In an episode of NPR's Here & Now, University of Arizona's Sharon Megdal explains Gov. Doug Ducey's idea for a desalination project and notes additional strategies to bolster water supply, including greater use of treated wastewater. WEST Center is a hub for research on these efforts, including technologies for brine management, energy reduction, and water reuse.

At the 2022 AZ Water Research Symposium, researchers and utility representatives shared information and discoveries aimed at advancing the long term health, safety, and reliability of Arizona water supplies.

In an NPR podcast in March 2022, correspondents and scientists discussed what the rise in cases elsewhere means for the U.S., how the U.S. is looking to sewage to detect any rise in infections here, and the status of COVID relief funding. WEST Center has been at the forefront of monitoring the pandemic via wastewater.

WEST director, Dr. Ian Pepper, will serve on the Environmental Protection Agency’s newly-formed Science Advisory Board Biosolids Panel. The panel will provide independent advice regarding the Agency’s draft Biosolids Chemical Risk Assessment and Biosolids Screening Tool.

In an NPR radio segment of The Buzz, researchers - including those at WEST Center - share what they've learned during two years of the COVID-19 pandemic.

At the University of Arizona Outstanding Faculty Awards ceremony in mid-January, 2022, Dr. Ian Pepper was officially inducted as a University Regents Professor. The WEST Center Director was one of six professors to receive this high distinction in 2021.

Representatives from University of Arizona and Arizona State University discussed research related to water contamination and purification technologies at the WET Center semi-annual meeting in December 2021.

In a news piece by KVOA Tucson, reporter Angelique Lizarde speaks with Dr. Ian Pepper of WEST Center about ongoing testing of wastewater to detect COVID-19 on campus.

With dPCR instruments and expertise in analyzing wastewater for SARS-CoV-2, WEST Center is capable of presumptive detection of variants of concern, including Delta and Omicron.

WEST researchers present to national and international audiences as organizations reconvene for annual meetings in the COVID era.