Rolf Halden PhD

Rolf Halden, PhD is a Professor of Sustainable Engineering and the Built Environment at Arizona State University, where he founded and directs the Biodesign Institute’s Center for Environmental Security (CES), the CES Mass Spectrometry Facility as well as the Human Health Observatory (HHO) and National Sewage Sludge Repository (NSSR). For more than two decades, Rolf has worked with international colleagues on characterizing human exposures to environmental toxicants and on devising strategies for reducing environmental pollution and associated adverse health effects. His team has published over 150 research papers and a book on emerging contaminants, receiving broad media coverage from the New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and other media outlets. Rolf started his career in sustainability as a biologist in Germany and later moved to the US to train and work as a board certified engineer. He has been invited repeatedly to brief the EPA, FDA, the National Academies, and members of U.S. Congress on issues relating to environmental health, emerging contaminants, and sustainability challenges. His current research concentrates on diagnosing the consumption, behavior and health status of urban populations around the world, by looking at cities as large and complex organisms that can be understood and diagnosed via analysis of chemical and biological signatures in the urban water cycle – an approach he terms urban metabolism metrology. Notable honors include: American Chemistry Society Expert (2014–), and EPA-NAS Expert Forum on Microplastics (2014).