Ameet Pinto

Associate Professor
Carlton S. Wilder Early-Career Professor
Telephone
Office Building
Ford Environmental Science & Technology (ES&T) Building
Office Room Number
3226
Biography

Dr. Ameet Pinto is an Environmental Engineer and Carlton S. Wilder Associate Professor in Civil and Environmental Engineering at Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech). Ameet is a Chemical Engineer from the Institute of Chemical Technology (University of Mumbai) with post-graduate degrees in Environmental Engineering from the University of Alaska (2005) and Virginia Tech, USA (2009). Before joining Georgia Tech in 2021, he was an Assistant Professor at Northeastern University (2016-2021) and Lecturer/Senior Lecturer (2012-2015) at the University of Glasgow. Ameet’s research focuses on microbial ecosystems at the interface of infrastructure and public/environmental health with a focus on the engineered water cycle. The overall research goal is to characterize and manipulate microbial communities to (1) protect and improve public and environmental health and (2) improve functional reliability and economic feasibility of water infrastructure. To do this, his research group develops and applies state-of-the-art microbial molecular and sensing tools and modelling approaches to monitor and manage the microbiology of the engineered water cycle. Ameet also serves as the Editor for Water Research (the premier journal for the engineering, science, and technology for water quality management) and as the Secretary of the Microbial Ecology and Water Engineering (MEWE) Specialist Group of the International Water Association.

Research
  • Drinking water
  • Wastewater
  • Microbiome
  • Microbial ecology
  • Computational biology
  • Public health
Education
  • B.Chem.Eng ICT, Mumbai 2003
  • M.S. (Civil Engineering) University of Alaska Fairbanks 2005
  • Ph.D. (Civil Engineering) Virginia Tech 2009
Distinctions & Awards
  • 2019 Paul L Busch Award for Innovation in Applied Water Quality Research, The Water Research Foundation
  • 2019 CEE Outstanding Young Alumni Award, Virginia Tech
  • 2018 ISME/IWA Bio Cluster Award (Rising Star)
  • 2018 NSF Faculty Early CAREER Award
  • 2014 Bright IDEAS Award, Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council, UK
  • 2013 First Grant Scheme, Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council, UK
Publications
  • Ameet J Pinto, Lutgarde Raskin. "PCR biases distort bacterial and archaeal community structure in pyrosequencing datasets." Public Library of Science. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0043093
  • Ameet J Pinto, Chuanwu Xi, Lutgarde Raskin. "Bacterial community structure in the drinking water microbiome is governed by filtration processes." Environmental Science and Technology. Volume 46, Issue 16.
  • Dai, Z., Sevillano, M.C., Calus,.S.T. , Bautista de los Santos, Q.M. , Eren, A.M., Ijaz, U.I., van der Wielen, P., and Pinto.A.J. (2020). Disinfection systematically impacts the drinking water microbiome. Microbiome. Vol 8, pp 42. DOI:10.1186/s40148-020-00813-
  • Cotto, I, Dai, Z, Huo, L, Anderson, C.L, Vilardi, K.J., Ijaz, U.Z., Khunjar, W, Wilson, C., De Clippeleir, H., Gilmore, K., Bailey, E., Pinto, A.J (2019) Long solids retention times and attached growth phase favor prevalence of comammox bacteria in nitrogen removal systems. Water Research. DOI: 10.1016/j.wateres.2019.11528
  • Kirtis, M.J., Emelko, M., and Pinto, A.J. (2019). Applying biotechnology for drinking water biofiltration: advancing science and practice. Current Opinion in Biotechnology. Vol 57, 197-204. DOI: 10.1016/j.copbio.2019.05.009

In the News

Environmental Engineering Team Named Finalist in Nationwide Algae Competition

04 May 2023

A Georgia Tech team was one of the four top finalists selected to win $10,000 in the 2022-2023 AlgaePrize Competition. The competition is hosted by The U.S. Department of Energy's Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO), in partnership with the Algae Foundation and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL).