Tales of the Resistance

What happens after antibiotics leave the body? Do they simply disappear—or do they continue changing in the environment?

In this episode, analytical chemist Dr. Diana Aga explains how scientists detect antibiotics in water and soil at incredibly small concentrations, why antibiotics transform into new compounds after entering the environment, and why those changes matter for antimicrobial resistance.

From chromatography and mass spectrometry to unknown chemical "suspects" that researchers haven't identified yet, this conversation explores how chemistry helps connect environmental science, microbiology, and public health.

Dr. Diana Aga is SUNY Distinguished Professor and Henry M. Woodburn Chair in the Department of Chemistry at the University at Buffalo. Her research focuses on analytical chemistry, environmental contaminants, pharmaceuticals, PFAS, wastewater, and emerging pollutants. She has spent more than three decades developing methods to detect chemicals at extremely low concentrations and studying how they behave in environmental systems.  University of Buffalo Profile

Key Concepts Explained

• Liquid Chromatography (LC): A technique used to separate complex mixtures into individual chemicals before they are analyzed.
• Mass Spectrometry (MS): Measures molecules based on their mass and chemical fragmentation patterns, allowing scientists to identify compounds present at extremely low concentrations.
• Target Analysis: Searching specifically for chemicals you already know may be present.
• Non-target Analysis: Looking broadly for unknown compounds that may not have been anticipated before the analysis began.
• Transformation Products: New chemicals formed when antibiotics break down in sunlight, water, or through microbial activity.

Related Episodes with the CAMRADES team

• Michelle Soupir — Agricultural pathways of antimicrobial resistance
• Adina Howe — How bacteria share resistance genes
• Bing Wang and Jaber Ghorbani— Predicting human exposure through environmental models
• Moriah Brown — Modeling contaminants across watersheds

This show is produced by the iAMResponsible project, a nationwide university outreach team led by Amy Schmidt at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Find out more about the project here. Funding for the iAMResponsbile Project was provided by USDA-NIFA Award Nos. 2017-68003-26497, 2018-68003-27467 and 2018-68003-27545. Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the view of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. 

Bacteria are constantly adapting. They exchange genes, respond to their environment, and evolve in ways that can make antibiotics less effective over time. But understanding antimicrobial resistance requires much more than studying bacteria alone.

In this episode, microbiologist Dr. Adina Howe explains how environmental microbiology helps scientists understand where antibiotic resistance develops, how it spreads, and why agricultural environments are an important part of the story. Drawing from her work on the multidisciplinary CAMRADES project, she discusses why manure can become a hotspot for antimicrobial resistance, how bacteria share resistance genes, and why researchers combine microbiology, genetics, chemistry, hydrology, and predictive modeling to understand these complex environmental systems. 

 Whether you're curious about microbiology, environmental science, or the future of antibiotics, this conversation offers an accessible look inside the invisible microbial world that surrounds us every day. 

This show is produced by the iAMResponsible project, a nationwide university outreach team led by Amy Schmidt at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Find out more about the project here. Funding for the iAMResponsbile Project was provided by USDA-NIFA Award Nos. 2017-68003-26497, 2018-68003-27467 and 2018-68003-27545. Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the view of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. 

In this episode of Tales of the Resistance, the conversation moves from environmental detection to one of the biggest questions in antimicrobial resistance (AMR) research: what does it actually mean for human health?

Hosts Mara and Beth sit down with Bing Wang and her graduate student Jaber Ghorbani at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Together, they explain how risk assessment models connect environmental data—like resistant bacteria and genes in water—to real-world human exposure.

This episode dives into the “last mile” of AMR research: translating complex environmental data into meaningful insights about risk, decision-making, and public health.

This show is produced by the iAMResponsible project, a nationwide university outreach team led by Amy Schmidt at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Find out more about the project here. Funding for the iAMResponsbile Project was provided by USDA-NIFA Award Nos. 2017-68003-26497, 2018-68003-27467 and 2018-68003-27545. Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the view of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. 

In this episode of Tales of the Resistance, Mara and Beth continue their exploration of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in the environment—this time from the perspective of a graduate researcher doing the work on the ground.

They sit down with Moriah Brown, a PhD student studying watershed monitoring and modeling in agricultural systems. Moriah shares what it’s like to collect water samples in rural Nebraska streams, analyze antibiotic concentrations, and build models that help predict how antimicrobial resistance moves through the environment.

From early mornings in the field to the challenges of building entirely new modeling frameworks, this episode highlights both the hands-on and highly technical sides of AMR research—and why there’s still so much to learn.

This show is produced by the iAMResponsible project, a nationwide university outreach team led by Amy Schmidt at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Find out more about the project here. Funding for the iAMResponsbile Project was provided by USDA-NIFA Award Nos. 2017-68003-26497, 2018-68003-27467 and 2018-68003-27545. Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the view of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. 

After a short hiatus, Tales of the Resistance returns with a new series exploring antimicrobial resistance (AMR) from an environmental perspective. In this episode, hosts Mara and Beth sit down with Michelle Soupir, professor at Iowa State University and principal investigator of a multi-university research project.

Together, they dive into how antimicrobial resistance moves through agricultural systems—especially through manure management and water pathways—and what that could mean for human health. Michelle shares insights from nearly two decades of research, explaining how scientists track resistant bacteria in the environment, evaluate risks, and identify practical strategies to reduce spread.

From manure application timing to prairie strips and watershed-scale monitoring, this conversation highlights both the complexity of AMR and the innovative, collaborative work underway to better understand it.

This show is produced by the iAMResponsible project, a nationwide university outreach team led by Amy Schmidt at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Find out more about the project here. Funding for the iAMResponsbile Project was provided by USDA-NIFA Award Nos. 2017-68003-26497, 2018-68003-27467 and 2018-68003-27545. Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the view of the U.S. Department of Agriculture.