Dr. Jeseth Delgado Vela is interested in integrating molecular tools and modeling to understand how microbial community interactions and dynamics affect engineered water treatment systems. She is interested in studying how microbes interact in wastewater treatment systems and harness beneficial interactions. She is also interested in combating harmful microbes in both natural aquatic systems and in the built environment. Her research group applies bench-scale experiments, surveys of environmental systems, molecular methods, and mathematical modeling to advance understanding of the microbiome in the urban water cycle. Dr. Delgado Vela earned a Ph.D. and M.S. in Environmental Engineering at the University of Michigan, and a B.S. in Civil Engineering from the University of Texas at Austin. She was a recipient of the Ford Foundation Dissertation Award, was named an Early Career Research Fellow by the Gulf Research Program, and was awarded an NSF CAREER Award.