Daniel Johnson

Assistant Professor of Civil and Urban Engineering Affiliation: NYU Abu Dhabi
Education: PhD University of Nottingham

djj2026@nyu.edu

Research Websites: Water Research Center

Research Areas: Water treatment, wastewater treatment, membrane technology, atomic force microscopy, colloid and interface science

Dr Daniel Johnson received a BSc in Biochemistry from the University of Sheffield, before pursuing a PhD investigating dissociation of peptide structures using force microscopy at the University of Nottingham. Since then his main research interests have been in the fields of membrane separation research, advanced water treatment, membrane surface characterisation, and colloid and interface science, all primarily within the context of improving wastewater treatment technology and processes.

He has made significant contributions to the characterisation of process equipment surfaces using atomic force microscopy (AFM), particularly in the development of novel membranes with improved fouling resistance and in the assessment of fouling of polymer filtration membranes and other surfaces of relevance to water purification processes. Recent activity has been in the fields of organic and biological fouling of membranes; development of polymer membranes for removal of heavy metals from contaminated sources; mitigating scaling in membrane distillation systems for sea water desalination, the development of novel biofouling resistant membranes, and forward osmosis treatment of wastewater. These activities have been aimed at improving water sustainability through enhanced membrane processes.