Institution: University of Colorado at Boulder Proposal Number: EEC-0552895 Principal Investigator: Angela Bielefeldt
This REU award for a Site on Environmental Fluids: Science, Assessment and Treatment supports 9 undergraduates each year for three years in a 10-week summer research experience at the University of Colorado at Boulder.
The objectives of this program are: Engage undergraduate students in research on a broad range of topics in environmental engineering emphasizing multimedia approaches (water, air, soil) and long-term drivers of environmental systems such as climate variability and hydrology water. Provide participants with a focused group experience on either filed site characterization on water treatment pilot plant operation, in addition to the project specific experiences of experimental design, data collection, interpretation, project cost and scheduling. Group discussion of societal issues in environmental engineering, ethics, sustainability and policy will be fostered by an organized seminar series featuring distinguished lecturers. Increase participant diversity by more aggressive recruitment of underrepresented minorities.
The goal of this Environmental Engineering REU program is to increase participant diversity, building on previous successful targeted recruiting efforts that resulted in 79% women and 21% students from underrepresented minorities.
The program will collaborate with the strong Multicultural Engineering Program at the College of Engineering, which is affiliated with the Louis Stokes Colorado-AMP. In addition, the presence of an NSF Alliances for Graduate Education and the Professoriate Program (AGEP) will create a pipeline for minority REU students to pursue Ph.D. degrees in a diverse and supportive academic community. It is anticipated that explicit linking of technical and human aspects during this REU experience will provide a new model for future researchers in Environmental Engineering.
