Achilli and Hickenbottom Discuss Returning to Research After COVID Quarantine

CHEE assistant professors Andrea Achilli and Kerri Hickenbottom are back in the lab and working to solve the world's water problems, after COVID-19 sidelined their studies for multiple months. Achilli and Hickenbottom discussed their return to work in a new article by the Arizona Daily Star. The researchers are studying how to make water systems in arid landscapes more efficient, while at the same time disposing of brine from the water treatment process.

“Everything had to stop,” Achilli said. “That was a big setback.”

Working remotely has definitely slowed things down, Hickenbottom said in the article. Things that used to be easy, like running to the hardware store for plumbing parts, suddenly became complicated by COVID-19 .

The shutdown also raised storage challenges, since some of their filtration systems are too large to stick in a closet and have components costing many thousands of dollars that can deteriorate if they sit dormant for too long. Achilli said their location helped to an extent. They work off campus at the University of Arizona’s WEST Center.

“It’s a new facility. It’s not crowded. We feel safer here,” Achilli said.