Steve Wilson is a Principal Scientist at the University of Illinois, working as a groundwater hydrologist at the Illinois State Water Survey, where he also leads the ISWS Environmental Public Health, Information and Data Services Section. He authored the 10-lesson Private Well Class, an online self-paced curriculum for private well owners. He manages WaterOperator.org, an online resource for water and wastewater operators geared toward supporting small systems under 10,000 in population. He is past Director of the Midwest Technology Assistance Center (MTAC) for small systems at Illinois, and is involved in a number of national small system initiatives. He is also part of the WINSSS small system treatment technology center led by the University of Massachusetts at Amherst.
Steve has spent more than 30 years conducting applied research and providing technical assistance to small communities and private well owners. Major areas of research include evaluating arsenic occurrence, understanding arsenic variability in groundwater, aquifer assessment and management, factors affecting groundwater quality, and understanding public water supply treatment issues. As a technical assistance provider, Steve has assisted small communities in evaluating their water supply options and in understanding their drinking water compliance and sustainability issues. He has created tools to assist small communities and well owners for managing their systems, educated water and wastewater operators, provided drinking water supply resources for regulators and TA providers, and conducted significant outreach to the public in support of small systems.
Steve received B.S. degrees in Agricultural Engineering and Agricultural Science in 1987 and a M.S. degree in Civil Engineering in 1988, all from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.