PI spotlight: Amanda Hohner

Amanda Hohner is an assistant professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Washington State University (WSU). 

Hohner is currently conducting a study, funded by the State of Washington Water Research Center, aimed at addressing drinking water treatment challenges for a local water utility following a wildfire in their source watershed. The goal of the study is to characterize post-fire water quality changes and evaluate treatment alternatives to manage increased runoff and erosion following the fire.

Hohner was a 2017 recipient of the Editors’ Choice Top 10 Papers award for her outstanding contribution to the journal of Environmental Science: Water Research & Technology. Specifically, she was recognized for her innovative research that explored the water quality changes associated with post-fire runoff, which can contain soils, charred sediment, and debris due to enhanced erosion following a wildfire. These changes in water quality can cause challenges for drinking water treatment plants.

Amanda Hohner

“The research also evaluated the treatability of the runoff by a range of different drinking water treatment processes to address treatment challenges and to determine which approaches would be most favorable for managing post-fire runoff, to provide guidance and information to drinking water utilities,” Hohner added.

Her research is centered on characterizing source water quality following natural and anthropogenic watershed disturbances, and how drinking water treatment and finished water quality may be affected. Their lab at WSU performs analytical chemistry measurements and conducts bench-scale treatability studies, generally in collaboration with water utilities and regulatory agencies. Hohner has published journal articles, mentored students, and presented at numerous conferences and workshops around the U.S.

She earned her Ph.D. in environmental engineering and her M.S. degree in civil engineering from the University of Colorado at Boulder. She earned her B.S. degree in civil engineering from WSU.