Alison Cupples
Professor
Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE), College of Engineering
Engr Rsch Complex, 1449 Engineering Research Ct Room A135
Biography
Dr. Alison Cupples is a Professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering. Her research focuses on the application of microbiology to understand and treat soil and water contamination. This includes the identification of the microorganisms and functional genes involved in biodegradation of traditional, problematic contaminants (chlorinated solvents, BTEX, MTBE, RDX, 1,4-dioxane) and ... emerging contaminants (antimicrobials, pharmaceuticals and personal care products). Her work also involves the application of molecular methods to environmental microbiology including quantitative PCR, stable isotope probing, LAMP, high throughout sequencing, as well as the occurrence and fate of emerging contaminants in engineered and natural systems.
Read MoreEducation
Ph.D., Environmental Engineering and Science, Stanford University 2003
M.S., Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences, University of Illinois 1999
B.S., Environmental Sciences, University of East Anglia, England 1997
Awards
Service Award, American Society of Engineering Education (ASEE), Division of Environmental Engineering (2021)
Withrow Teaching Excellence Award (2015-2016)
Lilly Teaching Fellow, MSU (2011-2012)
Excellence in Review Award, Environmental Science & Technology (2011)
... Read MorePublications
Li, Z, Kravchenko, A. N., Cupples, A. M., Guber, A. K., Kuzyakov, Y., Robertson, G. P., Blagodatskaya, E. 2024. Composition and metabolism of microbial communities in soil pores. Nature Communications, 15,3578.
Eshghdoostkhatami, Z. and A. M. Cupples. 2024. Occurrence of Rhodococcus sp. RR1 prmA and Rhodococcus jostii RHA1 prmA across microbial communities and their enumeration during 1,4-dioxane biodegradation. Journal of Microbiological Methods, 219, 106908
Cupples, A.M., Li, Z., Paes Wilson, Fernanda, Ramalingam, V. and Kelly, A. 2022. In silico analysis of soil, sediment and groundwater microbial communities to predict biodegradation potential. Journal of Microbiological Methods, 202, 106595.
Vera, Andrea, Paes Wilson, Fernanda and A. M. Cupples. 2022. Predicted functional genes for the biodegradation of xenobiotics in groundwater and sediment at two contaminated Naval Sites. Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology, 106 (2), 835-853.
... Read More