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Headshot photo of Jeseth Delgado Vela
Faculty
Faculty

Jeseth Delgado Vela (She/her)

Assistant Professor

  • Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, CEA
  • College of Engineering and Architecture (CEA)

Biography

Dr. Delgado Vela is an assistant professor at Howard University. Her research interests applies tools in molecular biology to develop sustainable and cost-efficient urban water treatment. She completed her PhD in the Civil and Environmental Engineering Department at the University of Michigan in 2018. Her dissertation research combined laboratory and modeling methods to evaluate the impact of sulfur on nitrogen cycling during wastewater treatment. She received her master’s degree from the University of Michigan in 2014 in Environmental Engineering and a bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering from The University of Texas at Austin in 2012. She has earned numerous awards, most notably the Ford Foundation Dissertation Award (2016) and an NSF Graduate Research Fellowship (2012).

Education & Expertise

Education

Environmental Engineering

Ph.D.
University of Michigan
2018

Environmental Engineering

M.S.E
University of Michigan
2014

Civil Engineering

B.S.
University of Texas at Austin
2012

Expertise

Environmental engineering, urban water systems, microbial biotechnology

Dr. Jeseth Delgado-Vela's research and teaching at Howard University focuses on developing an equitable, environmentally sustainable, and cost efficient urban water cycle. The goal of her research is to understand the microbial ecology within the urban water cycle and consequently inform water treatment approaches and technology development. She is particularly interested in unraveling microbial cross-feeding within water and resource recovery facilities, understanding nitrogen metabolisms in engineered processes, and developing process models for engineered systems that harness 'omic data. 

Academics

Academics

Environmental Engineering

CIEG 207: Introduction to environmental engineeringIntroduces concepts in water supply, water and wastewater treatment, air quality, solid and hazardous waste management, and social and ethical considerations. Provides a brief history and background of environmental engineering.

Unit Operations in Environmental Engineering

Analysis and basic design of treatment facilities for the remediation of water pollution. Advanced design of facilities for water and wastewater treatment including design ranges, regulations, economics and ethics of environmental design.

Research

Research

Specialty

Microbial biotechnologies, urban water treatment

Funding

  • National Science Foundation
  • Environmental Protection Agency
  • DC Water

Group Information

- Rahil A. F. Fofana, PhD student, 2018-present- Mitham Al-Faliti , PhD student, 2020-present