Dr. Childress joined the Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE) Department in summer 2013 as professor and director of CEE's environmental engineering program. Dr. Childress currently serves on the AEESP Foundation Board of Directors and previously served as the AEESP President. She earned her bachelor's degree in civil engineering from the University of Maryland and her master's degree and PhD in civil and environmental engineering from the University of California, Los Angeles. Dr. Childress was previously professor and chair of the Civil and Environmental Engineering Department at the University of Nevada, Reno. For the past 20 years, Professor Childress' research and scholarly interests have been in the area of membrane processes for desalination, water treatment, and wastewater reclamation. Professor Childress has directed research projects funded by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, NSF, NASA, Office of Naval Research, U.S. Department of Energy, California Energy Commission, California Department of Water Resources, the U.S. EPA, and SERDP, as well as local and private agencies. She leads a research group that has produced numerous peer-reviewed publications, proceeding papers, and patents