Dr. Jiyoung Lee discusses human health risks associated with contaminated water

Dr. Jiyoung Lee, Assistant Professor of Environmental Microbiology at the Ohio State University, gave a talk at UF’s Emerging Pathogens Institute on Monday, December 10. Dr. Lee discussed new research tools and findings from US beach water studies regarding the human health risks associated with contaminated water.

Dr. Lee’s primary area of research is microbial pathogen transmission dynamics and pathways in water affected by human activities.  She has worked on beach water microbial contamination problems, especially rapid detection and ecological factors for the past 10 years.  Currently, she is working on multiple projects in the areas of microbial source tracking, cyanobacterial blooms and their toxins, climate change and its impact on microbial transmission, avian-mediated pathogen transport, and ecological understanding of water-food-climate linkage in fresh produce contamination.

Dr. Lee received her BS and MS in Microbiology from Seoul National University in Korea and PhD in Environmental Health Sciences from University of Michigan. She served as postdoctoral research fellow and research track faculty afterwards at the same institution.  Dr. Lee has been a faculty member at the Ohio State University since September 2008 and also holds a dual appointment in the Department of Food Science and Technology.