Amy Childress is a Professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Director of the Environmental Engineering Program at the University of Southern California. Dr. Childress’ research and scholarly interests are in the areas of desalination, wastewater reclamation, and the water-energy nexus; her research team seeks holistic and realistic solutions to the problem of finite water and energy resources. Most recently, Dr. Childress has investigate pressure-driven membrane processes as industry standards for desalination and water reuse; membrane contactor processes for innovative solutions to contaminant and energy challenges; membrane bioreactor technology; power plant water supply and demand; colloidal and interfacial aspects of membrane processes; and brine reduction and energy recovery. She has received awards for publications, research innovation, technology education, and mentoring. Dr. Childress serves on US EPA’s Science Advisory Board Drinking Water Committee and is a recent Fulbright US scholar. She is a past president of the Association of Environmental Engineering and Science Professors and is a Board-Certified Environmental Engineering member. Dr. Childress chairs National Water Research Institute independent advisory panels on potable reuse and seawater desalination projects and serves on the external audit panel for Singapore Public Utilities Board. She is also co-editor of Desalination and on the advisory boards of several technical journals.