Deborah Dila; MS in Microbiology, University of Illinois, 1986; MS in Aquatic Sciences, Annis Water Resources Institute/Grand Valley State University, 2014. Have researched a variety of bacterial characteristics, from the small workings of a membrane permease to large changes in microbial community composition across a nutrient gradient. Current studies investigate watershed transport of bacteria from urban and rural settings to waterways that impact nearshore Lake Michigan, and examine how to evaluate bacterial sources and reduce human health risk associated with exposure to sewage or agricultural bacterial contaminants.