Staff Profile

Background 

I joined Newcastle University in 1994 after a Master and PhD in Public Health Engineering (with Duncan Mara) in Leeds and experience in construction in the Middle East and Public Health Policy in the UK's Department of Health and few months as a refuse collector. I have always been interested in the interaction between water, waste, the environment and health. However I have gradually moved from a focus on developing countries to the need to harness the new generation of biology and microbial ecology to enable us to develop transformative engineered biological systems that I think will benefit all societies. I really enjoy teaching Undergraduates and Postgraduates for all the research in the world means nothing if there are not bright men and women ready to put those ideas into action.

I work on the science and technologies required for the treatment of water and wastes. Such treatment systems are key nodes in the network of environmental services that civil engineers provide for cities. They are undoubtedly critical infrastructure and are central to a sustainable urban environment in all societies. The technology of these nodes dictates the architecture and thus much of the cost, reliability and sustainability of the services provided.

This is a moment of tremendous opportunity for those in my field. These opportunities lie in both engineering and the underpinning science. One of the core technologies in Environmental Engineering is biological waste treatment. Nearing their centenary biological treatment methods have, due to their astonishing complexity (there are over 5000 “species” in a single plant), been developed empirically.  Empirical research is subject to the law of diminishing returns. Moreover, many of these technologies are not, in the long run, sustainable because of the energy that they consume, the greenhouse gasses they emit and the resources (energy, nitrogen and phosphorous) that are lost in the process.  In the rich world the price of energy and the cost of carbon is already putting water utilities under pressure. In the majority world these costs are, or will become, simply prohibitive.  It is fortunate therefore that biology in general and microbial ecology in particular is in a golden age as revolutionary new methods are being developed that have given us an unprecedented ability to interrogate these communities. I have been active in the development and application of these technologies in engineered and non-engineered biological systems. The logic is obvious; we must use the new biology to create a new wastewater treatment technology. From an academics point of view this is an incredible opportunity: we must be at the very cutting edge of the new biology to create the new technology we need. The “double whammy” of outstanding scientific and societal impact leads to the academic research Nirvana of international recognition, sustained benefits to mankind and funding.  My particular and unique insight is, and has been, the need for theory. Engineering biology in 2011 is in many ways where classical structural engineering was in 1811. The introduction of a theoretical basis for design, particularly by Rankine, led directly to the astonishing achievements of Civil Engineers in  that century.  I believe that a sound theoretical basis for what we do will have an analogous effect on engineered biological systems. One of the beauties of this approach is that we are developing generic theories for specific problems. So our theoretical and conceptual advances can be applied in other areas, such as medicine agriculture or general microbial ecology.  I have been pursuing and refining this vision for over 10 years with some really brilliant collaborators, methods and models. If these ideas are even partially successful, they will help the teaching mission by generating unique knowledge that only students at Newcastle will be able to acquire.  All the vision in the world means nothing if we cannot train a new cadre of engineers steeped in the ethos of sustainability to implement these ideas.  I have a particular desire to see our existing north-south links strengthened so that we can benefit from fruitful relations with countries in different phases and stages of development. Our would be delighted if we could develop long term and self sustaining relationships in Africa and  South America.  Both continents have much to teach and much to inspire and would ensure that our research and teaching vision is truly global.   

Roles and Responsibilities

EPSRC Dream Fellow.

Qualifications 

PhD in Public Health Engineering (Leeds University 1991)

MEng in Public Health Engineering (Leeds University 1986)

BSc in Microbiology (Leeds University 1983) 

Industrial Experience 

I had worked in construction, research and central government policy making before joining the University. I liaise closely with the UK water industry through my own research projects and very occasionally undertake consultancies for small and large UK companies. I have been involved on high level technical advisory committees nationally and internationally, most notably Keppel Corporation in Singapore and INRA in France.

Research Interests

Biological Treatment Systems
Experimental and Theoretical Microbial Ecology

Other Expertise

Wastewater Treatment in Developing Countries
Waste Stabilisation Ponds

Microbial Fuel Cells

Pathogens and pathogen removal

Current Work

Improving The Design in Engineered Biological Systems Through Theoretical Ecology

Esteem Indicators

Editorial board ISME journal

Editorial board Water Research 

EPSRC Dream Fellow

Editor Environmental  Microbiology (from 2012)

