Policy/Economics Team

Wastewater reuse for horticultural irrigation, risk assessment

Ashmita Sengupta is a hydrogeologist specializing in the study of contaminant fate and transport in ground and surface water. She received her M.S. and Ph.D. from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, and her B.E. from Delhi College of Engineering. She joined SCCWRP in April 2010. Her primary research focuses on applying modeling techniques to evaluate and improve the efficacy and impact of IWRM strategies. She also evaluates various stress responses (e.g., shift in flow ecology or benthic communities) in receiving waterbodies due to watershed activities.

At CAPIM my current role is as a Research Fellow in the Freshwater Program. My research focus is to describe the impact of specific pollutants on aquatic macroinvertebrates using existing methodologies and to develop novel bioindicators for assessing aquatic health in freshwater invertebrate species to assist in assessing stream health.

Dr. Feldman specializes in water resources management and policy, global climate change policy, ethics and environmental decisions, adaptive management and sustainable development. His current research is focused on the sources of value conflicts over allocation and distribution of water, and the difficulties in achieving institutional reform to promote equity in water management in the U.S. and elsewhere.

Dr. Eric Stein is head of SCCWRP's Biology department, where he oversees a variety of projects related to in-stream and coastal water quality, hydromodification, development of biological indices, and assessment of wetlands and other aquatic resources. Dr. Stein received his Bachelors degree in Biology in 1987, Masters degree in Science Education in 1988, and Doctorate degree in Environmental Science and Engineering in 1995, all from UCLA.

Environmental and resource economics; environmental systems

Expertise: Land and groundwater remediation,Contaminant transport modelling, Water resource management

A/Prof. Pettigrove is the Chief Executive Officer of the CAPIM and Principal Research Fellow at The University of Melbourne, Australia. He has been a Principal Ecologist at Melbourne Water with over 30 years experience in the Victorian water industry and aquatic research. In addition he is an adjunct Associate Professor at Victoria University and Senior Associate at RMIT University. He has designed and conducted a broad range of research and monitoring programs that help catchment management agencies understand what are the priority issues impacting the health of aquatic ecosystems. Research areas include freshwater sediment toxicity, exotic fish management, pesticide pollution, endocrine disrupting chemicals, macroinvertebrates, and the use of fish and other biota as indicators of sediment pollution. A/Prof. Pettigrove has produced over 45 published journal articles and peer reviewed conference papers.