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Jumana Aljafari (IntlAssoc)
Postdoctoral Fellow
Dr. Jumana Aljafari is a postdoctoral research engineer in the Heat Transfer and Alternative Energy Systems (HTAES) Group of the Energy and Environment Division (EED) of the Engineering Laboratory (EL) at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). Jumana joined the HTAES group in October of 2023 following her postdoctoral work at the Biodesign Center for Environmental Health Engineering at Arizona State University. Her research experience involves the microbial, chemical, and physical characterization and treatment of alternative water resources including stormwater, roof runoff (roof-harvested rainwater), and gray water. She also has experience in Quantitative Microbial Risk Assessment (QMRA).
Dr. Aljafari works on the Premise Plumbing in High-Performance Buildings (PPHPB) project at NIST. She is currently designing a lab-scale study to evaluate the efficiency of several intervention measures for the control of opportunistic pathogens growth in residential plumbing systems. Potential measures under investigation include point-of-use filtration, UV disinfection, and thermal disinfection. She is also working on developing guidance for sampling different components of residential premise plumbing for the detection and quantification of opportunistic pathogens in bulk water samples.
Dr. Aljafari received a B.Sc. degree in civil engineering and M.Sc. degree in water and environmental engineering from the University of Jordan. She received a PhD degree in environmental engineering from Colorado State University. Her dissertation was entitled Addressing Barriers to the Wide-Scale Implementation of Roof Runoff and Stormwater Collection and Use Projects for Non-Potable End Uses in the U.S. Dr. Aljafari worked on projects funded by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), World Health Organization (WHO), Water Research Foundation (WRF), and National Science Foundation (NSF).
Publications
Assessing Human-Source Microbial Contamination of Stormwater in the U.S, 2025
Authors: Jumana Alja'fari, Sybil Sharvelle, Amos Branch, Brian Pecson, Michael Jahne, Adam Olivieri, Mazdak Arabi, and Jay Garland
Impacts of Household Water Demands and Water Heater Delivery Temperatures on Opportunistic Premise Plumbing Pathogens in a Residential Setting, 2025
Authors: Alshae Logan-Jackson, Jumana Alja'fari, Visesh Uppoor, Tania Ullah, and Jennifer Dootz
Quantitative Performance Evaluation of Interventions for Pathogens and Chemical Contaminants in Building Water Systems: A Review and Meta-Analysis, 2024
Authors: Hunter Quon, Jumana Alja'fari, Rain Richard, Vishnu Kotta, Kathryn Call, Molly Cahill, Elizabeth Johnson, James Brow, Sayalee Joshi, Treavor Boyer, Lee Voth-Gaeddert, and Kerry Hamilton
Water Quality Trade-Offs for Risk Management Interventions in a Green Building, 2024
Authors: Sayalee Joshi, Rain Richard, Derek Hogue, James Brown, Molly Cahill, Vishnu Kotta, Kathryn Call, Noah Butzine, Mariana Marcos-Hernández, Jumana Alja'fari , Lee Voth-Gaeddert, Treavor Boyer, and Kerry A. Hamilton
Research Gaps and Priorities for Quantitative Microbial Risk Assessment (QMRA), 2024
Authors: Kerry A. Hamilton, Joanna Ciol Harrison, Jade Mitchell, Mark Weir, Marc Verhougstraete, Charles N. Haas, A. Pouyan Nejadhashemi, Julie Libarkin, Tiong Gim Aw, Kyle Bibby, Aaron Bivins, Joe Brown, Kara Dean, Gwyneth Dunbar, Joseph N. S. Eisenberg, Monica Emelko, Daniel Gerrity, Patrick L. Gurian, Emma Hartnett, Michael Jahne, Rachael M. Jones, Timothy R. Julian, Hongwan Li, Yanbin Li, Jacqueline MacDonald Gibson, Gertjan Medema, J. Scott Meschke, Alexis Mraz, Heather Murphy, David Oryang, Emmanuel de-Graft Johnson Owusu-Ansah, Emily Pasek, Abani K. Pradhan, Maria Tereza Pepe Razzolini, Michael O. Ryan, Mary Schoen, Patrick W. M. H. Smeets, Jeffrey Soller, Helena Solo-Gabriele, Clinton Williams, Amanda M. Wilson, Amy Zimmer-Faust, Jumana Alja'fari, and Joan B. Rose
Summary and Synthesis of Literature on Stormwater Microbial Quality for Stormwater Capture and Use, 2023
Authors: Jumana Alja’fari, Sybil Sharvelle, Amos Branch, and Jim Rasmus
Assessing the Microbial Risks and Impacts from Stormwater Capture and Use to Establish Appropriate Best Management Practices, 2023
Authors: Sybil Sharvelle, Jumana Alja’fari, Amos Branch, and Jim Rasmus
Characterization of Roof Runoff Microbial Quality in Four U.S. Cities with Varying Climate and Land Use Characteristics, 2022
Authors: Jumana Alja’fari, Sybil Sharvelle, Nichole E. Brinkman, Michael Jahne, Scott Keely, Emily A. Wheaton, Jay Garland, Claire Welty, Michael C. Sukop, and Thomas Meixner