INRA M2E Meta programme international advisory board 

Research funding

EPSRC Platform Grant: General and Unifying Concepts for Wastewater Treatment Plant Design 2008-2013 (EPSRC £ 774,525)
EPSRC: What is the True Temperature Limit for the Anaerobic Treatment of Domestic Wastewater?  2009-2012, £654,848
EPSRC BioFCSUPERGEN , 2010-2014, £554,191 PI Prof. Keith Scott,
EPSRC Industrial Doctorate Program for the Water Industry: STREAM.2009-2014, £ 5.8 Million program coordinated by Cranfield with Imperial College London, the Universities of Sheffield and Exeter and Newcastle University
EPSRC Predicting the acclimatisation of microbial wastewater treatment communities as a function of the environment, random immigration, birth and death  2010-2013, £646,739 with Glasgow
EPSRC UK Infrastructure Transitions Research Consortium (ITRC): PROGRAMME GRANT: "Long term dynamics of interdependent infrastructure systems"  (£ Value to be determined) PI Prof Jim Hall
EPSRC Dream Fellow 2011-2012: Towards the E sewage works. £~220,000.Microbial fuel cells for wastewater treatment: Northumbria Water Ltd 2006-2009 £43,000
Microbial fuel cells: Marie Curie Program Commissionof the European Communities, £ 54300 2007-2010
EU COST Collaborating for insights in microbial Ecology 2011-2015 ~400,000 Euros

I teach on the Undegraduate course in Civil Engineering and the Postgraduate course on Environmental engineering. For the Undergraduates I teach half of the  Environmental systems course (CEG 1101) . I try to give the students an undertanding of the way engineers engineer water and wastes to provide a sustainable urban environment. For the postgraduate students I help organise a a course  on elementary hydraulic design (CEG8102). I was inspired to do this by my own experiences as a young man on site who perhaps knew less than he should have about pipe and flow measurement.  In addition I have a "walk on part" in a number of other modules.                                                                                                                                                            

