About the Authors

Dr. Gail Powell

Gail Powell earned a B.S. in biology from the University of Connecticut, as well as an M.S. and Ph.D. in entomology from North Carolina State University. She worked as a scientist in the agricultural chemical industry for 18 years where she was involved in the discovery and development of novel insecticide molecules. She is co-inventor of four patents in this area. She also has significant experience in pesticide regulation and pesticide monitoring in surface and ground water. In addition she has significant company experience as a trainer and coach for total quality management teams. She is a former president of the North Carolina Entomological Society.

In 2001 Dr. Powell made a decision to leave the chemical industry and become a teacher. She completed her lateral entry teacher training in 2002 through the NCTEACH program at UNC- Chapel Hill. Gail has been teaching 8th grade science at Leesville Road Middle School in Wake County since 2001. Dr. Powell can be reached at gspowell@wcpss.net.

Dr. Joel DuCoste

Dr. Ducoste is an associate professor in the Civil, Construction, and Environmental Engineering Department at North Carolina State University. He has research experience in the operation and design of chemical mixing, flocculation, sedimentation, and disinfection processes in drinking water treatment. 
Dr. Ducoste is an expert in modeling water and wastewater treatment process fluid mechanics using Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD). He has completed AWWA Research Foundation projects on developing an integrated disinfection design framework (IDDF) model and on the Hydraulic Characterization of UV reactors. He is currently a Co-PI for UV Disinfection for Large Water Treatment Plants and PI on Evaluation of Computational Fluid Dynamics for Modeling UV-Initiated Advanced Oxidation processes. He is also PI on a Water Environment Research Foundation project that is investigating Fats, Roots, Oils, and Grease (FROG) in Centralized and Decentralized Systems.

Dr. Ducoste received a Faculty Early Career Development (Career) Award from the National Science Foundation (NSF). The award is the highest honor given by NSF to young university faculty in science and engineering. Before his appointment at the university, Dr. Ducoste was a process engineer at CH2M HILL’s Water Business Group. Dr. Ducoste also has experience in the design and construction of manufacturing processes for Fortune 100 companies. Dr. DuCoste can be reached at jducoste@ncsu.edu.