Dept of Systems and Engineering Management
Email: Willie Harper
BS, Civil Engineering, University of California, Los Angeles, 1992, MENG, Civil and Environmental Engineering, Cornell University, 1993 PhD, Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of California, Berkeley, 2002
My research uses biotechnology for environmental applications related to water quality. I am interested in the detection and removal of pollutants and I am interested in using wastes as resources. Current projects focus on the biotransformation of micro-contaminants, biosensing, and environmental sustainability. I teach courses related to environmental quality and I participate in a variety of service activities.
BIOLOGICAL PROCESS ANALYSIS AND MODELING
LIQUID AND GAS CHROMATOGRAPHY
ARTIFICIAL NEURAL NETWORKS
FRONTIER ELECTRON DENSITY COMPUTATIONS
ENZYME-SUBSTRATE DOCKING
RECENT REFEREED JOURNAL ARTICLES:
Yi., T., Barr, W., and W.F. Harper, Jr. (2012). Electron density-based transformation of trimethoprim during biological wastewater treatment. Water Science and Technology, Vol. 65(4), 689-696.
Barr, W., Yi, T., Aga, D., Acevedo, O., and W.F. Harper, Jr. (2012). Using electronic theory to identify metabolites in 17α-ethinylestradiol transformation pathways. Environmental Science and Technology, Vol. 46(2), 760-768.
Yi, T., McKintosh, S., Aga, D., and W.F. Harper, Jr. (2011). Exploring 17α-ethinylestradiol removal, mineralization, and bioincorporation in engineered bioreactors. Water Research, Vol. 45, 1369-1377.
Larissa C. Parsley, Erin J. Consuegra, Kavita S. Kakirde, Andrew M. Land, Willie F. Harper, Jr., and Mark R. Liles (2010). Identification of diverse antimicrobial resistance determinants from an activated sludge microbial assemblage and encoded on bacterial, plasmid, and bacteriophage metagenomes. Applied and Environmental Microbiology, Vol. 76(11): 3553-3757.
Larissa C. Parsley, Erin J. Consuegra, Stephen J. Thomas, Nadia N. Bhuiyan, Andrew M. Land, Mustafa A. Mazher, Robert J. Waters, Willie F. Harper, Jr., and Mark R. Liles (2010). Census of the Viral Metagenome within an Activated Sludge Microbial Assemblage. Applied and Environmental Microbiology, Vol. 76(8): 2673-2677.
Taewoo Yi and W.F. Harper, Jr. (2009). The effect of nitrate and sulfate on mediator-less microbial fuel cells with high internal resistance. Water Environment Research, Vol. 81(11): 2320-2328.
Willie F. Harper, Jr., Akihiko Terada, Franck Poly, Xavier Le Roux, Ken Kristensen, Mustafa Mazher, and Barth F. Smets (2009). The effect of hydroxylamine on the activity and aggregate structure of autotrophic nitrifying bioreactor cultures. Biotechnology and Bioengineering, Vol.102(3): 714-724.
Julia Bower, Kaye S. Savage, Beth Weinman, Mark O. Barnett, William P. Hamilton, and Willie F. Harper (2008). Immobilization of mercury by pyrite (FeS2). Environmental Pollution, Vol. 156(2): 504-514.
Xu, K., Harper, Jr., W.F., and Zhao, D. (2008). 17α-ethinylestradiol sorption to activated sludge biomass: Thermodynamic properties and reaction mechanisms, Water Research, Vol. 42(12):3146-3152.
Xiong, Z, Zhao, D., and Harper, W.F. (2007). Sorption and Desorption of Perchlorate with Various Classes of Ion-Exchangers: A Comparative Study, Industrial and Engineering Chemistry, Vol. 46 (26), 9213 -9222.
Yi, T. and Harper, Jr., W.F. (2007). The link between nitrification and biotransformation of 17α-ethinylestradiol, Environmental Science and Technology, Vol. 41(12): 4311-4316.
Yi, T. and Harper, Jr., W.F. (2007). The effect of biomass particle characteristics on the partitioning and sorption hysteresis of 17α-ethinylestradiol. Water Research, Vol. 41(7):1543-1553.
RECENT REFEREED CONFERENCE PROCEEDINGS:
William Barr, Taewoo Yi, and W. F. Harper Jr., Exploring electron density as a theoretical basis for 17α-ethinylestradiol biotransformation, 84nd Annual WaterEnvironment Federation Technical Exposition and Conference, Los Angeles, CA., October 2011 (podium presentation).
Yinghua Feng, Christine Currie, and W. F. Harper Jr., Metrics related to the responsiveness of biosensing microbial fuel cells, 84nd Annual WaterEnvironment Federation Technical Exposition and Conference, Los Angeles, CA., October 2011 (poster presentation).
Monica Rothermel, William Barr, Grace Witter, Kayla Reddington, Matt Weschler, Kullapa Soratana, Amy E. Landis, W. F. Harper Jr., Coupling the activated sludge process with microalgal photobioreactors to generate renewable resources from wastewater, Annual Pennsylvania WaterEnvironment Association Technical Exposition and Conference, Lancaster, PA., June 2011 (podium presentation).
Taewoo Yi, W. F. Harper Jr., Energy production in mediator-less microbial fuel cells with high internal resistance: the effects of nitrate and sulfate, 82nd Annual WaterEnvironment Federation Technical Exposition and Conference, Orlando, Fl., October 2009.
W. O. Khunjar, N. G. Love, D. Aga, W. F. Harper Jr., The impact of physiological state and residual organic carbon on the biotransformation of 17α-ethinylestradiol and trimethoprim by heterotrophic bacteria, 82nd Annual WaterEnvironment Federation Technical Exposition and Conference, Orlando, Fl., October 2009.
