Ishi M. Keenum

Contact

imkeenum@mtu.edu
906-487-2208
Dow 862

Assistant Professor, Civil, Environmental, and Geospatial Engineering

PhD, Civil Engineering, Virginia Tech University
MS, Environmental Engineering, Virginia Tech University
BS, Environmental Engineering, University of Michigan

Biography

Dr. Ishi Keenum is an environmental engineer whose research focuses on the microbiology of engineered environmental systems, including wastewater, water reuse, and agricultural systems. Her work integrates environmental biotechnology, metagenomics, and bioinformatics to develop comparable and reproducible measurements of complex microbial communities. A central theme of her research is improving how microbial data are generated, analyzed, and interpreted to support applications such as wastewater-based surveillance, environmental monitoring, and emerging public health threats.

Prior to joining Michigan Technological University in Fall 2023, Dr. Keenum worked at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), where she contributed to advances in measurement science for environmental and microbial systems. Her research has been published in Environmental Science & Technology, Nature Sustainability, Microbiome, and Critical Reviews in Environmental Science and Technology, among others. Dr. Keenum is a recipient of the National Academy of Engineering Frontiers of Engineering Gilbreth Lectureship.

Links of Interest

Faculty Webpage

Research Interests

Antibiotic resistance dissemination and treatment in engineered and agricultural environments
Establishing standards for microbiome research
Pathogen detection and control
Microbial ecology and molecular epidemiology

Recent Publications

Keenum, I.*, Player, R., Kralj, J., Servetas, S., Sussman, M., Russell, J., Stone, J., Chandrapati, S., Sozhamannan, S., AOAC SPADA-NGS Working Group (2023), “Amplicon Sequencing Minimum Information (AsqMI): Quality and Reporting Guidelines for Actionable Calls in Biodefense Applications” AOAC International
Davis, B.C., Brown, C., Gupta, S., Calarco, J., Liguori,K., Milligan, E., Harwood, V.J., Pruden, A, Keenum,I.* Towards Standardization of Metagenomics for Monitoring Antibiotic Resistance in Wastewater and Impacted Aquatic Environments. Critical Reviews in Environmental Science and Technology.
Keenum, I., Wind, L., Ray, P., Guron, G., Chen, C., Knowlton, K., Ponder, M., Pruden, A. (2022) Metagenomic Tracking of Antibiotic Resistance Genes through a Pre‐harvest Vegetable Production System: An Integrated Lab‐, Microcosm‐, and Greenhouse‐Scale Study. Environmental Microbiology.
Keenum,I., Liguori,K., Calarco, J., Davis, B.C., Milligan, E., Harwood, V.J., Pruden, A (2021) A framework for standardized qPCR-targets and protocols for quantifying antibiotic resistance in surface water, recycled water and wastewater. Critical Reviews in Environmental Science and Technology
Keenum, I., Williams, R.K., Ray, P., Garner, E., Knowlton, K., Pruden, A. (2021) Combined effects of composting and antibiotic administration on cattle manure–borne antibiotic resistance genes. Microbiome, 9(81).
Keenum, I., Crespo-Medina, M., Garner, E., Pieper, K., Pruden, A., Ramirez-Toro, G., Rhoads, W. (2021) Assessing Water Quality in Rural Drinking Water Systems in Puerto Rico Six Months after Hurricane Maria. Environmental Science and Technology,55(6), 3775–3785.