• Mitchell AL, Scheremetjew M, Denise H, Potter S, Tarkowska A, Qureshi M, Salazar GA, Pesseat S, Boland MA, Hunter FMI, Ten Hoopen P, Alako B, Amid C, Wilkinson DJ, Curtis TP, Cochrane G, Finn RD. EBI Metagenomics in 2017: Enriching the analysis of microbial communities, from sequence reads to assemblies. Nucleic Acids Research 2018, 46(D1), D726-D735.
• Petropoulos E, Dolfing J, Yu Y, Wade MJ, Bowen EJ, Davenport RJ, Curtis TP. Lipolysis of domestic wastewater in anaerobic reactors operating at low temperatures. Environmental Science: Water Research & Technology 2018, 4(7), 1002-1013.
• How SW, Lim SY, Lim PB, Aris AM, Ngoh GC, Curtis TP, Chua ASM. Low-dissolved-oxygen nitrification in tropical sewage: An investigation on potential, performance and functional microbial community. Water Science and Technology 2018, 77(9), 2274-2283.
• Heidrich ES, Dolfing J, Wade MJ, Sloan WT, Quince C, Curtis TP. Temperature, inocula and substrate: Contrasting electroactive consortia, diversity and performance in microbial fuel cells. Bioelectrochemistry 2018, 119, 43-50.
• Jayathilake PG, Gupta P, Li B, Madsen C, Oyebamiji O, Gonzalez-Cabaleiro R, Rushton S, Bridgens B, Swailes D, Allen B, McGough AS, Zuliani P, Ofiteru ID, Wilkinson DJ, Chen J, Curtis TP. A mechanistic individual-based model of microbial communities. PLoS One 2017, 12(8), e0181965.
• Petropoulos E, Dolfing J, Davenport RJ, Bowen EJ, Curtis TP. Developing cold-adapted biomass for the anaerobic treatment of domestic wastewater at low temperatures (4, 8 and 15 °C) with inocula from cold environments. Water Research 2017, 112, 100-109.
• Milner EM, Scott K, Head IM, Curtis T, Yu EH. Evaluation of porous carbon felt as an aerobic biocathode support in terms of hydrogen peroxide. Journal of Power Sources 2017, 356, 459-466.
• Cotterill SE, Dolfing J, Jones C, Curtis TP, Heidrich ES. Low Temperature Domestic Wastewater Treatment in a Microbial Electrolysis Cell with 1 m2 Anodes: Towards System Scale-Up. Fuel Cells 2017, 17(5), 584-592.
• Sadhukhan J, Lloyd JR, Scott K, Premier GC, Yu EH, Curtis T, Head IM. A critical review of integration analysis of microbial electrosynthesis (MES) systems with waste biorefineries for the production of biofuel and chemical from reuse of CO₂. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 2016, 56, 116-132.
• Widder S, Allen RJ, Pfeiffer T, Curtis TP, Wiuf C, Sloan WT, Cordero OX, Brown SP, Momeni B, Shou WY, Kettle H, Flint HJ, Haas AF, Laroche B, Kreft JU, Rainey PB, Freilich S, Schuster S, Milferstedt K, van der Meer JR, Grosskopf T, Huisman J, Free A, Picioreanu C, Quince C, Klapper I, Labarthe S, Smets BF, Wang H, Soyer OS, Isaac Newton Inst Fellows. Challenges in microbial ecology: building predictive understanding of community function and dynamics. The ISME Journal 2016, 10(11), 2557-2568.
• Cotterill S, Heidrich ES, Curtis TP. Microbial electrolysis cells for hydrogen production. In: Scott, K; Yu, E, ed. Microbial Electrochemical and Fuel Cells: Fundamentals and Applications. Woodhead Publishing, 2016, pp.287-319.
• Milner EM, Popescu D, Curtis T, Head IM, Scott K, Yu EH. Microbial fuel cells with highly active aerobic biocathodes. Journal of Power Sources 2016, 324, 8-16.
• Heidrich AS, Curtis TP, Woodcock S, Dolfing J. Quantification of effective exoelectrogens by most probable number (MPN) in a microbial fuel cell. Bioresource Technology 2016, 218, 27-30.
• Bellucci M, Ofiţeru ID, Beneduce L, Graham DW, Head IM, Curtis TP. A preliminary and qualitative study of resource ratio theory to nitrifying lab-scale bioreactors. Microbial Biotechnology 2015, 8(3), 590-603.
• Christgen B, Scott K, Dolfing J, Head IM, Curtis TP. An evaluation of the performance and economics of membranes and separators in single chamber microbial fuel cells treating domestic wastewater. PLoS ONE 2015, 10(8), e0136108.
• Brown MR, Camézuli S, Davenport RJ, Petelenz-Kurdziel E, Øvreås L, Curtis TP. Flow cytometric quantification of viruses in activated sludge. Water Research 2015, 68, 414-422.
• Wade MJ, Curtis TP, Davenport RJ. Modelling Computational Resources for Next Generation Sequencing Bioinformatics Analysis of 16S rRNA Samples. Ithaca NY: arXiv, 2015. Available at: http://arxiv.org/abs/1503.02974.
