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Welcome
Welcome
The growth of human populations and accompanying land development can introduce new contaminants to the environment or create new pathways of human exposure to existing risks. Simultaneously, growing communities create an ever-increasing demand for high quality natural resources, particularly clean water. The aim of our work is to promote sustainable development while preserving public health though the identification of potential environmental threats and the engineering of solutions to minimize exposure and risk. Inspired by the Virginia Tech motto Ut Prosim, our efforts intentionally examine the potential intersections of socioeconomics and demographics factors, infrastucture, and hydrology on patterns of human environmental exposures.
in the news
in the news
August 2025: Work by Dr. Krometis and faculty at VT Vet med was highlighted in VT News: Toxic well water will affect household pets first, new study finds and Newsweek: Pet owners issued drinking water warning.
July 2025: Congrats to Grant Bokmiller, who successfully defended his thesis "Investigating Private Drinking Water Quality and Biomarkers of Associated Health Outcomes in Southwest Virginia", advised by Dr. Krometis and Dr. Alasdair Cohen.
June 2025: Krometis group is excited to welcome Holly Young, who will begin her doctoral work in Biological Systems Engineering this Fall. Starting things strong, Holly has already been named the 2025-206 William R Walker Graduate Fellow by the Virginia Water Resources Research Center. Congratulations!
September 2024: Congratulations to Kathleen Hohweiler, whose presentation "PFAS in Virginian private wells" at the ASABE Annual Meeting in Anaheim, CA received a student presentation award!
August 2024: Welcome to Emilie Sidelinger, our newest member of Krometis Crew and NRT CIP CAR fellow!
July 2024: Dr. Krometis comments on WV Water Crisis in Charleston Gazette-Mail: "'No one would drink that': Water worries mounting in WV Coalfields".
June 2024: Congrats to our latest Krometis group graduate Natalie Larsson, who successfully defended her thesis "Projecting Planning-Related Climate Impact Drivers for Appalachian Public Health Support". Natalie will be working as an engineer for Eastern Research Group (ERG Inc) - we'll miss you!
April 2024: Dr. Krometis was interviewed as part of Appalachian Voices' "How McDowell County, West Virginia, is Addressing its Decades Old Water Problems."
April 2024: Congrats to our latest Krometis group graduate Kate Albi, who successfully defended her thesis "Implications of bottled water reliance in rural Central Appalachia". Kate is off to Richmond, VA to work as an engineer for Hazen and Sawyer - we'll miss you!
April 2024: Dr. Krometis was interviewed by WSLS about the latest shift in PFAS standards: New federal limits on 'forever chemicals' in drinking water.
April 2024: Congrats to Nick McLelland, who received a Carver Fellowship to support his graduate degree here at VT studying Virginia landuse and PFAS - we're so glad you're sticking around after your undergraduate degree!
Feb 2024: VT news highlighted a research grant aimed at improving wastewater monitoring for diseases in rural Appalachian communities, led by VT Vet Med's Dr. Cohen with Dr. Krometis and CEE colleagues Drs. Pruden and Vikesland as co-PIs.
Feb 2024: Congratulations to Kate Albi, who was recognized at the Virginia Tech College of Agriculture and Life Sciences' MS student of the year!!
December 2023: Dr. Krometis discussed her work with the Roanoke Times: "'Forever Chemicals' that polluted the Roanoke River not found in private wells."
September 2023: Dr. Krometis received the Ut Prosim Excellence in Service Award from the CALS Faculty Association.
September 2023: Dr. Krometis was featured on WV Public Radio's Inside Appalachia: "Water Woes and the Trouble with Spring Water".
August 2023: Welcome to two new graduate student members of Krometis Group: Kyra Sigler (doctoral student) and Grant Bokmiller (accelerated BS/MS)!
August 2023: Congratulations to Krometis group doctoral student, Kathleen Hohweiler, who was selected as Virginia Tech's 2023 Rural Environmental Health NIH T32 Trainee! We're so proud of you!
June 2023: VT news coverage of ISCE investments featuring Dr. Krometis' work in Appalachia: "Collaborative seed grants nurture high impact social and environmental research."
June 2023: In VT News: "Appalachia drinking water and health data lacking, Virginia Tech-led study finds."
May 2023: A big congratulations to Krometis group PhD student Sarah Price, whose proposal, "An investigation of septic resistomes to inform public health and wastewater surveillance of antibiotic resistance", was funded by the Virginia Water Resources Research Center! You rock!
May 2023: Dr. Krometis spoke on WDBJ last night: "Parts of Roanoke County still impacted by 'forever chemicals' in drinking water."
May 2023: Congratulations to Dr. Hannah Patton, who successfully defended her dissertation, "The Effectiveness of Point-of-Use Treatment in Improving Home Drinking Water Quality in Rural Households", this morning. Way to go Dr. Patton, we can’t wait to see where your career takes you next!
April 2023: Dr. Krometis, graduate students, and campus collaborators featured in VT News: "Lack of access to clean water impacts economic and health disparities."
April 2023: Congratulations to Kathleen Hohweiler, whose poster, “Incidence of Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS) in Private Water Supplies in Southwest Virginia ”, won first place out of over 80 presentations at this year's Virginia Tech Graduate Student Research Symposium. Very well done!
April 2023: Congratulations to newest Krometis group graduate, Kathleen Hohweiler, who successfully defended her thesis, “Incidence of Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS) in Private Water Supplies in Southwest Virginia ”. We're delighted that you'll be sticking around with us for your PhD and continuing to plumb the depths of PFAS in private water supplies!!
