James Mihelcic

Samuel L. and Julia M. Flom Professor, Dept. of Civil & Environmental Engineering, College of Engineering

Organization: University of South Florida

Education: Ph.D. in Civil Engineering, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA

Sustainability science and engineering, Global environmental health and water/sanitation/hygiene (WASH), sustainable design/management of critical water infrastructures, 21st century engineering education.

Subject Areas:
Sustainability, Water Quality, Water Treatment

Selected Projects

Selected Publications

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  McAlister, M.M., Mihelcic, J.R., Stuart, A.L., & Zhang, Q. (2024). Sustaining clean cooking: A system dynamics study of Ghana's rural LPG promotion program. Energy for Sustainable Development, 81(101497). doi: 10.1016/j.esd.2024.101497
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  Buerck, A. M., Khaliq, M., Alfredo, K., Cunningham, J. A., Barrett, L.J.P., Rakotondrazaka, R., & Mihelcic, J.R. (2023). Reductions in children’s blood lead levels from a drinking-water intervention in Madagascar, Sub-Saharan Africa. Environmental Science & Technology, 57(43), 16309-16316. doi: 10.1021/acs.est.3c03774
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  McAlister, M.M., Namakula, P., Annis, J., Mihelcic, J.R., & Zhang, Q. (2023). Rural Sanitation Sustainability Dynamics: Gaining Insight through Participatory and Simulation Modeling. Environmental Science & Technology, 58(1), 400-409. doi: 10.1021/acs.est.3c09101
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  Champion, W.M., Khaliq, M., & Mihelcic, J.R. . (2022). Advancing Knowledge to Reduce Lead Exposure of Children in Data Poor Low- and Middle-Income Countries. Environmental Science & Technology Letters, 9(11), 879-888. doi: 10.1021/acs.estlett.2c006
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  Wells, E. C., Vidmar, A. M., Webb, W. A., Ferguson, A. C., Verbyla, M. E., de los Reyes III, F. L., & Mihelcic, J.R. (2022). Meeting the Water and Sanitation Challenges of Underbounded Communities in the U.S. Environmental Science & Technology, 56(16), 11180-11188. doi: 10.1021/acs.est.2c03076
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  McAlister, M.M., Zhang, Q., Annis, J., Schweitzer, R.W., Guidotti, S., & Mihelcic, J.R. (2022). Systems thinking for effective interventions in global environmental health. Environmental Science & Technology, 56(2), 732-738. doi: 10.1021/acs.est.1c04110
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  Gebrai, Y., Ghebremichael, K., & Mihelcic, J.R. (2021). A systems approach to analyzing food, energy, and water uses of a multifunctional crop: A review. Science of The Total Environment, 791(148254). doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.148254
• Mihelcic, J.R., & Zimmerman, J.B. (2021). Environmental Engineering: Fundamentals, Sustainability, Design. 3rd Edition.. New York: John Wiley & Sons.
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  Buerck, A. M., Usowicz, M., Cunningham, J.A., Khaliq, M., Barrett, L.J.P., Rakotoarisoa, L., & Mihelcic, J.R. (2021). Health and economic consequences of lead exposure associated with products and services provided by the informal economy. Environmental Science & Technology, 55(12), 8362-8370. doi: 10.1021/acs.est.0c08127
• Rodriguez-Gonzalez, L., Miriyala, A., Rice, M., Delgado, D., Marshall, J., Henderson, M., Ghebremichael, K., Mihelcic, J.R., & Ergas, S.J. (2020). A Pilot-Scale Hybrid Adsorption Biological Treatment System (HABiTS) for Nitrogen Removal in Onsite Wastewater Treatment. Sustainable Water in the Built Environment, 6(1). doi: 10.1061/JSWBAY.0000898
• Lopez-Ponnada, E.V., Lynn, T., Ergas, S.J., & Mihelcic, J.R. (2020). Long-Term Field Performance of a Conventional and Modified Bioretention System for Removing Dissolved Nitrogen Species in Stormwater Runoff. Water Research, 170(1). doi: 10.1016/j.watres.2019.115336
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  Libby, J., Wells, C.E., & Mihelcic, J.R. (2020). Moving up the Sanitation Ladder while Considering Function: An Assessment of Indigenous Communities, Pit Latrine Users, and Their Perceptions of Resource-recovery Sanitation Technology in Panama. Environmental Science & Technology, 54(23), 15405-15413. doi: 10.1021/acs.est.0c04120
