gene expression profiles for detecting and distinguishing potential endocrine disrupting compounds in environmental samples. Environ. Sci. Technol. 38 (23): 6396-6406.
Liao, B.Q., L.J.J. Catalan, I.G. Droppo and S.N. Liss. 2004.
- Impact of chemical oxidation on sludge properties and membrane flux in membrane separation bioreactors. J. Chem. Technol. Biotechnol. 79: 1342-1348.
Wang, D.-Y., A.M. Edwards, R.R. Fulthorpe, S.N. Liss and E.A. Edwards. 2004.
- EERG1: An early estrogen-regulated gene responsive to endocrine compounds in breast cancer cell lines. Molecular Endocrinology. 18 (2): 402-411.
Liao, B.Q., D.M. Bagley, H.E. Kraemer, G.G. Leppard and S.N. Liss. 2004.
- Biofouling and its control in membrane separation bioreactors: a review. Wat. Environ. Res. 76(5): 425-436.
Books and Chapters in Books (Past 3 Years)
Droppo, I.G., S.N. Liss, D. Williams and G.G. Leppard. 2005.
- River Pathogen-Sediment Interactions: Importance for Policy Development on Safe Water Practices International Association of Hydrological Sciences (Red Book Series-Peer Reviewed) (In Press).
Droppo, I.G., G.G. Leppard, T. Milligan, and S.N. Liss (editors). 2005.
- Flocculation in Natural and Engineered Systems. CRC Press, Boca Raton , USA [ISBN: 1-56670-615-7].
Liss, S.N., T.G. Milligan, I.G. Droppo and G.G. Leppard. 2005.
- Methods for analyzing floc properties. In: Flocculation in Natural and Engineered Systems, I.G. Droppo, G.G. Leppard, S.N. Liss and T.G. Milligan, Editors, CRC Press, pp 1-22.
Liao, B.Q., G.G. Leppard, D.G. Allen, I.G. Droppo and S.N. Liss. 2005.
- Surface thermodynamics and hydrophobic properties of microbial flocs. In: Flocculation in Natural and Engineered Systems, I.G. Droppo, G.G. Leppard, S.N. Liss and T.G. Milligan, Editors, CRC Press, pp 397-404 .
Droppo, I.G., G.G. Leppard, S.N. Liss and T.G. Milligan. 2005.
- Opportunities, needs, and strategic direction for research in flocculation in natural and engineered systems. In: Flocculation in Natural and Engineered Systems, I.G. Droppo, G.G. Leppard, S.N. Liss and T.G. Milligan, Editors, CRC Press, pp 407-422.
McCarthy, L.H., I.V. Bostan, S.N. Liss, A. Spearin, E. Bandelj and K. Yambao. 2004.
- Evaluation of land-applied pulp-mill biosolids: Monitoring the fate of sludge constituents in forest ecosystems and assessing impact using ecologically-relevant organisms. Pulp and paper mill effluent environmental fate and effects. Borton DL, Hall TJ, Fisher RS, Thomas, J. eds. DEStech Publications. Lancaster PA., USA .
McCarthy, L.H., I.V. Bostan, W. Choi, R.J. Ellis, K. Hardy, and S.N. Liss. 2004.
- Comparison of some studies conducted assessing the androgenic potential of compounds in pulp-mill and municipal effluents using the mosquitofish Gambusia Affinis. Pulp and paper mill effluent environmental fate and effects. Borton DL, Hall TJ, Fisher RS, Thomas, J. eds. DEStech Publications. Lancaster PA., USA .
Research Personnel
Prof. Liss has recently joined the Department and is currently transitioning his research program to Guelph . He is currently seeking candidates for various roles in his lab. Those interested in furthering their career as a PDF or a Research Associate, or continuing their studies at the Masters or PhD level should contact Prof. Liss directly. Graduate students may pursue their degree in Environmental Biology or in Environmental Engineering. Those with backgrounds in science (biology, biochemistry or microbiology) or engineering (chemical or civil) with an interest in working at the interface of biology and engineering are encouraged to apply.
Post Doctoral Fellows
- Dr. Mahendran Basuvaraj mbasuvar@uoguelph.ca
Research Associates
Graduate Students
- Elena Brei PhD (University of Toronto)
- Bailey Davis MSc bdavis05@uoguelph.ca
- Maryam Edemalat PhD (University of Toronto)
- Alex Hayes PhD (University of Toronto)
- Alina Muscalu MASc (Ryerson University)
- Lihong Shen PhD (University of Toronto)
- Patrick Soo MSc psoo@uoguelph.ca
- Sandra Tirado PhD stirado@uoguelph.ca
- Ivan Zhou PhD (University of Toronto)
- Yunan Zhou MASc (University of Toronto)
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