April 2023: Emma Dudzinski, ICTAS Doctoral Fellow and doctoral student in the Grado Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering at Virginia Tech, won the Outstanding Poster Award for for her research on “Improving Water Access and Quality in Water Insecure Areas" at the Center for Excellence in Logistics and Distribution (CELDi) Symposium at Kansas State University. The poster was co-authored by Dr. Kimberly Ellis (ISE) and Dr. Krometis. Great work, Emma!
Feb 2023: VT News highlighted work by Dr. Krometis and Krometis graduate students Kate Albi and Kathleen Hohweiler in a video: "Testing Water Quality in the Springs of Rural Appalachia".
Jan 2023: Dr. Krometis interviewed on RadioIQ/WVTF about PFAS: "What do researchers know about the health effects of GenX?"
Nov 2022: The Appalachian Voice highlighted work in Tennessee and Virginia Tech on roadside springs: "Contaminants Found in East Tennessee Springs".
Nov 2022: Dr. Krometis and colleague Dr. Hession discuss flood resilience in Pulaski, VA on WVTF: "As flooding risks increase, this small town in Appalachia is working on a flood mitigation plan".
August 2022: Dr. Krometis is leading an interdisciplinary team of ISCE Scholars to understand the economic and health risks associated with supplemental potable water use in Central Appalachia.
May 2022: Congratulations to newest Krometis group graduate, Cameron "Cam" Cornwell, who successfully defended his thesis, “Associations between drinking water source watersheds and adverse birth outcomes in Central Appalachia”. We'll miss you Cam!
March 2022: VT News article discussing the global challenges of safe drinking water focuses on work by Dr. Krometis and colleague Dr. Cohen.
January 2022: Dr. Krometis received the 2022 Universities Council on Water Resources Mid-Career Award for Applied Research.
November 2021: VT News announces the awarding of a new NSF NRT program combating antibiotic resistance with data-driven surveillance (co-PI Dr. Krometis).
June 2021: NBC Nightly News and the Washington Post highlighted the drinking water issues in McDowell County WV, mentioning work by Dr. Krometis and PhD candidate Hannah Patton.
May 2021: Dr. Krometis was named the Elizabeth and James E. Turner, Jr. '56 Faculty Fellow in Biological Systems Engineering by the Virginia Tech Board of Visitors.
March 2021: Dr. Krometis speaks on WFXR's "Living Local": STEM-based educational kits kids can do from home.
March 2021: Krometis group PhD student Hannah Patton wins a Roop and Kavita Mahajan award supporting her proposal, "Implementation of point-of-use (POU) water filters in private well-dependent households in West Virginia to reduce adverse exposures." Well done, Hannah!
March 2021: Collaborative project between colleagues from the College of Natural Resources and Dr. Krometis featured in VT News: "What can stream quality tell us about quality of life?" Results from this article were also reported in The Week, Roanoke Star, Eurasia Review, Augusta Free Press, and Science Daily.
Dec 2020: Congratulations to Krometis group member D. Lauren Wind, who successfully defended her dissertation: "Tracking Antibiotic Resistance throughout Agroecosystems"! Well done.
Dec 2020: Dr. Cristina Marcillo (March 2020 alumna) and Dr. Krometis's paper, "Small Towns, Big Challenges: Does Rurality Influence Safe Drinking Water Act Compliance?" won the American Waterworks Association (AWWA)’s 2020 Small Systems Publications Award.
Nov 2020: Krometis Lab participates in the first ever virtual Science Fair at Virginia Tech
August 2020: Dr. Krometis' discusses her work on WVTF (NPR): Appalachian springs not always safe to drink
July 2020: Recent Krometis group alumni, Dr. Cristina Marcillo, featured in this month's AWWA Water Science Author Spotlight
July 2020: Current Krometis group PhD student Hannah Patton appears on WFXR: Virginia Tech community converges to create a summer project for local kids
July 2020: Work by Dr. Krometis and Dr. Marcillo discussed by VT Sociology Professor Dr. Nick Copeland on the Platypus (CASTAC) blog: Science and Justice: "Impartial" Water Monitoring and Resistance to the Escobal Mine in Guatemala
July 2020: Recent Krometis group alumni, Dr. Cristina Marcillo, receives Randolph L. Grayson CALS Diversity Scholar award
June 2020: Dr. Krometis' work featured in VT News: Covid19 research projects propelled by Rapid Response Seed Fund
June 2020: Dr. Krometis speaks on WFXR: Virginia Tech professor fights to bring clean water to rural Virginia
June 2020: Dr. Krometis' work featured in VT News: Virginia Tech researcher working to provide clean water to Appalachia
May 2020: Check out some of the amazing case study videos on water and wastewater investments Krometis Group student Fynn McMillan made for the Appalachian Regional Commission here.
May 2020: Congratulations to current Krometis group PhD candidate Lauren Wind, who was named BSE's 2020 PhD student of the year!
May 2020: Congratulations to Krometis group student Ethan Smith, who just successfully defended his thesis: "Landuse as a Predictor of Safe Drinking Water Act Violations in Central Appalachia "!
March 2020: Congratulations to Krometis group student Cristina Marcillo, who just successfully defended her dissertation: "Clean Water for All: The demographics of urban and rural safe drinking water challenges in Virginia, USA and San Rafael Las Flores, Guatemala"!
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