Villanova University was founded in 1842 by the Order of Saint Augustine. To this day, Villanova’s Augustinian Catholic intellectual tradition is the cornerstone of an academic community in which students learn to think critically, act compassionately and succeed while serving others. Villanova prepares students to become ethical leaders who create positive change everywhere life takes them.


The strength of the Villanova experience comes in part from the University’s welcoming community. All members are bonded together by a shared responsibility to uphold the ideals of Saint Augustine and let the principles of truth, unity and love guide their lives. The Villanova community helps students grow intellectually, professionally and spiritually, and challenges them to reach their full potential.


The University’s rigorous academic experience, rooted in the liberal arts, forms an environment in which students and professors are partners in learning. The Villanova community is dedicated to providing a personalized experience that fosters every student’s intellectual and spiritual well-being. As part of their education, students are encouraged to enrich their own lives by working for those in need. Through academic and service programs, students use their knowledge, skills and compassion to better the world around them.


There are more than 10,000 undergraduate, graduate and law students in the University’s six colleges—the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, the Villanova School of Business, the College of Engineering, the College of Nursing, the College of Professional Studies and the Villanova University Charles Widger School of Law. These colleges are the setting for an experience that develops both the heart and the mind, and creates the atmosphere where students are called to ignite change.


Villanova University is located in a suburban community 12 miles west of Philadelphia, Pa.

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Visiting Scholar, Environmental Engineering Department, Middle East Technical University, Ankara, Turkey, 2013

Visiting Scholar, Genomics and Microarray Facility, The Wistar Institute, University of Pennsylvania, 2006

Anaerobic biodegradation of brown grease and its potential as a source of renewable energy

Biohydrogen production from cattle manure and its mixtures with renewable feedstock by hyperthermophilic Caldicellulosiruptor bescii

The synergistic interaction between sulfate-reducing bacteria and pyrogenic carbonaceous matter in DDT decay

Solving the growing problem of how to treat and remove waste is one of today's most important environmental concerns. Dr. Metin Duran’s professional activities lay on the interface of applied microbiology and engineering. He uses microbiological principles to understand, design and control biological processes for wastewater treatment, bioremediation, solid and hazardous waste management and water quality control. Dr. Duran can discuss how to identify and remediate pollutants in waste, and the potential for wastewater reuse. Particularly timely is Duran's research on increasing methane yield at Philadelphia Water Department Water Pollution Control Facilities so that the use of methane as a renewable energy source can be more economically feasible. He can also speak about microorganisms that live in extreme environments like thermal vents on Earth and possibly on Mars.

Dr. Duran also leads the Environmental Microbiology and Biotechnology (EMB) Laboratory at Villanova, which is engaged in research and education in the applied microbiology area as it relates to biological processes of environmental engineering.

Microbial Water Quality

Renewable Energy from Waste

Wastewater Treatment

Water Pollution

Environmental Microbiology and Biotechnology Laboratory

Olympics Bet Against Climate Change with Seine Swimming. For Days, it Looked Like They Would Lose

Is the Seine Really Clean Enough for Swimming? Depending on the Weather

‘We’re Gonna Swim’: Paris Preps for Olympic Events in Cleaned-Up Seine

Will the Seine be Clean Enough by the Olympics? Not Even the Experts Know Yet

Olympics 2016: Meet the Fishermen of Rio's Contaminated Guanabara Bay

What a Villanova Professor Can Teach You About Sustainability

A novel, high temperature anaerobic digestion process for renewable energy from biosolids, animal manure, and cellulosic biomass

Villanova Researchers Receive Clean Water Grant from National Science Foundation

Pilot-scale investigation of sewage sludge and scum co-digestion

sport-and-study-villanova-university-faculty-offer-academic-lens-to-paris-olympics-storylines

Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering | College of Engineering

Associate Professor | M. Louise Fitzpatrick College of Nursing

Professor; Co-Director, Mid-Atlantic Center for Children's Health and the Environment | M. Louise Fitzpatrick College of Nursing

Assistant Professor, Civil and Environmental Engineering

All eyes are on Paris: more than 10,000 athletes from 206 nations are set to compete in the Games of the XXXIII Olympiad, the third Olympics in the City of Love and the first since 1924. Below, Villanova University faculty members provide their academic expertise on the unique storylines and narratives already taking place as Paris 2024 gets underway. Portraying a National Image in the Opening Ceremony  Étienne Achille, PhD  Director of French and Francophone Studies After months of speculation, the daily Le Parisien has officially confirmed that renowned French-Malian singer Aya Nakamura will lend her vocals to an opening ceremony featuring an iconic backdrop steeped in history.

