Clarkson's Center for the Environment Hosts 2005 Research and Education Conference of the Association of Environmental Engineering and Science Professors

Scott C. Martin '77, '79 M.S., '84
Ph.D. (CEE), professor and chair,
Department of Civil/Env. & Chemical
Engineering, Youngstown State
University, at the conference.

In July the Clarkson Center for the Environment co-sponsored the 2005 Research and Education Conference of the Association of Environmental Engineering and Science Professors (AEESP). The four-day conference brought some 250 of the world's preeminent science and environmental engineering scholar-educators and graduate students to Clarkson for interactive workshops, oral and poster presentations, and networking opportunities.


This year's conference theme, Pushing the Boundaries: Making Research and Education in Environmental Engineering and Science Count, focused on interdisciplinary research and education activities, multi-media approaches for understanding environmental impacts and solutions, and outreach to increase awareness of environmental engineering and science.


"At the conference, a number of areas of mutual interest emerged including research and education initiatives related to sustainability," explained Amy Zander, professor of civil and environmental engineering and associate dean of engineering at Clarkson. "It is clear that environmental engineers and scientists at Clarkson and at other institutions are addressing critical sustainability issues through our courses, our research, and in our interactions on our home campuses and beyond. Great ideas are circulating and AEESP, as an organization and through its conferences, facilitates information exchange."

James S. Bonner '80 M.S.,
'85 Ph.D. (CEE), professor
at Texas A&M University,
delivering a conference
presentation.

Research and Educational Initiatives

One session featured an ongoing collaboration among scientists and engineers from Clarkson, Syracuse, the University of Massachusetts, and Rutgers University. The goal of the collaboration is to improve our understanding of the transport, fate and bioavailability of mercury in atmospheric, terrestrial and aquatic environments. Clarkson's team includes Thomas Holsen, professor of Civil & Environmental Engineering; Stefan Grimberg, associate professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering; and Michael Twiss, assistant professor of Biology.


The multi-university research team is conducting the $2 million, National Science Foundation (NSF)-funded study over four years in Clarkson's own backyard: the Adirondack region of New York, an acid-sensitive forested area with high concentrations of mercury in fish relative to most other lake districts in eastern North America.


"It is hard to imagine a more noble pursuit than to steward and preserve the integrity of the global resources that sustain life on this planet - our air, water and soil. As an environmental engineer and now a university president, I firmly believe that all of us in education have a particular obligation. We must advocate an educational approach that encourages all students from all majors on our campuses to learn to exert themselves in ways that are ethical and responsible to our environment. We must help students learn to push and span boundaries so we are not confined to the status quo." — President Tony Collins, AEESP conference address


Another interactive session introduced the NSF' CLEANER (Collaborative Large-scale Engineering Analysis Network for Environmental Research) initiative with presentations by an NSF representative and six university scholar/teachers who are engaged in CLEANER projects. CLEANER is an effort to support adaptive and sustainable environment management through collaborative research, with the ultimate goal of creating a research network for national and international coastal margins research and policy making.


One of the CLEANER presenters was alumnus James S. Bonner '80 (MS, CEE), '85 (PhD, CEE). Bonner is a professor at Texas A&M University in the Department of Civil Engineering and is executive director of the Shoreline Environmental Research Facility (SERF). His research interests are in the field of coastal processes and oceanographic observations and he is actively involved in environmental hazard assessment and remediation.


Conference sessions also included educational initiatives on the graduate and undergraduate levels as well as K-12 outreach programs in which participants involve elementary, middle school, and secondary students in topics related to energy and the environment. "Reaching K-12 science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) teachers and students through an active inquiry-based or project-based curriculum helps to maintain vitality in the classroom and may well cultivate an increased interest in these subjects among school-aged children," explained Susan Powers, professor of civil & environmental engineering and associate dean of engineering at Clarkson. Powers is co-author of "A Project-based Learning Approach for Teaching Current Energy Topics in a Middle School Classroom," which was presented at the conference by graduate student Jan DeWaters.

Clarkson Professor Andrea Ferro won
a first-place award for her poster
presentation on diesel exhaust and
personal exposure research.

Clarkson Faculty Receive AEESP Awards

Zander was among several AEESP volunteers who received the Distinguished Service Award for Outstanding Service. She served on the Board of Directors of the organization from 2001-04 and was secretary from 2002-04. Her Civil & Environmental Engineering Department colleague Andrea Ferro earned the first-place award for "Best Poster Presentation by an Assistant Professor." The poster described her work with Peter Jaques, an assistant professor in the Department of Biology, on the assessment and communication of personal exposures to diesel exhaust near the Peace Bridge, a major U.S.-Canada border crossing in Buffalo, N.Y.


The conference also highlighted the growing involvement of AEESP members in international environmental engineering work. "AEESP members are integrating a global perspective into environmental engineering education and research," says Zander. We are investigating and finding integrated solutions that affect international development, including sustainable and socially responsible provisions of water treatment, wastewater treatment, and energy development."