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Irene Xagoraraki

Irene Xagoraraki
  • Professor
  • Civil and Environmental Engineering

WEBSITE

https://www.egr.msu.edu/~xagorara/index.html

BIOGRAPHY

Irene Xagoraraki is a Professor of Environmental Engineering at Michigan State University. She earned her Ph.D. and MS degrees in Environmental Engineering from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and her BS degree in Environmental Studies from the University of the Aegean in Greece. She has authored multiple scientific publications related to water quality and public health topics. Her research has been funded by the US National Science Foundation (NSF), the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS), the Great Lakes Water Authority (GLWA), the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and other organizations. For her research related to environmental virology, she received awards by the US Environmental Protection Agency (2018) and by the American Society of Civil Engineers (2021 and 2022). In 2020 her wastewater surveillance work for early detection of viral outbreaks was featured in Women in Engineering and Science: Investigations by Prominent Female Engineers, Springer Nature, Switzerland. In 2022 she was featured in the Smithsonian: Stories of Women in STEM. In 2023 she received the William J. Beal Outstanding Faculty Award at Michigan State University. In 2025, for her project titled: “An academia-industry-government partnership that monitors and predicts outbreaks in Tri-County Detroit Area since 2017” she received the Michigan State University Community Engagement Scholarship Award.

 

AREA OF EXPERTISE

1)    Environmental surveillance for identification and forecasting of outbreaks
2)    Fate of viruses and other pathogens in natural systems and in the built environment
3)    Virus inactivation and removal by water treatment processes.