Joseph S. Devinny, Professor of Environmental Engineering

Dr. Joe Devinny

Contact Information Dr. Joe Devinny Civil and Environmental Engineering University of Southern California 3620 S. Vermont Avenue KAP 254A Los Angeles, CA 90089-2531 Tel:  (213) 740-0670 Fax: (213) 744-1426 Email: devinny@usc.edu  Research profile

Research Interests

• Environmental impact of human activity on natural
• Ecosystems
• Problems of hazardous wastes
• Biofiltration

Biographical Information

B.S. – 1969 – Chemistry – Caltech
M.S. – 1971 – Chemistry – Oregon
Ph.D. – 1975 – Environmental Engineering Science – Caltech

Most recently, Dr. Devinny and his research group have been performing research on biofilters. These devices clean the air by passing it through a damp porous medium that supports a vigorous culture of microorganisms. The contaminants dissolve in the water, and are degraded by the organisms. Biofilters are appropriate for low-concentration, high-volume discharges, such as odors from wastewater treatment plants and organic vapors from manufacturing. The group's work has involved construction and operation of bench-scale, pilot-scale, and full-scale biofilters.

Dr. Devinny is also associated with USC's Green Visions project, and has published several reports that can be found on the project's Web site: 

USC Green Visions Project

He is also hosting a Biofilter Conference.  For more details, please consult the conference Web site:

2006 USC-TRG Conference on
Biofiltration for Air Pollution Control