Amy Childress
{{short description|American civil and environmental engineer}}
{{Infobox academic
| name = Amy Childress
| occupation = Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering
| education = University of Maryland (BS)
University of California, Los Angeles (MS)
University of California, Los Angeles (PhD)
| discipline = Civil and Environmental Engineering
| sub_discipline = Desalination, water treatment, and water reuse
| workplaces = University of Southern California
}}
Amy Childress is an American professor. She is Dean's Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Southern California's Viterbi School of Engineering, Director of UC's ReWater Center and Academic Lead for the [https://waterreuseconsortium.com/ Water Reuse Consortium].{{Cite web |title=USC - Viterbi School of Engineering - Viterbi Faculty Directory |url=https://viterbi.usc.edu/directory/faculty/Childress/Amy |access-date=2025-04-24 |website=viterbi.usc.edu}} Childress is recognized for her work on membrane technologies used for desalination and wastewater reuse and her ability to translate research results and other scientific and engineering knowledge into guidance on implementation of advanced water projects in the U.S. and abroad.{{Cite news |last=Simon |first=Matt |title=LA Is Doing Water Better Than Your City. Yes, That LA |url=https://www.wired.com/story/la-is-doing-water-better-than-your-city-yes-that-la/ |access-date=2025-05-20 |work=Wired |language=en-US |issn=1059-1028}} She is a Fellow of the Association of Environmental Engineering and Science professors (AEESP){{Cite web |title=AEESP Fellows |url=https://aeesp.org/awards/fellows |access-date=2025-05-20 |website=Association of Environmental Engineering and Science Professors (AEESP) |language=en}} and a Fulbright U.S. Scholar{{Cite web |title=Amy Childress {{!}} Fulbright Scholar Program |url=https://fulbrightscholars.org/grantee/amy-childress |access-date=2025-05-20 |website=fulbrightscholars.org}}. In 2024 Childress was named the Athalie Richardson Irvine Clarke Prize Laureate by the National Water Research Institute (NWRI).{{Cite web |title=Dr. Amy E. Childress, 2024 Clarke Prize Laureate |url=https://www.nwri-usa.org/2024-clarke-prize-laureate |access-date=2025-04-24 |website=National Water Research Institute |language=en}}
Early life and education
Childress graduated from the University of Maryland in 1992 with a B.S. degree in civil engineering.{{Cite web |title=CEE's Alumna Dr. Amy Childress Heads Univ. of Nevada's CEE Dept. |url=https://cee.umd.edu/news/story/cees-alumna-dr-amy-childress-heads-univ-of-nevadas-cee-dept |access-date=2025-04-30 |website=cee.umd.edu |language=en}} A paper based on her undergraduate research at the USDA Agricultural Research Service Hydrology Laboratory{{Cite journal |last=van Katwijk |first=V. F. |last2=Rango |first2=A. |last3=Childress |first3=A. E. |date=1993 |title=Effect of Simulated Climate Change on Snowmelt Runoff Modeling in Selected Basins |url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1752-1688.1993.tb03235.x |journal=JAWRA Journal of the American Water Resources Association |language=en |volume=29 |issue=5 |pages=755–766 |doi=10.1111/j.1752-1688.1993.tb03235.x |issn=1752-1688}} won the Journal of the American Water Resources Association William R. Boggess Award in 1994.{{Cite book |last=DeWalle |first=David R. |title=American Water Resources Association 1964-2014: Fifty Years Dedicated to Water Resources Management, Research, and Education |last2=Rogers |first2=Jerry R. |date=2014 |publisher=American Water Resources Association |year=2014 |publication-date=2014 |pages=33}} Upon graduation, Childress was awarded a fellowship from the University of California, Los Angeles where she earned a masters and PhD in civil and environmental engineering. Her PhD research on the characterization of nanofiltration and reverse osmosis membranes was carried out under the supervision of Professor Menachem Elimelech.{{Cite journal |last=Childress |first=Amy E. |last2=Elimelech |first2=Menachem |date=1996-10-16 |title=Effect of solution chemistry on the surface charge of polymeric reverse osmosis and nanofiltration membranes |url=https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/0376738896001275 |journal=Journal of Membrane Science |volume=119 |issue=2 |pages=253–268 |doi=10.1016/0376-7388(96)00127-5 |issn=0376-7388}}{{Cite web |title=Former Lab Members {{!}} Elimelech Research Group |url=https://elimelechlab.yale.edu/people/former-lab-members |access-date=2025-05-20 |website=elimelechlab.yale.edu}} A paper from this research was awarded the 2012 AEESP Outstanding Paper Award as a "landmark environmental engineering and science paper that has withstood the test of time and significantly influenced the practice of environmental engineering and science."{{Cite web |title=AEESP Foundation |url=https://aeespfoundation.org/awards/outstanding-publication |access-date=2025-05-20 |website=AEESP Foundation |language=en}}
