Shaily Mahendra, a UCLA associate professor of civil and environmental engineering and a Samueli Fellow, has received the 2017 Paul L. Bush Award from the nonprofit Water Environment & Reuse Foundation, in recognition her groundbreaking research in developing promising environmental friendly technologies to remove pollutants from water.
The honor, awarded annually since 2001, is considered the top recognition in the field of water quality for early- to mid-career researchers. It includes a $100,000 grant for her research.
Mahendra’s research centers on environmental microbiology, looking to understand and control microorganisms, such as bacteria and fungi and how they interact with their surrounding environment and other constituents, especially pollutants.