Nancy G. Love


Nancy Gail Love is an American engineer who is the JoAnn Silverstein Distinguished University Professor of Environmental Engineering at the University of Michigan. She is the former President of the Association of Environmental Engineering and Science Professors and a Fellow of the International Water Association and the Water Environment Federation. In 2021 she was awarded the AEESP Frederick George Pohland Medal.

Early life and education

Love was an undergraduate student in civil engineering at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. She completed her bachelor's and master's degrees in Chicago before moving to Clemson University as a doctoral researcher in environmental engineering.

Research and career

Love is an environmental engineer who makes use of chemistry and biology to identify and eliminate contaminants in water. She was the first to study microbial stress in biological treatment systems. She joined the University of Michigan in 2008, where she founded the Environmental Biotechnology Laboratory.
During the Flint water crisis, Love set up Train-the-Trainers, a curriculum which trained residents of Flint to fit faucet-mounted water filters. She has worked with the Flint Technical Advisory Committee on Water. She has worked on the development of decentralized water systems for low income countries. As part of this effort, Love trained students in Addis Ababa in how to design effective decentralized infrastructure.
Love is a past president of the Association of Environmental Engineering and Science Professors.

Awards and honors