Dr. Boehm's primary research area is coastal water quality, and recently she has expanded her research to include activities on sanitation more broadly. The work on coastal water quality is focused on understanding the sources, transformation, transport, and ecology of biocolloids - specifically fecal indicator organisms, pathogens, and phytoplankton, as well as sources and fate of nitrogen and phosphorus. This knowledge is crucial to directing new policies, and management and engineering practices that protect human and ecosystem health along the coastal margin.