Academic and Research Interests More people now live in cities than ever before. Historically, human populations thrived near rivers and their mouths at coastlines, but with urban expansion the footprints of metropolitan areas extend throughout watersheds and ultimately encompass smaller order tributaries. Such population densities dictate the need for new water supplies and reclamation infrastructure, which results in effluent discharges to these headwater streams, dramatically modifying instream hydrology, particularly in regions where ephemeral streams are normative. When effluent-dominated and dependent instream flows become critical arteries for beneficial water reuse, as increasingly is observed in areas experiencing climate changes and rapid population growth, an urban water cycle is realized. Judicious stewardship is required to ensure sustainable environmental quality for public health and ecosystems. Dr. Brooks' transdisciplinary research interests broadly include understanding and managing anthropogenic activities and stressors across levels of biological organization, particularly in rapidly urbanizing regions. Students and postdoctoral fellows working in his group are engaged in environment and health research that often incorporates laboratory and field studies in aquatic, environmental and comparative toxicology, environmental chemistry, environmental risk assessment, and water resources research. Because of the complex nature of the environmental and ecological sciences, environmental public health and biomedical studies, students receive an interdisciplinary training that balances formational coursework and theoretical preparation with applied problem solving experiences.