Juliet Johnston
Assistant Professor of Environmental Microbiology and Bioremediation
Dr. Juliet Johnston received her B.S. from Clemson University, and Ph.D. in environmental engineering from the University of Minnesota focusing on seasonal variations in wastewater microbial communities.
While technically an environmental engineer, their primary focus is on leveraging microbial communities for biodegradation and bioremediation. She previously was a postdoctoral researcher at the Georgia Institute of Technology focusing on the transcriptomic responses of nitrifying bacteria in wastewater. Before Georgia Tech, they were a postdoctoral researcher at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory with Dr. Mayali using microbial encapsulation techniques to explore how microbial communities behave in aggregates.
Johnston has previously taught as a part-time lecturer at the University of California Berkeley and as an adjunct professor at the University of St. Thomas. She is excited to teach courses focusing on environmental microbiology, bioinformatics, environmental engineering, and general chemistry. Outside of lab, she can often be found on hikes, lounging in coffee shops, DIY crafting, and petting every nearby dog.
Recent and Upcoming Courses
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Learn the basics of environmental microbiology and how tiny single cell organisms dominate the Earth! This course will explore the physiology and metabolism of individual organisms before expanding to how microbial communities interact and control biogeochemical cycling. Towards the end of the course, we will explore applications of environmental microbiology from bioremediation of wastewater to fermentation byproducts in foods. We will occasionally have hands-on demonstrations and fundamental lab work. Throughout the course, we will have presentations and dialogues about how environmental microbiology impacts society and ties into social justice Keywords:Environmental microbiology bacteria archaea fungi
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Overview of topics within environmental engineering and how humans have built infrastructure around us. Learn how to leverage chemical, biological, and physical processes to clean the environment. Course topics will span from drinking water treatment, wastewater treatment, solid waste management, hazardous waste management and more. There will be several opportunities for field trips to visit local infrastructure. Throughout the course, we will explore how our approaches to environmental engineering infrastructure intersect with equality and social justice in the community. Friday lab section will be a dedicated space for diving into engineering problems, mathematics concepts, homework review, and ongoing discussions. Keywords:Engineering waste drinking water pollution