JOHN F. GRIFFITH - Microbiologist

EDUCATION:

Ph.D., Marine Environmental Biology, University of Southern California, 2006

B.S., Biology, University of Southern California, 1995

B.S., Environmental Studies, University of Southern California, 1995

AREAS OF EXPERTISE:

Dr. Griffith is a marine microbiologist at the Southern California Coastal Water Research Project Authority who also serves as the agency’s Coordinator of Molecular Technology. He earned his Ph.D. in Marine Environmental Biology at the University of Southern California, where his dissertation research focused on indicators of fecal contamination in near-shore marine waters. His present research efforts focus on microbial source tracking, rapid methods for detection of fecal contamination and pathogens in urban runoff and marine receiving waters and relationships between water quality indicators and swimming-related illness.

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE:

Principal Scientist, Southern California Coastal Water Research Project, Costa Mesa, CA. 2010 - Present

Microbiologist, Southern California Coastal Water Research Project. Westminster, CA. 2001-2010

Research Assistant, Marine Biology Research Section, University of Southern California. Los Angeles, CA. 2000-2001

Doctoral Fellow, NSF Integrative Graduate Education and Training, Environmental Studies, Policy and Engineering - Sustainable Cities Program, University of Southern California. Los Angeles, CA. 1999-2000

Teaching Assistant, University of Southern California. Los Angeles, CA. 1995-1999

Trainee, USC Sea Grant Program. Los Angeles, CA. 1995-2001

Laboratory Assistant, University of Southern California. Los Angeles CA. 1993-1995

HONORS AND AWARDS:

National Science Foundation IGERT Doctoral Fellowship (1998-2000)
LAS Dean's Advisory Board, University of Southern California (1994-1997)
LAS Dean's List, University of Southern California (1994, 1995)
Phi Sigma National Biological Honor Society, Chapter President (1993-1994)
Dean's List, University of California, Irvine (1993)
President's Honor Roll, Fullerton College (1992)
Golden Key National Honor Society

PROFESSIONAL SOCIETIES:

American Society for Microbiology
American Society for Limnology and Oceanography
The Oceanographic Society International Water Association

PUBLICATIONS:

Griffith, J.F. and S.B. Weisberg. 2011. Challenges in implementing new technology for beach water quality monitoring: lessons learned form a California demonstration project. Marine Technology Society Journal 45:65-73.

Lu, J., H. Ryu, J.W. Santo Domingo, J.F. Griffith and N.A. Ashbolt. 2011. Molecular detection of Campylobacter spp. in California Gull (Larus californicus) excreta. Applied and Environmental Microbiology 77:5034-5039.

Gregory, J.B., L.F. Webster, J.F. Griffith and J.R.Stewart. 2011. Improved detection and quantitation of norovirus from water. Journal of Virological Methods 172:38-42.

Halliday, E., J.F. Griffith and R.J. Gast. 2010. Use of an exogenous plasmid standard and quantitative PCR to monitor spatial and temporal distribution of Enterococcus spp. in beach sands. Limnology and Oceanography Methods 8:146-154.

Noble, R.T., A.D. Blackwood, J.F. Griffith, C.D. McGee, and S.B. Weisberg. 2010. Comparison of rapid quantitative PCR-Based and conventional culture-based methods for enumeration of Enterococcus spp. and Escherichia coli in recreational waters. Applied and Environmental Microbiology 76:7437-7443.

Johnston, C., J. Ufnar, J. Griffith, J. Gooch, and J. Stewart. 2010. A real-time qPCR assay for the detection of the nifH gene of methanobrevibacter smithii, a potential indicator of sewage pollution. Journal of Applied Microbiology 109:1853-1867.

Hamilton, M.J., A.Z. Hadi, J.F. Griffith, S. Ishii, and M.J. Sadowsky. 2010. Large scale analysis of virulence genes in Escherichia coli strains isolated from Avalon Bay, CA. Water Research 44:5463-73.