Career
Childress joined the faculty of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Nevada, Reno in 1997 where she was tenured in 2002. She rose to the rank of Professor and became Chair of the department in 2008.{{Cite journal |date=May 2008 |title=Member News: University of Nevada, Reno |url=http://www.aeesp.org/sites/default/files/newsletters/AEESPNL.43.2.2008.pdf |journal=AEESP Newsletter |volume=43 |issue=2 |pages=7 |via=Association of Environmental Engineering and Science Professors Newsletter Archive}} Her accomplishments during her time at the University of Nevada, Reno include a National Science Foundation CAREER Award{{Cite web |title=NSF Award Search: Award # 0093617 |url=https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0093617&HistoricalAwards=false |access-date=2025-05-20 |website=www.nsf.gov}}, and being selected as a speaker at the US National Academies Frontiers of Engineering Symposium in 2007.{{Cite web |title=Amy Childress |url=https://www.naefrontiers.org/19994/Amy-Childress |access-date=2025-05-20 |website=www.naefrontiers.org}} Childress served as President of AEESP from 2008 to 2009{{Cite journal |last=Childress |first=Amy |date=January 2009 |title=President's Letter |url=https://aeesp.org/sites/default/files/newsletters/AEESPNL.44.1.2009.pdf |journal=AEESP Newsletter |volume=44 |issue=1 |pages=1-2}} and was a founding member of the AEESP Foundation.{{Cite web |title=History of the AEESP Foundation (2003-2016) |url=https://aeespfoundation.org/about/history-aeesp-foundation |access-date=2025-05-20 |website=AEESP Foundation |language=en}} In 2011 she spoke at the Frist Arab-American Frontiers of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine Symposium in Kuwait City.{{Cite web |date=October 2011 |title=First Arab-American Frontiers of Science, Engineering, and Medicine Symposium |url=https://www.nationalacademies.org/event/10-17-2011/first-arab-american-frontiers-of-science-engineering-and-medicine-symposium |access-date=2025-05-21 |website=www.nationalacademies.org}}
In 2013, Childress accepted a position in the Sonny Astani Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at USC's Viterbi School of Engineering as Professor and Director of environmental engineering. In 2014 she was an invited speaker at the US National Academies Roundtable on Science and Technology Sustainability.{{Cite book |url=https://nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/21849/addressing-the-energy-water-nexus-2013-2014-meetings-in-brief |title=Addressing the Energy-Water Nexus: 2013-2014 Meetings in Brief |date=2015-08-31 |publisher=National Academies Press |isbn=978-0-309-38087-4 |location=Washington, D.C. |doi=10.17226/21849}} She was Gabilan Distinguished Professor In Science and Engineering from 2019 to 2022{{Cite web |title=Gabilan Distinguished Professorship in Science and Engineering – USC WiSE |url=https://wise.usc.edu/programs/grants-and-awards/faculty/galiban-distinguished-professorship-in-science-and-engineering/ |access-date=2025-05-21 |language=en-US}}. Childress was appointed to the USEPA Science Advisory Board in 2021 after having served on the Drinking Water Committee.{{Cite web |last=US EPA |first=OA |date=2021-08-02 |title=EPA Announces Selections of Charter Members to the Science Advisory Board |url=https://www.epa.gov/newsreleases/epa-announces-selections-charter-members-science-advisory-board |access-date=2025-05-21 |website=www.epa.gov |language=en}} In 2023 she became the founding Director of USC's Center for Water Resource Recovery (the [https://rewater.usc.edu/ Rewater Center]).{{Cite web |title=Home |url=https://rewater.usc.edu/ |access-date=2025-05-21 |website=Rewater Center |language=en-GB}} She currently serves on expert advisory panels for U.S. water infrastructure projects and previously served on the Singapore Public Utilities Board's external audit panel.{{Cite web |title=Amy Childress |url=https://wise.usc.edu/faculty-members/amy-childress/ |access-date=2025-05-21 |website=USC WiSE: Women in Science and Engineering |language=en-US}}
References
External links
- [https://amyechildress.com/ Childress Research Group]
- [https://scholar.google.com/citations?hl=en&user=qEakWgcAAAAJ&inst=7943137549644843768 Amy E. Childress] publications indexed by Google Scholar
- [https://rewater.usc.edu/ Rewater Center]
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Childress, Amy}}
Category:Date of birth missing (living people)
Category:University of Southern California faculty
Category:American civil engineers