It is with our deep regret and profound sadness to inform the passing away of the much admired and valued member of the OneHealthWater project, Emeritus Professor Huw Taylor of Microbial Ecology at University of Brighton, who peacefully left us on Saturday 14th October 2017. We extend our sincere condolences to his family.
Born in Swansea, Huw studied microbiology as an undergraduate student at Cardiff University from 1982-85 before undertaking his PhD at the University of Liverpool, carrying out fieldwork in Portugal into the risks to human health of recycling wastewater in agriculture. His research career continued at the University of Leeds, where he worked to develop novel low-cost wastewater treatment technologies in Northeast Brazil.
Following a period as Assistant Director of the Northern School of Public Health at the University of Manchester, Huw came to Brighton in 1993 building up a highly successful research group that encompasses aspects of water and sanitation in low-income countries, as well as water and wastewater treatment and river catchment management in Europe.
His current research focus was on two ground-breaking initatives, one being the SaniPath project funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the other being our own OneHealthWater project. Both projects involved tracking microbial pathogen transmission routes, with the Sanipath work in urban India forming a valuable counterpart to the work on rural communities in Kenya through OneHealthWater.
In addition to his research and teaching, Huw also held a number of external roles, including as an expert adviser to the World Health Organisation and Wateraid as well as undertaking consultancy work for a range of NGOs and UNICEF on aspects of safe drinking water and sanitation in low-resource settings.
A Professor Huw Taylor Memorial Fund was set up by his colleague at the University of Brighton and Huw’s family at the JustGiving website to enable family, friends, colleagues, current and former students to give donations in memory of him.
Tributes paid to Prof. Huw Taylor in other publications
VIRED International
Kenya Medical Research Institute
