Jennifer Jay

Jennifer Jay

PROFESSOR / EQUITY, DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION OFFICER
CIVIL AND ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING

Boelter Hall 5732E

Email: jjay@seas.ucla.edu
Phone: (310) 267-5365

Websites

RESEARCH AND INTERESTS
Aquatic chemistry, environmental microbiology.
NOTABLE PUBLICATIONS
  • Li, R., Jay, J.A., Stenstrom, M.K. (2019) Fate of antibiotic resistance genes and antibiotic-resistant bacteria in water resource recovery facilities. Water Environment Research. 91(1):5-20.
  • Jay, J.A., D’Auria, R., Nordby, C., Rice, A.D., Cleveland, D.A., Friscia, A., Kissinger, S. Levis, M., Malan, H.J., Rajagopal, D., Reynolds, J., Slusser, W., Wang, M., and Wesel, E. Reduction of the carbon footprint of college freshman diets after a food-based environmental science course.  In press. Climatic Change 2019.
  • Zimmer-Faust, A.G., Thulsiraj, V., Lee, C., Whitener, V., Rugh, M., Mendoza, L., and Jay, J.A. (2018) Microbial source tracking and human associated-IMS/ATP for surveillance of human fecal contamination in Baja California, Mexico.  Science of the Total Environment.  640(1), 475-484.
  • Hung, W.-C., Hernandez-Cira, M., Jimenez, K., Elston, I., and Jay, J.A. Assessment of Lead Contamination in Soil of Urban Parks in Los Angeles, California.  Submitted to Chemosphere 2017.
  • Echeverria-Palencia, C., Thulsiraj, V., Tran, N., Ericksen, C., Melendez, I., Sanchez, M., Walpert, D., Yuan, T., Ficara, E., Senthilkumar, N., Sun, F., Li, R., Hernandez-Cira, M., Gamboa, D., Haro, H., Paulson, S., Zhu, Y., and J.A. Jay (2017). Disparate antibiotic resistance gene quantities revealed across four major cities in California:  a survey in drinking water, air, and soil at 24 public parks. ACS Omega 2:2255-2263.
  • Zimmer-Faust, A.G., Thulsiraj, V., Marambio-Jones, C., Griffith, J.F., Holden, J.A., and Jay, J.A. (2017)  Effect of freshwater sediment characteristics on the persistence of fecal indicator bacteria and genetic markers within a Southern California watershed. Water Research 119:1-11.
  • Mika, K.B., Chavarria, K.A., Imamura, G., Tang, C., Torres, R., Jay, J.A. (2017) Sources and persistence of fecal indicator bacteria and Bacteroidales in sand as measured by culture-based and culture-independent methods: A case study at Santa Monica Pier, California. Water Air and Soil Pollution. 228: 124 DOI 10.1007/s11270-017-3291-y
  • Hafeznezami, S., Zimmer-Faust A.G., Jun, D., Rugh, M.B., Haro, H.L., Park, A., Suh, J., Najm, T., Lam, J.R., Reynolds, M.D., Davis, J.A., Parhizkar, T., & Jay, J.A. (2017) Remediation of Groundwater Contaminated with Arsenic Through Enhanced Natural Attenuation: Batch and Column Studies. Water Research. 122:545-556.
  • Thulsiraj, V., Zimmer-Faust, A.G., Jay, J.A. (2017) Use of viability-based methods for improved detection of recent fecal contamination in a microbial source tracking study near Tijuana, Mexico. Water Air and Soil Pollution. 228:63. DOI 10.1007/s11270-016-3204-5
  • Lin, T., Hafeznezami, S., Rice, L., Stahl, M., Neuman, R., Harvey, C., Suffet, I.H., & Jay, J. A. (2017) Arsenic oxyanion binding to NOM from dung and aquaculture pond sediments in Bangladesh: importance of site-specific binding constants. Applied Geochemistry. 78:234-240.
  • Hafeznezami, S., Lam, J. R., Xiang, Y., Reynolds, M. D., Davis, J. A., Lin, T., & Jay, J. A. (2016). Arsenic mobilization in an oxidizing alkaline groundwater: Experimental studies, comparison and optimization of geochemical modeling parameters. Applied Geochemistry, 72, 97-112.
  • Hafeznezami, S., Zimmer-Faust, A.G., Dunne, A., Tran, T., Yang, C., Lam, J.R., Reynolds, M.D., Davis, J.A. & Jay, J.A. (2016). Adsorption and desorption of arsenate on sandy sediments from contaminated and uncontaminated saturated zones: Kinetic and equilibrium modeling. Environmental Pollution, 215, 290-301.