• Baptista JDC, Lunn M, Davenport RJ, Swan DL, Read LF, Brown MR, Morais C, Curtis TP. Agreement between amoA Gene-Specific Quantitative PCR and Fluorescence In Situ Hybridization in the Measurement of Ammonia-Oxidizing Bacteria in Activated Sludge. Applied and Environmental Microbiology 2014, 80(19), 5901-5910.
• Hall JW, Henriques JJ, Hickford AJ, Nicholls RJ, Baruah P, Birkin M, Chaudry M, Curtis TP, Eyre N, Jones C, Kilsby CG, Leathard A, Lorenz A, Malleson N, McLeod F, Powrie W, Preston J, Rai N, Street R, Stringfellow A, Thoung C, Tyler P, Velykiene R, Watson G, Watson JW. Assessing the Long-Term Performance of Cross-Sectoral Strategies for National Infrastructure. Journal of Infrastructure Systems 2014, 20(3).
• Milner EM, Scott K, Head IM, Curtis T, Yu E. Electrochemical Investigation of Aerobic Biocathodes at Different Poised Potentials: Evidence for Mediated Extracellular Electron Transfer. In: 10th European Symposium on Electrochemical Engineering. 2014, Sardinia, Italy.
• Ofiţeru ID, Bellucci M, Picioreanu C, Lavric V, Curtis TP. Multi-scale modelling of bioreactor - separator system for wastewater treatment with two-dimensional activated sludge floc dynamics. Water Research 2014, 50, 382-395.
• Heidrich ES, Edwards SR, Dolfing J, Cotterill SE, Curtis TP. Performance of a pilot scale microbial electrolysis cell fed on domestic wastewater at ambient temperatures for a 12 month period. Bioresource Technology 2014, 173, 87-95.
• Abdullah N, Yuzir A, Curtis TP, Yahya A, Ujang Z. Characterization of aerobic granular sludge treating high strength agro-based wastewater at different volumetric loadings. Bioresource Technology 2013, 127, 181-187.
• Bowen EJ, Dolfing J, Davenport RJ, Read FL, Curtis TP. Low temperature limitation of bioreactor sludge in anaerobic treatment of domestic wastewater. Water Science and Technology 2013, 69(5), 1004-1013.
• Pholchan MK, Baptista JDC, Davenport RJ, Sloan WT, Curtis TP. Microbial community assembly, theory and rare functions. Frontiers in Microbiology 2013, 4, 68.
• Woodcock S, Besemer K, Battin TJ, Curtis TP, Sloan WT. Modelling the effects of dispersal mechanisms and hydrodynamic regimes upon the structure of microbial communities within fluvial biofilms. Environmental Microbiology 2013, 15(4), 1216-1225.
• Bellucci M, Ofiteru ID, Head IM, Curtis TP, Graham DW. Nitrification in hybrid bioreactors treating simulated domestic wastewater. Journal of Applied Microbiology 2013, 115(2), 621-630.
• Heidrich ES, Dolfing J, Scott K, Edwards SR, Jones C, Curtis TP. Production of hydrogen from domestic wastewater in a pilot-scale microbial electrolysis cell. Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology 2013, 97(15), 6979-6989.
• Harris JA, Baptista JDC, Curtis TP, Nelson AK, Pawlett M, Ritz K, Tyrrel SF. Engineering difference: Matrix design determines community composition in wastewater treatment systems. Ecological Engineering 2012, 40, 183-188.
• Christensen PA, Zakaria K, Curtis TP. Structure and Activity of Ni- and Sb-doped SnO2 Ozone Anodes. Ozone: Science & Engineering 2012, 34(1), 49-56.
• Heidrich E, Dolfing J, Curtis T. A wastewater opportunity. Chemistry & Industry 2011, (11), 24-26.
• Bellucci M, Curtis TP. Ammonia-oxidizing bacteria in wastewater. In: Klotz, M.G., Stein, L.Y, ed. Research on Nitrification and Related Processes, Part B. Maryland Heights, Missouri, United States: Academic Press, 2011, pp.269-286.
• Heidrich ES, Dolfing J, Curtis TP. Can we define the thermodynamic properties of wastewater. In: WE-Heraeus-Seminar on Biothermodynamics of Metabolic and Ecological Networks. 2011, Bad-Honnef, Germany.
• Heidrich ES, Curtis TP, Dolfing J. Determination of the internal chemical energy of wastewater. Environmental Science & Technology 2011, 45(2), 827-832.
• Velasquez-Orta SB, Yu E, Katuri KP, Head IM, Curtis TP, Scott K. Evaluation of hydrolysis and fermentation rates in microbial fuel cells. Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology 2011, 90(2), 789-798.
• Velasquez Orta SB, Head IM, Curtis TP, Scott K. Factors affecting current production in microbial fuel cells using different industrial wastewaters. Bioresource Technology 2011, 102(8), 5105-5112.
• Bellucci M, Ofiteru ID, Graham DW, Head IM, Curtis TP. Low Dissolved Oxygen Nitrifying Systems Exploit Ammonia-Oxidizing Bacteria With Unusually High Yield. Applied and Environmental Microbiology 2011, 77(21), 7787-7796.
