Pedro J.J. Alvarez is the George R. Brown Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Rice University, where he also serves as founding Director of the Rice Water Institute. Alvarez serves also on the board of directors of the Houston Endowment Inc., which is a private foundation to improve quality of life for the residents of greater Houston. His research interests include environmental implications and applications of nanotechnology, bioremediation, fate and transport of toxic chemicals, water treatment and reuse, and antibiotic resistance control. Professor Alvarez received the B. Eng. Degree in Civil Engineering from McGill University and MS and Ph.D. degrees in Environmental Engineering from the University of Michigan. He is a recipient of the Benjamin Franklin Medal and is also a Clarke Prize laureate for outstanding research in water science and technology. Past honors include President of the Association of Environmental Engineering and Science Professors (AEESP), the AAEES Grand Prize for Excellence in Environmental Engineering and Science the Perry McCarty AEESP Founders’ Award for Outstanding Contributions to Environmental Engineering Education and Practice, the AEESP Frontiers in Research Award, the WEF McKee Medal for Groundwater Protection, the SERDP cleanup project of the year award, the Brown and Caldwell lifetime Achievement Award for Site Remediation, the ASCE Simon Freese Award, and various best paper awards with his students. He is an Executive Editor of Environmental Science and Technology and previously served on the scientific advisory board of the EPA and on the advisory committee of the NSF Engineering Directorate. Prof. Alvarez previously directed for 10 years the NSF Engineering Research Center on Nanotechnology-Enabled Water Treatment (NEWT). He was elected to the National Academy of Engineering, to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and to the Chinese Academy of Engineering for outstanding contributions to the practice and pedagogy of bioremediation and environmental nanotechnology.