“Nakamura is the most-streamed Francophone singer in the world, embodying France’s culture on a global stage, and she’ll be paying homage to one of the most cherished representatives of the chanson française,” said Dr. Achille, referring to reports she will sing one of beloved French crooner Charles Aznavour’s greatest hits.

According to Dr. Achille, the pop star’s presence is significant and symbolic. “A performer, or even a flagbearer, can easily become the face of a global event like the Olympics,” he said.

 
The details of the setting for the ceremony – in the heart of Paris, along the Seine – are just as intentionally symbolic.

 
“Not only will this be the first opening ceremony to take place entirely outside of a stadium; its location along the river and the fact the delegations will be on boats are key.

“It represents movement and connection to the world,” Dr. Achille said. “And Nakamura’s performance projects the image of a modern, multi-ethnic nation building on tradition while proudly marching into the future.” 
Swimming in the Seine: Safe or Not? Metin Duran, PhD  Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering It is, perhaps, the most-asked question of the last few weeks. Is the Seine River, set to host multiple swimming events, safe? The river has been illegal to swim in for a century due to the presence of harmful bacteria such as E. Coli, and recent testing has reaffirmed this concern. The Seine, which had undergone an expensive cleaning to mitigate this issue, received the endorsement of Paris Mayor Ann Hidalgo, who personally took a dip in the water herself to attest to its safety. 

The stunt did little to convince experts such as Dr. Duran, who studies wastewater, to abandon concern about the potential health risks of athletes being exposed to pathogens in the water. 
“When we have fecal pollution, there is a high likelihood of pathogens being present,” Dr. Duran said. “Those could be viral, like a norovirus, or protozoan.

“If you’re swimming in that water, you run the risk of ingesting it. Once you ingest that polluted water, you’re likely to contract some of those disease-causing pathogens. Ingesting this water doesn’t mean you’re necessarily going to get sick, but based on the number of people in a big city like Paris, there is a very high likelihood of some of these pathogens existing now in the river.”
Accommodations for Breastfeeding Athletes Sunny Hallowell, PhD, APRN, PPCNP-BC  Associate Professor of Nursing The IOC and Paris 2024 Organizing Committee is providing support to all breastfeeding athletes competing in the Games. A few national governing bodies, like the French Olympic Committee, are going a step further and offering hotel rooms near the Village for their country’s breastfeeding athletes to share with their children and spouses.

  
“A few decades ago, the idea of a female athlete who also wanted to breastfeed their child was so taboo it may have prevented an athlete from competing,” said Dr. Hallowell. “Now, many female athletes who choose to breastfeed their newborns or toddlers conceptualize breastfeeding as another normal function of their remarkably athletic bodies.”

Accommodation for breastfeeding athletes and increased awareness are needed more than ever. Dr. Hallowell notes that in addition to changing views on breastfeeding, the needs for such accommodations are increasing as the age of peak athletic performance also increases.
“Advances in sports nutrition, wellness and lifestyle have extended the longevity and performance of many athletes into adulthood,” she said.

 
And while some athletes with rigorous training regimens might feel “frustrated incorporating breastfeeding into the routine,” Dr. Hallowell says that for others, “breastfeeding provides both physical and socio-emotional benefits for the mother and the infant that allow the athlete to focus on the job of competition.”
Protecting Against the Parisian Heat Ruth McDermott-Levy, PhD, MPH, RN, FAAN  Professor of Nursing The potential for extreme heat in Paris has been a topic of concern for athletes and organizers, prompting certain outdoor events to be proactively scheduled at times to avoid the day’s worst heat. 

Current forecasts predict temperatures in the 90s for several days early on in the Games, which could be exacerbated by Paris’ reputation as an urban heat island, unable to cool due to lack of green space and building density. 

Dr. McDermott-Levy says the athletes are inherently vulnerable, because “the added stress of physical exertion during their events puts them at greater risk of heat-related illness.” But she also notes that many of the athletes have likely undergone pre-competition training in extreme heat conditions to acclimate and will have trainers and health professionals monitoring them frequently. 