• Xu A, Dolfing J, Curtis TP, Montague GA, Martin EB. Maintenance affects the stability of a two-tiered microbial 'food chain'?. Journal of Theoretical Biology 2011, 276(1), 35-41.
• Xu AP, Dolfing J, Curtis TP, Montague G, Martin E. Maintenance affects the stability of a two-tiered microbial 'food chain'?. Journal of Theoretical Biology 2011, 276(1), 35-41.
• Katuri K, Scott K, Head I, Picioreanu C, Curtis T. Microbial fuel cells meet with external resistance. Bioresource Technology 2011, 102(3), 2758-2766.
• Ofiteru ID, Lunn M, Curtis TP, Wells GF, Criddle CS, Francis CA, Sloan WT. Combined niche and neutral effects in a microbial wastewater treatment community. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 2010, 107(35), 15345-15350.
• Di Lorenzo M, Scott K, Curtis TP, Head IM. Effect of increasing anode surface area on the performance of a single chamber microbial fuel cell. Chemical Engineering Journal 2010, 156(1), 40-48.
• Picioreanu C, van Loosdrecht MCM, Curtis TP, Scott K. Model based evaluation of the effect of pH and electrode geometry on microbial fuel cell performance. In: Bioelectrochemistry: Workshop From Fundamentals to Microbial Power Plants. 2010, Dourdan, France: Elsevier.
• Picioreanu C, van Loosdrecht M, Curtis T, Scott K. Model based evaluation of the effect of pH and electrode geometry on microbial fuel cell performance. Bioelectrochemistry 2010, 78(1), 8-24.
• Valero MAC, Read LF, Mara DD, Newton RJ, Curtis TP, Davenport RJ. Nitrification-denitrification in waste stabilisation ponds: a mechanism for permanent nitrogen removal in maturation ponds. Water Science and Technology 2010, 61(5), 1137-1146.
• Larrosa-Guerrero A, Scott K, Katuri KP, Godinez C, Head IM, Curtis T. Open circuit versus closed circuit enrichment of anodic biofilms in MFC: effect on performance and anodic communities. Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology 2010, 87(5), 1699-1713.
• Pholchan MK, Baptista JD, Davenport RJ, Curtis TP. Systematic study of the effect of operating variables on reactor performance and microbial diversity in laboratory-scale activated sludge reactors. Water Research 2010, 44(5), 1341-1352.
• Velasquez-Orta SB, Head IM, Curtis TP, Scott K, Lloyd JR, von Canstein H. The effect of flavin electron shuttles in microbial fuel cells current production. Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology 2010, 85(5), 1373-1381.
• Baptista JDC, Woodcock S, Sloan WT, Curtis TP. The taxa-area relationship is not a universal law of ecology. 2010.
• Heidrich ES, Curtis TP. Thermodynamic properties of wastewater. In: 239th American Chemical Society National Meeting. 2010, San Fransisco, California, USA.
• Di Lorenzo M, Curtis T, Head IM, Velasquez-Orta SB, Scott K. A single chamber packed bed microbial fuel cell biosensor for measuring organic content of wastewater. Water Science and Technology 2009, 60(11), 2879-2887.
• Di Lorenzo M, Curtis TP, Head IM, Scott K. A single-chamber microbial fuel cell as a biosensor for wastewaters. Water Research 2009, 43(13), 3145-3154.
• Quince C, Lanzen A, Curtis TP, Davenport RJ, Hall N, Head IM, Read LF, Sloan WT. Accurate determination of microbial diversity from 454 pyrosequencing data. Nature Methods 2009, 6(9), 639-641.
• Di Lorenzo M, Scott K, Curtis T, Katuri K, Head IM. Continuous Feed Microbial Fuel Cell Using An Air Cathode and A Disc Anode Stack for Wastewater Treatment. Energy & Fuels 2009, 23(11), 5707–5716.
• Akarsubasi AT, Eyice O, Miskin I, Head IM, Curtis TP. Effect of sludge age on the bacterial diversity of bench scale sequencing batch reactors. Environmental Science & Technology 2009, 43(8), 2950-2956.
• Velasquez-Orta SB, Curtis TP, Logan BE. Energy From Algae Using Microbial Fuel Cells. Biotechnology and Bioengineering 2009, 103(6), 1068-1076.
• Ofiteru ID, Curtis TP. Modeling Risk of Failure in Nitrification: Simple Model Incorporating Abundance and Diversity. Journal of Environmental Engineering 2009, 135(8), 660-665.
• Davenport RJ, Pickering RL, Goodhead AK, Curtis TP. A universal threshold concept for hydrophobic mycolata in activated sludge foaming. Water Research 2008, 42(13), 3446-3454.
• Velasquez-Orta SB, Head I, Curtis T, Scott K. Power production enhancement by using novel mediators in a microbial fuel cell. In: 6th Worldwater Congress and Exhibition. 2008, Vienna, Austria.
