Matt Bentley

Matt Bentley is a PhD candidate in Environmental Engineering for Developing Communities at the University of Colorado Boulder, where he studies low-cost water treatment in resource-limited scenarios. Matt’s research focuses on removing toxic organic contaminants from drinking water, wastewater, stormwater, and landfill leachate. Currently, Matt’s work involves the use of biochar, a sustainably-produced, low-cost, carbonaceous material for the sorption of aqueous organic contaminants. His recent work has broad application for water quality globally, and he has worked and collaborated with partners in the United States, China, Thailand, Myanmar, and India to improve drinking water quality and environmental health through biochar water filtration systems. Matt has developed low-cost techniques to dramatically improve biochar performance that can be adopted in remote communities to improve drinking water quality in areas impacted by toxic chemicals. In addition to his work in water quality, Matt has experience working on interventions in air quality, environmental health, livelihoods security, and urban refugee resettlement. Matt is also a Research Partner at Yunnan Coffee Traders  where he is engaged in research initiatives and interventions promoting water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) in remote communities and environmental sustainability throughout the coffee supply chain.