“The group of concern are the workers at the stadiums, outdoor workers and spectators who are there to enjoy or work at the events and may have had little to no acclimation,” Dr. McDermott-Levy said. “They need to follow local instructions and take frequent breaks from the heat, seek shade and maintain hydration by avoiding alcohol and sugary drinks and drinking water.”
How Nature Can Inspire Future Use of Olympic Infrastructure Alyssa Stark, PhD  Assistant Professor of Biology Gone, hopefully, are the days of abandoned Olympic Villages and venues, overrun with weeds and rendered useless soon after the Games conclude. The IOC’s commitment to sustainability has been transparently relayed ahead of the 2024 Games, featuring a robust range of initiatives and programs. 

Dr. Stark is particularly interested in one aspect of ensuring a sustainable Olympics. 

“How will the structures, materials and systems they developed for the Olympics be re-used, re-shaped or re-worked afterward?” she posed. “This could include re-using buildings to larger scale or re-working transportation systems set in place for the Games that could then integrate into day-to-day life post Olympics.”

At the root of her interest is the concept of biomimicry. “A lot of the way we think about designing, if we’re using this biomimicry lens, is how do we learn from nature to solve problems that we have in a sustainable way, keeping in mind the environment we are in?” Dr. Stark said. 

In this case, consider how something like a dwelling of a living creature might be repurposed to fit the needs of another creature, or serve another natural purpose, without harming the ecosystem. Could that inspire a way to re-use the Olympic infrastructure?

“There are a ton of examples of [biomimicry] being used and working in products,” Dr. Stark said. “But I would say the next step is looking at the social levels of these big ecosystems – building architecture, city planning, flow of information and, in this instance, repurposing what was created for the Olympics.”
Paris Could Be a Transportation Model for Major City Events in the United States Arash Tavakoli, PhD  Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering Paris has invested 250 million Euro the last several years to transform the city to a 100% cycling city, making it one of the most bike-friendly municipalities in the world. Currently, more trips are being made by bicycles in Paris than by cars (11% vs. 4%), a trend that has permeated to the surrounding suburbs as well. 

With an influx of travelers in Paris for the Games, Dr. Tavakoli, an expert in human transportation, said, “The Olympics will be a test for how well these kinds of systems respond to high fluctuations in the population as compared to vehicle-centric systems.”

While Paris is thousands of miles away from the United States, how bicycle, pedestrian and vehicle systems work during the Games could provide helpful insight ahead of major events in American cities. 

“With the World Cup coming to the U.S. in a few years, it will be interesting to compare [Paris] with how our own system responds to people’s needs,” Dr. Tavakoli said. “Not just based on traffic data and congestion, but also considering factors like how comfortable the transportation system is, how much it affects our well-being and how much it attracts a nonresident to enjoy the U.S. when their only option, for the most part, is a vehicle.”





Sport and Study: Villanova University Faculty Offer Academic Lens to Paris Olympics Storylines

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Over the last week hundreds of millions of gallons of wastewater have spewed from a former fertilizer plant in Piney Point, Florida, which was abandoned in 2001 and taken over in 2006 by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection. The location is adjacent to Tampa Bay, a 400-square-mile body of water that separates Tampa, Clearwater and St. Petersburg and is full of fish, crabs, seagrass, dolphins, manatees and seabirds of every kind.

The state plans to close Piney Point, scientists are trying to forecast what comes next and environmentalists fear algal blooms and fish kills (also known as fish die-offs).

“There are hundreds if not thousands of these waste storage ponds in the United States and each one is a ticking time bomb,” says Villanova University’s Metin Duran, PhD, an expert on the biological processes of environmental engineering, including public health microbiology and biological processes for waste management. 

“The last major disaster was in December 2008, when a 40-acre pond used by Tennessee Valley Authority for the coal-burning Kingston Fossil Plant collapsed. The aftermath included damage to the area’s ecosystem and lawsuits.”

Regulations regarding waste storage ponds are at the state level, and they aren’t very strict, says Dr. Duran. “Though there are strict design and groundwater monitoring requirements to ensure waste does not cause groundwater pollution, these waste impoundments are prone to have issues under extreme weather events, such as heavy rains. With the increased frequency of such events recently, there is a risk that more of such may fail.”

Dr. Duran adds that it can be difficult to predict short- and long-term effects of the Florida case, but the reported low-level radioactive contamination could cause major damage to aquatic life and properties—and that phosphorous and nitrogen would cause eutrophication in Tampa Bay as well.



Wastewater Hazards in Southwest Florida Spark Environmental Concerns Across the State and Beyond

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