• Milner MG, Curtis TP, Davenport RJ. Presence and activity of ammonia-oxidising bacteria detected amongst the overall bacterial diversity along a physico-chemical gradient of a nitrifying wastewater treatment plant. Water Research 2008, 42(12), 2863-2872.
• Baptista JDC, Davenport RJ, Donnelly T, Curtis TP. The microbial diversity of laboratory-scale wetlands appears to be randomly assembled. Water Research 2008, 42(12), 3182-3190.
• Quince C, Curtis TP, Sloan WT. The rational exploration of microbial diversity. ISME Journal 2008, 2(10), 997-1006.
• Manefield M, Whiteley A, Curtis TP, Watanabe K. Influence of sustainability and immigration in assembling bacterial populations of known size and function. Microbial Ecology 2007, 53(2), 348-354.
• Battin TJ, Sloan WT, Kjelleberg S, Daims H, Head IM, Curtis TP, Eberl L. Microbial landscapes: new paths to biofilm research. Nature Reviews Microbiology 2007, 5(1), 76-81.
• Sloan WT, Woodcock S, Lunn M, Head IM, Curtis TP. Modeling taxa-abundance distributions in microbial communities using environmental sequence data. Microbial Ecology 2007, 53(3), 443-455.
• Woodcock S, van der Gast CJ, Bell T, Lunn M, Curtis TP, Head IM, Sloan WT. Neutral assembly of bacterial communities. FEMS Microbiology Ecology 2007, 62(2), 171-180.
• Woodcock S, van der Gast CJ, Bell T, Lunn M, Curtis TP, Head IM, Sloan WT. Neutral Assembly of Microbial Communities. FEMS Microbiology Ecology 2007, 62(2), 171-180.
• Paterson CA, Mara DD, Curtis TP. Pro-poor sanitation technologies. Geoforum 2007, 38(5), 901-907.
• Prosser JI, Bohannan BJM, Curtis TP, Ellis RJ, Firestone MK, Freckleton RP, Green JL, Green LE, Killham K, Lennon JJ, Osborn AM, Solan M, van der Gast CJ, Young JPW. The role of ecological theory in microbial ecology. Nature Reviews Microbiology 2007, 5(5), 384-392.
• Curtis TP. Theory and the microbial world. Environmental Microbiology 2007, 9(1), 1.
• Henze M, Curtis TP. Water research regional editor 1994-2000, professor George Kenneth (Ken) Anderson FCIWEM April 10, 1940-December 21, 2006. Water Research 2007, 41(10), 2057-2058.
• Curtis T. Microbial ecologists: it's time to 'go large'. Nature Reviews. Microbiology 2006, 4(7), 488-488.
• Sloan WT, Lunn M, Woodcock S, Head IM, Nee S, Curtis TP. Quantifying the roles of immigration and chance in shaping prokaryote community structure. Environmental Microbiology 2006, 8(4), 732-740.
• Woodcock S, Curtis TP, Head IM, Lunn M, Sloan WT. Taxa-area relationships for microbes: the unsampled and the unseen. Ecology Letters 2006, 9(7), 805-812.
• Curtis TP, Sloan WT. Towards the design of diversity: Stochastic models for community assembly in wastewater treatment plants. Water Science and Technology 2006, 54(1), 227-236.
• Curtis TP, Mara DD. Waste Stabilization Ponds. In: Ujang, Z; Henze, M, ed. Municipal Wastewater Management in Developing Countries: Principles and Engineering. London: IWA, 2006, pp.168-191.
• Curtis TP, Head IM, Lunn M, Woodcock S, Schloss PD, Sloan WT. What is the extent of prokaryotic diversity?. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 2006, 361(1475), 2023-2037.
• Coskuner G, Ballinger SJ, Davenport RJ, Pickering RL, Solera R, Head IM, Curtis TP. Agreement between theory and measurement in quantification of ammonia-oxidizing bacteria. Applied and Environmental Microbiology 2005, 71(10), 6325-6334.
• Rowan AK, Davenport RJ, Snape JR, Fearnside D, Barer MR, Curtis TP, Head IM. Development of a rapid assay for determining the relative abundance of bacteria. Applied and Environmental Microbiology 2005, 71(12), 8481-8490.
• Akarsubasi AT, Ince O, Kirdar B, Oz NA, Orhon D, Curtis TP, Head IM, Ince BK. Effect of wastewater composition on archaeal population diversity. Water Research 2005, 39(8), 1576-1584.
• Curtis TP, Sloan WT. Exploring microbial diversity - A vast below. Science 2005, 309(5739), 1331-1333.
• Paterson CA, Curtis TP. Physical and chemical environments. In: Shilton, A, ed. Pond Treatment Technology. London: IWA Publishing, 2005, pp.49-65.
• Paterson CA, Curtis TP. Physical and Chemical Environments. In: Shilton A, ed. Pond Treatment Technology. London: IWA, 2005, pp.49-65.
