Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: The A.P. Black Research Award was established in 1967 in honor of Alvin Percy Black to recognize outstanding research contributions to water science and water supply rendered over an appreciable period of time.The recipient of the 2025 A.P. Black Award is Karl Linden.Karl is chair of the Department of Civil, Environmental, and Architectural Engineering at the University of Colorado (CU) Boulder, where he has been a faculty member since 2008.With more than 30 years of experience in the drinking water field, he has made contributions to the development and application of ultraviolet (UV) technologies in the water industry.His work includes many fundamental and applied aspects of UV processes, and he has served as a consultant on numerous projects.In the early 1990s, Karl attended the University of California (UC), Davis.His early research focused on methods to assess light exposure and its impacts on pathogens, including mechanistic aspects of pathogen inactivation.Following this initial work, Karl expanded into the application of UV for advanced oxidation processes, examining in detail the role of nitrate and other water constituents, such as dissolved organic matter.Karl started his academic career after graduate school, holding positions at the University of North Carolina (UNC) at Charlotte, at Duke University, and at CU Boulder.His career has also included international positions in Austria, Australia, Nova Scotia, and Switzerland.An AWWA member since 1997, Karl has dedicated extensive time and expertise to association activities and volunteer groups, serving on numerous committees throughout his membership, including as a trustee of the AWWA Water Science and Research Division for six years.He also founded the Emerging Investigator Lecture Series as part of the Water Quality Technology Conference.Karl was an associate editor of Journal AWWA from 2012 to 2018 and has been involved in more than 80 AWWA conference presentations.Karl's volunteer service is notable in other organizations as well.He serves as a member of the World Health Organization's Water Quality Technical Advisory Group and was recently an expert advisor in developing guidelines for small water systems.Kenneth Mercer, editor-in-chief of Journal AWWA, interviewed Karl to learn about the evolution of his research, the directions his career has taken, and the people who have helped shape his path.The interview that follows has been edited for clarity and length.
Source: American Water Works Association
DOI: 10.1002/awwa.2516
Language: English
Subfield: Health, Toxicology and Mutagenesis
Field: Environmental Science
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: bronze
OpenAlex ID: W4415095292
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