Our Team

Dr. Asli Aslan is the Founding Director of the Institute for Water and Health and Professor of Environmental Health Sciences at Georgia Southern University. She has over 20 years of water research experience and leads multidisciplinary, multisectoral teams, contributing to decision-making based on scientific data. During the early years of her career, Asli oversaw the first beach restoration project of the Metropolitan City of Istanbul, Turkiye. Before joining Georgia Southern, she was a Research Assistant Professor at Michigan State University. She served as the co-director of IC-Sewage, a global scientific workgroup affiliated with the International Water Association that developed protocols for tracking microbial pollution in global water resources. During her research in Michigan, she also leads initiatives for training local health departments to adopt rapid water quality monitoring methods. 

Asli serves as an advisor, reviewer, scientific committee member, and affiliated faculty in various state and federal agencies and organizations. She is the co-founder of the Water and Health Committee of the American Public Health Association and recently served at the USEPA Science Advisory Board’s Augmented Committee for Drinking Water. Asli lives in Savannah with her husband Mete and son.

Mary is a native of coastal Georgia and grew up on the barrier island of Tybee, water is in her DNA. She joins the IWH team to support the mission and vision of safe water, a sustainable environment, and resilient communities by managing and supporting programs and assisting in expanding collaborations with business partners, and research institutions. In addition, she assists with planning and logistics for service projects and programs. She brings her years of experience in higher education and creativity to the team. Mary has an undergraduate degree in graphic design from Georgia Southern University. She has been given the University Award for Staff Community Engagement Award of Excellence and the COE Betty Ware Wray Award. 

Dr. Whitley Stewart is an Environmental Scientist with specialized training in molecular biology and microbiology. Her dissertation focused on environmental monitoring and detection of mercury, a highly toxic heavy metal. Her work led to the development of a highly sensitive microbial biosensor that fluoresces in the presence of very low concentrations of mercury in both water and soil. This interdisciplinary project bridged environmental science, microbiology, and molecular techniques to address pressing issues in water quality and public health.

A native of Statesboro, GA, Whitley is a three-time graduate from 1890 land-grant institutions. She has earned both a Bachelor’s of Science in Biology and a Master’s of Science in Biotechnology from Fort Valley State University and a Ph.D. from Florida A&M University in Environmental Science with a concentration in Biomolecular Science. She joins the Institute for Water and Health committed to advancing research that supports safe water, environmental sustainability, and resilient communities.

Victor is an experienced hydrogeologist with over eight years in geosciences, environmental sciences, and water research. His expertise includes hydrogeology, hydrology, water quality, contaminant transport, and applying machine learning in water studies. A master’s graduate in Geology from Kent State University, his research focused on contaminant fate and transport in porous media. As a NOAA National Water Center Summer Institute Fellow, he contributed to advanced flood forecasting through a surrogate model improving the accuracy of flood inundation maps. Victor also collaborated with top scientists on the Langseth OBS research cruise, studying tectonic structures beneath the ocean floor.

Victor has worked with diverse city and state agencies on water projects and previously spent three years as a geophysicist in Nigeria’s petroleum industry, specializing in seismic data processing. He is passionate about water resource management and environmental protection and is committed to developing innovative solutions to address global water challenges.