• McCarthy AJ, Gray ND, Curtis TP, Head IM. Response of the Soil Bacterial Community to Perturbation. In: Bardgett, RD; Usher, MB; Hopkins DW, ed. Biological Diversity and Function in Soils. Cambridge; New York: Cambridge University Press, 2005, pp.273-294.
• Ujang Z, Henze M, Curtis TP, Schertenleib R, Beal LL. Environmental engineering education for developing countries: Framework for the future. Water Science and Technology 2004, 49(8), 1-10.
• Lunn M, Sloan WT, Curtis TP. Estimating bacterial diversity from clone libraries with flat rank abundance distributions. Environmental Microbiology 2004, 6(10), 1081-1085.
• Curtis TP, Sloan WT. Prokaryotic diversity and its limits: microbial community structure in nature and implications for microbial ecology. Current Opinion in Microbiology 2004, 7(3), 221-226.
• Davenport RJ, Curtis TP. Quantitative fluorescence in situ hybridisation (FISH): statistical methods for valid cell counting. In: Kowalchuk, GA; de Bruijn, FJ; Head, IM; Akkermans AD; van Elsas, JD, ed. Molecular Microbial Ecology Manual. Dordrecht; London: Kluwer Academic, 2004, pp.1487-1516.
• Curtis TP. Bacterial pathogen removal from wastewater treatment systems. In: Mara, D; Horan, NJ, ed. The Handbook of Water and Wastewater Microbiology. London: Academic Press, 2003, pp.477-490.
• Rowan AK, Snape JR, Fearnside D, Barer MR, Curtis TP, Head IM. Composition and diversity of ammonia-oxidising bacterial communities in wastewater treatment reactors of different designtreating identical wastewater. FEMS Microbiology Ecology 2003, 43(2), 195-206.
• Graham DW, Curtis TP. Ecological theory and bioremediation. In: Head IM; Singleton I; Milner MG, ed. Bioremediation: a critical review. Wymondham: Horizon Scientific, 2003.
• Christensen PA, Curtis TP, Egerton TA, Kosa SAM, Tinlin JR. Photoelectrocatalytic and photocatalytic disinfection of E. coli suspensions by titanium dioxide. Applied Catalysis B: Environmental 2003, 41(4), 371-386.
• Curtis T. The Miccosukee case: Utilities await landmark decision from supreme court. American Water Works Association 2003, 95(11), 24-27.
• Curtis TP, Head IM, Graham DW. Theoretical Ecology for engineering biology. Environmental Science & Technology 2003, 37(3), 64A-70A.
• Weatherell CA, Elliott DJ, Fallowfield HJ, Curtis TP. Theory based modelling of the algal concentration in waste stabilisation ponds with variable photosynthetic characteristics. In: Waste Stabilisation Ponds: Pond Technology for the New Millennium: Selected Proceedings of the 5th International Iwa Conference. 2003, Auckland, New Zealand: International Water Association.
• Coskuner G, Curtis TP. In situ characterization of nitrifiers in an activated sludge plant: detection of Nitrobacter Spp. Journal of Applied Microbiology 2002, 93(3), 431-437.
• Rowan AK, Moser G, Gray N, Snape JR, Fearnside D, Curtis TP, Barer MR, Head IM. A comparative study of ammonia-oxidizing bacteria in lab-scale industrial wastewater treatment reactors. In: 1st IWA International Young Researchers Conference: New Research in Water and Wastewater. 2002, Cranfield, UK: Water Science and Technology: IWA Publishing.
• Rowan AK, Snape JR, Fearnside D, Curtis TP, Barer MR, Head IM. A comparison of autotrophic ammonia-oxidizing bacteria in full- and laboratory-scale wastewater treatment reactors. Water Science and Technology 2002, 46(1-2), 319-322.
• Davenport RJ, Curtis TP. Are filamentous mycolata important in foaming?. Water Science and Technology 2002, 46(1-2), 529-533.
• Curtis TP, Sloan WT, Scannell JW. Estimating prokaryotic diversity and its limits. Proceedings of The National Academy of Sciences 2002, 99(16), 10494-10499.
• Curtis TP, Alker GW, Dowling BM, Christensen PA. Fate of Cryptosporidium oocysts in an immobilised titanium dioxide reactor with electric field enhancement. Water Research 2002, 36(9), 2410-2413.
• Gray ND, Miskin IP, Kornilova O, Curtis TP, Head IM. Occurrence and activity of Archaea in aerated activated sludge wastewater treatment plants. Environmental Microbiology 2002, 4(3), 158-168.
• Christensen PA, Curtis TP, Egerton TA, Gunlazuardi J, Harper JC, Kosa S, Scott K, Tinlin J. Photoelectrochemical detoxification and disinfection of water using a novel bubble column reactor. In: Abstracts of Papers American Chemical Society: 224th National Meeting of the American Chemical Society. 2002, Boston, Massachusetts, USA: American Chemical Society.