Lee, C.M., J.F. Griffith, W. Kaiser, and J.A. Jay. 2010. Covalently linked immunomagnetic separation/adenosine triphosphate technique (Cov-IMS/ATP) enables rapid, in-field detection and quantification of Escherichia coli and Enterococcus spp. in freshwater and marine environments. Journal of Applied Microbiology 109:324-33.

Griffith, J.F., K.C. Schiff, G.S. Lyon, and J.A. Fuhrman. 2010. Microbiological water quality at non-human influenced reference beaches in southern California during wet weather. Marine Pollution Bulletin 60:500-8.

Boehm, A.B., J. Griffith, C. McGee, T.A. Edge, H.M. Solo-Gabriele, R. Whitman, Y. Cao, M. Getrich, J.A. Jay, D. Ferguson, K.D. Goodwin, C.M. Lee, M. Madison, and S.B. Weisberg. 2009. Faecal indicator bacteria enumeration in beach sand: a comparison study of extraction methods in medium to coarse sands. Journal of Applied Microbiology 107:1740-1750.

Griffith, J.F., Y. Cao, C.D. McGee, and S.B. Weisberg. 2009. Evaluation of rapid methods and novel indicators for assessing microbiological beach water quality. Water Research 43:4900-7.

Converse, R.R., A.D. Blackwood, M. Kirs, J.F. Griffith, and R.T. Noble. 2009. Rapid QPCR-based assay for fecal Bacteroides spp. as a tool for assessing fecal contamination in recreational waters. Water Research 43:4828-37.

Colford, J.M., T.M. Wade, K.C. Schiff, C.C. Wright, J.F. Griffith, K.S. Sukhminder, S.B. Burns, J. Hayes, M.D. Sobsey, G. Lovelace, and S.B.Weisberg. 2007. Water quality indicators and the risk of illness at beaches With nonpoint sources of fecal contamination Epidemiology 18:27-35.

Griffith, J.F., L.A. Aumand, I.M. Lee, C.D. McGee, L.L. Othman, K.J. Ritter, K.O. Walker, and S.B. Weisberg. 2006. Comparison and verification of bacterial water quality indicator measurement methods using ambient coastal water samples. Environmental Monitoring and Assessment 116:335-344.

Noble, R.T., J.F. Griffith, A.D. Blackwood, J.A. Fuhrman, J.B. Gregory, X. Hernandez, X. Liang, A.A. Bera, and K. Schiff. 2006. Multi-tiered Approach Using Quantitative PCR to Track Sources of Fecal Pollution Affecting Santa Monica Bay, California. Applied and Environmental Microbiology 72:1604-1612.

Griffith, J.F., S.B. Weisberg, and C.D. McGee. 2004. Evaluation of new, rapid methods for measuring microbiological water quality. pp. 354-362 in: S.B. Weisberg and D. Elmore (eds.), Southern California Coastal Water Research Project 2003-04 Biennial Report. Westminster, CA.

Griffith, J.F., S.B. Weisberg, and C.D. McGee. 2003. Evaluation of microbial source tracking methods using mixed fecal sources in aqueous test samples. Journal of Water and Health 1:141-151.

Field, K.D., E.C. Chern, L.K. Dick, J. Fuhrman, J. Griffith, P.A. Holden, M.G. LaMontangne, J. Le, B. Olson, and M.T. Simonich. 2003. A comparative study of culture-independent, library-independent genotypic methods of fecal source tracking. Journal of Water and Health 1:181-194.

Fuhrman, J.A., J.F. Griffith, and M.S. Schwalbach. 2000. Prokaryotic and viral diversity in marine plankton. Ecological Research 17:183-194.

Stott, L.D., T.P. Hayden, and J.F. Griffith. 1996. Benthic Foraminifera at the Los Angeles County Whites Point Outfall Revisited. Journal of Foraminiferal Research 26:357-368.