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  Mihelcic, J.R. (ed.). (2020). Sanitation and Disease in the 21st Century: Health and Microbiological Aspects of Excreta and Wastewater Management.
• Wells, E.C., Webb, W.A., Prouty, C.M., Zarger, R.K., Trotz, M.A., Whiteford, L.M., & Mihelcic, J.R. (2019). Wastewater Technopolitics on the Southern Coast of Belize. Economic Anthropology, 6(2), 277-290. doi: 10.1002/sea2.12145
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  Mihelcic, J.R. (2017). Accelerating Innovation that Enhances Resource Recovery in the Wastewater Sector: Advancing a National Testbed Network. Environmental Science & Technology, 51, 7749-7758. doi: 10.1021/acs.est.6b05917
• Lopez-Ponnada, E.V., Lynn, T.J., Peterson, M., Ergas, S.J., & Mihelcic, J.R. (2017). Application of denitrifying wood chip bioreactors for management of residential non-point sources of nitrogen. Biological Engineering, 11(16). doi: 10.1186/s13036-017-0057-4
• Mihelcic, J.R., Naughton, C.C., Verbyla, M.E., Zhang, Q., Oakley, S.M., Schweitzer, R.W., Wells, E.C., & Whiteford, L.M. (2017). The Grandest Challenge of All: The Role of Environmental Engineering to Achieve Sustainability in the World’s Developing Regions. Environmental Engineering Science, 34(1). doi: 10.1089/ees.2015.0334
• Cornejo, P.K., Zhang, Q., & Mihelcic, J.R. (2016). How Does Scale of Implementation Impact the Environmental Sustainability of Wastewater Treatment Integrated with Resource Recovery? Environmental Science & Technology, 50(13), 6680-6689.
• Verbyla, M.E., Symonds, E.M., Kafle, R.C., Cairns, M.C., Iriarte, M., Guzman, M., Coronado, O., Breitbart, M., Ledo, C., & Mihelcic, J.R. (2016). Managing Microbial Risks from Indirect Wastewater Reuse for Irrigation in Urbanizing Watersheds. Environmental Science & Technology, 50(13), 6803-6813.
• Akers, D.B., MacCarthy, M.F., Cunningham, J.A., Annis, J., & Mihelcic, J.R. (2015). Lead (Pb) Contamination of Self-Supply Groundwater Systems in Coastal Madagascar and Predictions of Blood Lead Levels in Exposed Children. Environmental Science & Technology, 49(5), 2685-2693.
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  Symonds, E.M., Verbyla, M.E., Kafle, R.C., Lukasik, J.O., Breitbart, M., & Mihelcic, J.R. (2014). A Case Study of Enteric Virus Removal and Insights into the Associated Risk of Water Reuse for Two Wastewater Treatment Pond systems in Bolivia. Water Research, 62, 257-270. doi: 10.1016/j.watres.2014.07.032
• Cornejo, P.K., Santana, M.V.E., Hokanson, D.R., Mihelcic, J.R., & Zhang, Q. (2014). Estimating greenhouse gas emissions for water reuse and desalination facilities. Journal of Water Reuse and Desalination, 4(4), 238-252.
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  Wright Wendel, H.E., Zarger, R.A., & Mihelcic, J.R. (2012). Accessibility and Usability: Green Space Preferences, Perceptions, and Barriers in a Rapidly Urbanizing City in Latin America. Landscape and Urban Planning, 107(3), 272-282. doi: 10.1016/j.landurbplan.2012.06.003
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  Schweitzer, R.W., & Mihelcic, J.R. (2012). Assessing sustainability of community management of rural water systems in the developing world. Journal of Water, Sanitation and Hygiene for Development, 2(1), 20-30. doi: 10.2166/washdev.2012.056
• Mihelcic, J.R., Myre, E.A., Fry, L.M., Phillips, L.D., & Barkdoll, B.D. (2009). Field Guide in Environmental Engineering for Development Workers: Water, Sanitation, Indoor Air. Reston, VA: American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) Press.
• Muga, H.E., & Mihelcic, J.R. (2008). Sustainability of Wastewater Treatment Technologies. Journal of Environmental Management, 88, 437-447.
• Mihelcic, J.R., Crittenden, J.C., Small, M.J., Shonnard, D.R., Hokanson, D.R., Zhang, Q., Chen. H., Sorby, S.A., James, V.U., Sutherland, J.W., & Schnoor, J.L. (2003). Sustainability Science and Engineering: Emergence of a New Metadiscipline. Environmental Science & Technology, 37(23), 5314-5324.