• Brown R, Curtis TP, Metcalfe AV. The 'Atakwa' incubator for bacteriological testing. Waterlines 2002, 20(4), 26-27.
• Ballinger SJ, Head IM, Curtis TP, Godley AR. The effect of C/N ratio on ammonia oxidising bacteria community structure in a laboratory nitrification-denitrification reactor. Water Science and Technology 2002, 46(1-2), 543-550.
• Weatherell CA, Elliott DJ, Fallowfield HJ, Curtis TP. Variable photosynthetic characteristics in waste stabilisation ponds. In: 5th International IWA Conference on Waste Stabilisation Ponds. 2002, Auckland, New Zealand: Water Science and Technology: IWA Publishing.
• Harper JC, Christensen PA, Egerton TA, Curtis TP, Gunlazuardi J. Effect of catalyst type on the kinetics of the photoelectrochemical disinfection of water inoculated with E. coli. Journal of Applied Electrochemistry 2001, 31(6), 623-628.
• Davenport RJ, Curtis TP, Goodfellow M, Stainsby FM, Bingley M. Quantitative use of fluorescent in situ hybridization to examine relationships between mycolic acid-containing actinomycetes and foaming in activated sludge plants. Applied and Environmental Microbiology 2000, 66(3), 1158-1166.
• Low EW, Chase HA, Milner MG, Curtis TP. Uncoupling of metabolism to reduce biomass production in the activated sludge process. Water Research 2000, 34(12), 3204-3212.
• Weatherell CA, Curtis TP, Fallowfield HJ. Vertical versus horizontal modelling in algal modelling for waste stabilisation ponds. In: Waste Stabilisation Ponds: Technology and the Environment - Selected Proceedings of the 4th International Specialised Conference. 2000, Marrakech: IWA Publishing.
• Davenport RJ, Elliott JN, Curtis TP, Upton J. In situ detection of rhodococci associated with activated sludge foams. Antonie van Leeuwenhoek 1998, 74(1-3), 41-48.
• Goodfellow M, Stainsby FM, Davenport R, Chun JS, Curtis TP. Activated sludge foaming: The true extent of actinomycete diversity. Water Science and Technology 1998, 37(4-5), 511-519.
• Ballinger SJ, Head IM, Curtis TP, Godley AR. Molecular microbial ecology of nitrification in an activated sludge process treating refinery wastewater. Water Science and Technology 1998, 37(4-5), 105-108.
• Curtis TP, Craine NG. The comparison of the bacterial diversity of activated sludge plants. Water Science and Technology 1998, 37(4-5), 71-78.
• Curtis TP, Craine NG. The comparison of the diversity of activated sludge plants. Water Science and Technology 1998, 37(4-5), 71-78.
• Younger PL, Curtis TP, Jarvis A, Pennell R. Effective passive treatment of aluminium-rich, acidic colliery spoil drainage using a compost wetland at Quaking Houses, County Durham. Journal of the Chartered Institution of Water and Environmental Management 1997, 11(3), 200-208.
• Butterfield IM, Christensen PA, Curtis TP, Gunlazuardi J. Water disinfection using an immobilised titanium dioxide film in a photochemical reactor with electric field enhancement. Water Research 1997, 31(3), 675-677.
• Goodfellow M, Davenport R, Stainsby FM, Curtis TP. Actinomycete diversity associated with foaming in activated sludge plants. Journal of Industrial Microbiology and Biotechnology 1996, 17(3-4), 268-280.
• Curtis TP. The fate of Vibrio cholerae in wastewater treatment plants. In: Drasar, B; Forrest, BD, ed. Cholera and the Ecology of Vibrio Cholerae. London: Chapman & Hall, 1996, pp.295-332.
• Curtis TP, Mara DD, Dixo NGH, Silva SA. Light penetration in waste stabilization ponds. Water Research 1994, 28(5), 1031-1038.
• Curtis TP, Mara DD. The Effect of Sunlight on Mechanisms for the Die-off of Faecal Coliforms in Waste Stabilization Ponds. Leeds University: Deptartment of Civil Engineering, 1994. Research Monographs in Tropical Public Health Engineering.
• Curtis TP, Mara DD, Silva SA. The effect of sunlight on faecal coliforms in ponds: implications for research and design. Water Science and Technology 1992, 26, 1729-1738.
• Curtis TP, Mara DD, Silva SA. The influence of humic substances oxygen and pH on the effect of light on faecal coliforms in waste stabilization ponds. Applied and Environmental Microbiology 1992, 58(4), 1335-1343.
• Oragui JI, Curtis TP, Silva SA, Mara DD. The removal of excreted bacteria and viruses in deep waste stabilization ponds in northeast Brazil. Water Science and Technology 1986, 18(10), 31-35.