Olya Keen 
The goal of the study was to improve the UV transmittance of landfill leachate. As wastewater treatment plants switch their disinfection process from chlorine to UV, they realize that landfill leachate interferes with the effectiveness of the disinfection process by blocking UV. The Fenton’s Process achieved moderate improvement in UV transmittance, but generation of solids was considered prohibitive by the landfill.
PhD student Nicole Kennedy Neth and Dr. Keen traveled to Malmo, Sweden, to present their research at the International Water Association NOM 6 conference. Travel was funded by NSF travel award No. 1521562. (more…)
Dr. Keen was appointed as a Chair of Organic Contaminants Research Committee for the American Water Works Association (more…)
Keen Lab research was in the spotlight at the 2015 Annual Meeting of American Chemical Society in Denver. Watch the press release video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fa0UmgTWUz8&list=PLLG7h7fPoH8LtUyqg-vxxZO3GlujdfXh6&index=4 or read about it here: http://www.acs.org/content/acs/en/pressroom/newsreleases/2015/march/chlorine-use-in-sewage-treatment-could-promote-antibiotic-resistance.html
The featured research studied the products that form when a common antibiotic doxycycline is exposed to chlorine during water disinfection. (more…)
Dr. Keen is featured on ACS Denver twitter campaign #ACSdenver #cenoneword where people whose job involves chemistry were asked to describe their job in one word. See what she and other people whose job involves chemistry said: https://storify.com/jkemsley/your-job-in-one-word
Dr. Keen was interviewed by the International Ultraviolet Association on her opinion on the challenges women face in engineering.
Read the article here: https://www.iuva.org/news/women-leave-professional- (more…)
Dr. Keen received an award from the International Ultraviolet Association for Best UV Research Paper for the Year 2012 for her journal article “The role of effluent nitrate in trace organic chemical oxidation during UV disinfection” co-authored with Drs. Karl Linden and Nancy Love and published in Water Research.
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering in conjunction with Chemistry Department was awarded a Major Research Instrumentation Grant from the National Science Foundation for an acquisition of an HPLC/ESI-MS ion trap system. The new instrument will dramatically increase the capabilities for research of emerging contaminants. (more…)
Dotson, A.D., Keen, V. S. (O.), and Linden, K.G. (2010) UV/H2O2 treatment of drinking water increases post-chlorination DBP formation. Water Research 44, 3703-3713
Keen, O.S., Baik, S., Linden, K.G., Aga, D.S. and Love, N.G. (2012) Enhanced biodegradation of carbamazepine after UV/H2O2 advanced oxidation. Environmental Science and Technology 46(11), 6222-6227