Wendell O. Khunjar, J. Skotnicka-Pitak, Nancy G. Love, Diana Aga, Willie F. Harper Jr., Elucidating the Role of Nitrifiers versus Heterotrophic Bacteria in the Biotransformation of Pharmaceuticals During Wastewater Treatment, 81st Annual WaterEnvironment Federation Technical Exposition and Conference, Chicago, Ill., October 2008.
Khunjar W.O., Love N.G., Vikesland P.J., Skotnicka-Pitka J., Aga D.S., Yi, T., Harper W.F. Biotransformation and chlorination of pharmaceuticals and their byproducts during wastewater treatment. 236th National Meeting of the American Chemical Society, Philadelphia, PA, August 2008.
RECENT NONREFEREED CONFERENCE PROCEEDINGS:
W.F. Harper, Jr. and Taewoo Yi. Evaluating the relationships between energetic output, removal of organics, and material balances in a hybrid anaerobic bioreactor treating high strength wastewater, WFC11: The World Filtration Congress, Graz, Austria, April 2012 (podium presentation).
Susan A. Mackintosh, Wendell O. Khunjar, Jola Skotnicka-Pitak, Diana S. Aga, Nancy G. Love, Willie F. Harper Jr, Metabolite identification by LC/MS/MS to understand the role of ammonia oxidizing and heterotrophic bacteria during treatment of 17α-ethinylestradiol in wastewater. 58th ASMS Conference on Mass Spectrometry, Salt Lake City, Utah, May 23-27, 2010.
W. O. Khunjar, J. Skotnicka-Pitak, M.D. Celiz, S. Baik, N. G. Love, D. Aga, W. F. Harper Jr., Elucidating factors that influence bacterial biotransformation of microconstituents, Association of Environmental Engineering and Science Professors Conference, Des Moines, Iowa, July 26-29, 2009.
L.C. Parsley, E.J. Consuegra, K.S. Kakirde, A.M. Land, W.F. Harper, Jr., and M.R. Liles. Diverse antibiotic resistance determinants identified from bacterial, plasmid, and bacteriophage metagenomes within an activated sludge community, American Society for Microbiology General Meeting, Philadelphia, PA., May 17-21, 2009.
Love, N.G., Khunjar, W. O., Vikesland, P., Kotcharaksa, K., Skotnicka-Pitak, J., Yi, T, Aga, D.S., Harper Jr., W.F. Biotransformation and chlorination of pharmaceuticals and their byproducts during wastewater treatment.The 236th ACS National Meeting August 2008. Philadelphia, PA.
Jolanta Skotnicka-Pitak, Diana S. Aga, Wendell O. Khunjar, Nancy G. Love, Taewoo Yi, Willie F. Harper Jr., Characterization of EE2 metabolite in bioreactors with pure cultures of Nitrosomonas europaea and in activated sludge using LC/ITMS, 56th ASMS Conference on Mass Spectrometry, Denver, Colorado, June 1 - 5, 2008.
D.S. Aga, N.G. Love, W.F. Harper, W.O. Khunjar, J. Skotnicka-Pitak, and T. Yi, Biotransformation of pharmaceuticals by nitrifying and heterotrophic cultures: investigation of the degradation kinetics and identification of metabolites. International Water Association, 5th Leading-Edge Conference and Exhibition on Water and Wastewater Technologies, Zurich, Switzerland, June 2008.
Robert Waters, Erin Carroll, Andrew Land, Mustafa Mazher, Larissa Parsley, Willie F. Harper, and Mark R. Liles, Phylogeny and antibiotic resistance in an activated sludge microbial community, Florida Branch of the American Society for Microbiology Regional Conference, St. Petersburg, FL., March 31- April 1 2007.
Wendell O. Khunjar, Christine Klein, Taewoo Yi, Nancy G. Love, Diana Aga, Willie F. Harper Jr., Cometabolism of pharmaceutical, personal care products (PPCPs) and endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) by the ammonia oxidizing bacterium, Nitrosomonas europaea, Nutrient Removal 2007: The State of the Art. Water Environment Federation Specialty Conference, Baltimore, MD, March 4-7, 2007.
Wendell O. Khunjar, Seungyun Baik, Dawn Celiz, Taewoo Yi, Nancy G. Love, Diana Aga,and Willie F. Harper Jr., Evaluation of the fate of environmentally relevant micropollutants, Nutrient Removal 2007: The State of the Art. Water Environment Federation Specialty Conference, Baltimore, MD, March 4-7, 2007.
Willie F. Harper Jr., Nancy G. Love, Diana Aga, Taewoo Yi, Wendell O. Khunjar, Christine Klein, and Seamus O’Connor, Evaluating the link between nitrification and the removal of 17α-ethinylestradiol, Nutrient Removal 2007: The State of the Art. Water Environment Federation Specialty Conference, Baltimore, MD, March 4-7, 2007.
Aga, D.S., Harper Jr., W.F., Love, N.G., Khunjar, W.O., Klein, C., Celiz, D.M., Baik, S.,Yi, T. Investigating the connection between nitrification and the removal of pharmaceuticals using engineered bioreactors. Micropol and Ecohazard, 2007, Frankfurt, Germany.
Klein, C., Aga, D.S., Love, N.G., Khunjar, W.O., Harper Jr. W.F., Characterizing the degradation products of 17 alpha-ethinylestradiol in activated sludge systems by LC/MS. 2007. 58th Pittsburgh Conference on Analytical Chemistry and Applied Spectroscopy, Chicago, IL. February 25-March 2, 2007.