  • Sanchez, H., Echeverria, C., Flores, A., Thulsiraj, V., Zimmer-Faust, A., Laitz, M., Healy, G., Mahendra, S., Paulson, S. E., Zhu, Y., Jay, J.A. (2016) Comparison of antibiotic resistance in airborne bacteria near conventional and organic beef production facilities in California, USA. Water Air and Soil Pollution, 227:280 DOI 10.1007/s11270-016-2979-8
  • Timothy E. Riedel, Vanessa Thulsiraj, Amity G. Zimmer-Faust, Rosi Dagit, Jenna Krug, Kaitlyn T. Hanley, Krista Adamek, Darcy L. Ebentier, Robert Torres, Uriel Cobian, Sophie Peterson, Jennifer A. Jay (2015) Long-term monitoring of molecular markers can distinguish different seasonal patterns of fecal indicating bacteria sources. Water Research, 71:227-243.
  • Kampalath, R. and J.A. Jay, “Source of mercury exposure to children in low- and middle-income countries”, Journal of Health and Pollution, 5(8):33 – 51 (2015)
  • Zimmer-Faust, A.G., V. Thulsiraj, D. Ferguson, J.A. Jay (2014) Performance and specificity of the covalently linked immunomagnetic-ATP method for rapid detection and enumeration of enterococci in coastal environments. Applied and Environmental Microbiology. 80(9):2705-2714.
  • Riedel, T.E., A.G. Zimmer-Faust, V. Thulsiraj, T. Madi, K.T. Hanley, D.L. Ebentier, M. Byappanahalli, B. Layton, M. Raith, A.B. Boehm, J.F. Griffith, P.A. Holden, O.C. Shanks, S.B. Weisberg, J.A. Jay (2014) Detection limits and cost comparisons of human- and gull-associated conventional and quantitative PCR assays in artificial and environmental waters. Journal of Environmental Management. 136:112-120.
  • Mika, K.B., D.W. Ginsburg, C.M. Lee, V. Thulsiraj, J.A. Jay (2014) Fecal indicator bacteria levels do not correspond with incidence of human-associated HF183Bacteroides 16S rRNA genetic marker in two urban southern California watersheds. Water Air and Soil Pollution. 225:1960-1970.
  • Lin, T.Y., R.A. Kampalath, C.-C. Lin, M. Zhang, K. Chavarria, J. Lacson, J.A. Jay (2013) Investigation of mercury methylation pathways in biofilm versus planktonic cultures of Desulfovibrio desulfuricans. Environmental Science and Technology, 47:5695-5702.
  • Kampalath, R., C.-C. Lin, J.A. Jay (2013) Influences of Zero-Valent Sulfur on Mercury Methylation in Bacterial Cocultures.  Water Air and Soil Pollution. 224(2):1399-1412.
  • Boehm, A.B., L. Van De Werfhorst, J. Griffith, P. Holden, J.A. Jay, O. Shanks, D. Wang, S. Weisberg. (2013) Performance of forty-three microbial source tracking methods: A twenty-seven lab evaluation study.  Water Research.  47(18):6812-6828.
  • Ebentier, D.L., et al. (2013) Evaluation of the repeatability and reproducibility of a suite of qPCR-based microbial source tracking methods.  Water Research.  47(18):6839-6848.
IN THE NEWS
EDUCATION
  • Ph.D., (1999), Massachusetts Institute of Technology
  • M.S., (1993), Massachusetts Institute of Technology
  • B.S., (1991), Massachusetts Institute of Technology
AWARDS AND RECOGNITION
  • School-wide Lockheed Martin Award for Excellence in Teaching 2019
  • National Water Research Institute Technical Advisory Panel (2012-present)
  • SMMUSD Honorary Service Award for Outstanding Service to Children and Youth 2015
  • Coordinator of science projects and poster sessions at UCLA for K-12 students 2003 – 2014
  • Pritzker Fellow for Environmental Sustainability 2011 and 2012
  • Northrop Grumman Award for Excellence in Teaching, 2007
  • Carnegie Foundation Faculty Fellow for Service Learning for Political Engagement, 2007-2008
  • Presidential Early Career Award in Science and Engineering (PECASE), 2004
  • NSF Early Career Development (CAREER) Award, 2004-Present
  • Fellow of Martin Society for Global Sustainability, 1999
  • GE Graduate Research Fellowship, 1995
  • Member of Chi Epsilon, 1991
  • Parsons Fellowship, 1991
COURSES
  • C&EE 58SL Climate change, water quality and ecosystem functioning
  • C&EE 19: Foodprint: Connections Between Food and Environment
  • GE ENV M1 Cluster: Food: A Lens for Environment and Sustainability
  • C&EE 154: Chemical Fate and Transport in the Environment
  • C&EE 254: Aquatic Chemistry