This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5).
The Environmental Resources Engineering Professional Master?s of Science (PERE-MS) at Humboldt State University (HSU) will address the nation?s critical need for professional engineers technically trained in the areas of renewable energy and water resources. The PERE-MS program goals are to provide graduates who are qualified to enter professional practice in engineering in the green jobs sector. More specifically, graduates will meet workforce demands for engineers with expertise in energy efficiency, renewable energy technologies, water and wastewater treatment systems, and water resources management. In addition to technical training in engineering science, graduates will have training in economics, environmental policy analysis, and professional skills development. They will be prepared to work effectively with community members and policymakers to implement solutions to environmental resource problems.
To broaden its impact, the HSU program includes activities associated with recruiting and supporting underrepresented students, with a particular emphasis on Native American and Hispanic populations. PERE-MS projects will continue the ERE tradition of serving regional underserved tribal and rural communities. The PERE-MS program will strengthen ties among project partners (industry, governmental agencies and non-profit organizations) and the university to better identify and meet partners? needs. Graduate students and community partners will collaborate on projects that mutually benefit both groups. Graduates will be professionally qualified to design, analyze and manage critical energy and water resources.
Humboldt State University’s PERE-MS program goal is to help address the nation’s critical need for professional engineers technically trained for jobs in the areas of renewable energy, energy efficiency, water quality and water resources. Using funds from this NSF grant, and existing MS Environmental Resources Engineering degree program modified its curriculum and admitted its first cohort of Masters’ students in Fall 2010. The primary program changes were emphasizing student professional development and partnering with professional project partners to provide students professional mentors and project advisors. All students admitted to the program were matched with professional project partners to gain professional experience and complete a project of mutual interest. This grant program funded 21 students; 10 have completed all degree requirements, seven are making good progress and expected to complete degree requirements as expected, and four left the program for various reasons. Professional project partners for the first cohort of students included: City of Arcata, Hoopa Valley Tribal EPA, National Semiconductor, Schatz Energy Research Center, US EPA, World Bank and Universidad Don Bosco, Soyapango, El Salvador Many of these professional partners continued their participation for the program’s second year. New partners for the second year included the US Bureau of Land Management and the California Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery (CalRecycle). For the third and current year, students partnered with the City of Arcata, Hoopa Valley Tribal EPA, Schatz Energy Research Center, World Bank, US Bureau of Land Management and Hetch Hetchy Water District. Humboldt State University’s PERE-MS program is now established and admitting new graduate students each year to complete a project-based MS environmental resources engineering degree focused on preparation for jobs in renewable energy, energy efficiency, water quality and water resources.
