University of Georgia College of Public Health professor Erin Lipp has been appointed to the Georgia Power Professorship in Environmental Health Science.
An environmental microbiologist with research focused on water quality and aquatic microbial ecology, Lipp is internationally recognized for her work on climate change and waterborne disease.
The professorship was created, with support from Georgia Power Company, to recognize excellence in environmental health science research and mentorship.
Lipp’s research encompasses a range of problems in environmental microbiology and spans a full continuum of water types from wastewater to black water streams in the southeast US to coral reefs in the Caribbean. She is recognized internationally for her work on climate change and waterborne disease and has contributed to major national and international reports on climate health.
Her work on wastewater and enteric pathogens is also broadly recognized. During the COVID-19 pandemic she was among the first group to adapt pathogen detection in wastewater to SARS-CoV-2 and continues to be active in national and international groups advancing wastewater-based epidemiology broadly.
“This professorship represents commitment at UGA to better understand complex environmental problems that impact public health and the environment, work that is at the heart of the field of environmental health science,” said Marsha Davis, dean of the College of Public Health.
Lipp has served the department of environmental health science at UGA for over 20 years and serves as the associate dean for academic affairs in the College of Public Health, as well as adjunct faculty courtesy appointments in Odum School of Ecology, department of marine science and department of microbiology.
She is an active teacher and mentor, having served as major professor for 11 Ph.D. graduates and 14 M.S. students, and she has been on doctoral or masters committees for another 63 students at UGA. She also actively mentors UGA CURO students, other undergraduates, as well as high school students.
In addition, Lipp will have an opportunity to award a Georgia Power Distinguished Graduate Fellowship to continue her legacy of mentorship.
“I am incredibly honored to be appointed as the Georgia Power Professor of Environmental Health Science. The recognition of my research in environmental microbiology, water quality, and disease ecology over the last 20 years at UGA is also personally meaningful to me and this professorship will bolster more exciting work in the future,” said Lipp.
She received her B.A. in Biology with a concentration in Marine Biology from New College of Florida and Ph.D. in Marine Science from the University of South Florida.
Posted September 14, 2023.
