At the University of Vermont, we are winding down another exceptional academic year that brought numerous successes of our students, faculty, staff, and alumni. We are looking forward to celebrating with our graduating seniors and graduate students, who have lined up impressive job and graduate school opportunities. We are also excited about launching a new track in our MS degree on Data Analytics for Water Resources following up on the successes of our Water Innovation for the Future initiative. Our Transportation Research Center, focused on sustainable and equitable solutions for smaller cities and rural communities, is also making significant contributions to Vermont and beyond. I invite you to read this newsletter for a glimpse into the many noteworthy achievements in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at UVM. I wish you a very enjoyable summer.
Mandar M. Dewoolkar, PhD, PE, F ASCE
Professor & Chair, Civil & Environmental Engineering
New Grant Funds Covered Bridge Integrity Research
Prof. Eric Hernandez has been working on an exciting research project funded by the US Endowment for Forestry and Communities. The project aims to create a digital twin of a covered bridge structure by combining sensor measurements such as dynamic strain, acceleration, temperature, and humidity with finite element models. A digital twin is a real-time digital model of an operating physical system or process that serves as its effective digital counterpart for simulation, testing, monitoring, and maintenance purposes. The final aim is to use these digital twins to monitor the structural integrity of similar structures under varying environmental and loading conditions.
New Minor in Sustainable Energy Engineering
In collaboration with the Mechanical Engineering and Electrical & Biomedical Engineering departments, we are excited to announce the launch of a new minor in Sustainable Energy Engineering. The procurement of sustainable energy is one of the major challenges facing humanity in the twenty-first century. This minor is designed for undergraduate, engineering students interested in applying their knowledge of engineering fundamentals, analysis, and sustainable design principles to clean energy generation and efficient utilization. This minor incorporates multiple engineering disciplines and will provide students who are pursuing accredited disciplinary engineering degrees an added interdisciplinary credential when pursuing careers in sustainable energy fields.
Water Innovation for the Future News
New MS Track in Data Analytics for Water Resources
Our Water Innovation of the Future initiative addresses the growing challenges in water science including new technologies for treating drinking water, recovery and treatment of wastewater, surface water management, characterizing groundwater and subsurface conditions, and harnessing the data revolution. To celebrate our successes and introduce a formal educational path for our graduate students, we are launching (in Fall 2025) a new track in our MS degree on Data Analytics for Water Resources that is designed to equip graduate students with the skills to address current and future water resource challenges.
Vermont Seeks Balance between Flood Resiliency and Floodplain Protection
Prof. Elizabeth Doran is featured in this WCAX news story highlighting the challenges facing Vermont as the state weighs the need for protection of the natural floodplains while debating flood resiliency measures for homes and businesses that are at risk for flooding due to their proximity to the waterways. Prof. Doran is currently leading an interdisciplinary team of researchers across three UVM colleges in a three year project supported by the Lake Champlain Basin Program to map floodplain natural communities and better understand their habitat function across scales.
Transportation Research Center (TRC) News
Replacing the Gas Tax
This spring Clare Nelson (CEE MS student) and Prof. Greg Rowangould completed the last in a series of three studies evaluating alternatives to the gas tax, motivated largely by rising fuel efficiency standards and the increasing number of electric vehicles on the road. These factors have diminished the revenue-generating capacity of gas taxes and face criticism and low levels of public support due to concerns about costs, protection of drivers’ location and privacy, and perceptions that they would raise taxes on low-income and rural households.
In 2018, over half of all fatal crashes on local and collector roadways in Vermont were speeding-related. The TRC’s Jim Sullivan and Prof. Dana Rowangould evaluated proven speeding countermeasures for Vermont roadways and created a toolbox for the Vermont Agency of Transportation to help local agencies make informed decisions when determining their applicability in jurisdictions.
TRC Presentations and Activities at the 2024 Annual Meeting of the Transportation Research Board
UVM Transportation Research Center faculty, staff, and students participated in 23 presentations and activities at the 103rd Annual Meeting of the Transportation Research Board in Washington, DC this past January. TRC also led a workshop focused on overcoming challenges to decarbonizing transportation in small and rural communities which is one of the TRC’s primary research focus areas.
A summary of research presented at TRB is available here(PDF).
Four Students Awarded Vermont WTS Scholarships
Four UVM CEE students win WTS Vermont scholarships. MS students Clare Nelson and Meg Fay won graduate scholarships. Emma McDonald and Lilac Damon, both sophomores, won undergraduate scholarships.
Learn more about the Vermont WTS chapter on the WTS website.
Graduate Students Shine with Transportation Poster Presentations
Graduate students Bismark Yeboah and Neha Subedi shined at the Student Poster Contest of USDOT-funded Transportation Infrastructure Durability Center (TIDC) hosted by the University of Maine. Bismark won second place overall and third place in Fan Favorite for his research poster, while Neha’s research poster placed third in the technical category. Bismark is mentored by Profs. Dryver Huston and Mandar Dewoolkar, and Neha is mentored by Profs. Matt Scarborough and Mandar Dewoolkar.
Our Students and their Successes
Experiential Learning
Our students benefit from nearly 20 active-learning or project-based courses in their curriculum including over a dozen labs. They begin their first semester with a seminar course where they do a civic-learning team project benefiting our campus and they end their senior year with a service-learning capstone project proposed by a Vermont town, municipality, or non-profit. Learn more about this year’s capstone projects.
We are also making an effort to take students on experiential field trips. If a picture is worth a thousand words, seeing in person is probably worth a million words! This year students in courses on Sustainable Resource Recovery Design, Design of Earth Structures, and Wood Design visited Waterbury Dam, a landslide, a large-scale composting facility, and a historic 1890's barn at Shelburne Farms.
Order of the Engineer
Early this spring, over 70 senior engineering students participated in the 40th annual Order of the Engineer ceremony held at UVM where the students recited the Obligation of the Engineer creed in their acceptance of a canon of professional ethics, a pledge to uphold the standard of the engineering profession, and to commit to using their professional skills to better serve humanity.
Senior Wins Top Poster at the New England Water Environment Association Conference
Senior environmental engineering student Hudson Smith won the undergraduate research poster competition at the New England Water Environment Association Annual Conference in Boston for his work on biochar derived from byproducts of mushroom production. This year, over 2,500 water professionals from across New England attended the conference and six CEE researchers presented their work. Hudson’s research is part of his UVM honor’s thesis and he is advised by Drs. Matthew Scarborough and RajuBadireddy.
Our Student Engineers of the Year
Sarah Lindberg was chosen as the UVM Student Engineer of the Year. With an excellent academic record in civil engineering, Sarah has been an active member of the ASCE student chapter at UVM including serving as secretary, vice-president, and president. She has also been an executive board member of the UVM Inter Residential Association, and is a member of Tau Beta Pi. Sarah has worked with Profs. Dana Rowangould and Kristen Underwood as a research assistant. Josephine Alling was chosen to be the Student Environmental Engineer of the Year. She is a member of the ASCE student chapter, the UVM Society of Women Engineers, and a member of Tau Beta Pi. She also worked with CEE Prof. Kristen Underwood and Geography & Geosciences Prof. Rebecca Diehl as a research assistant.
Jacob Ladue receiving Student Teaching Assistant Award
CEE senior Jacob Ladue was recognized as a Student Leader in Service-Learning by UVM’s Office of Community-Engaged Learning (CELO) for his teaching assistant role in Geomorphology course offered by Geography & Geosciences Prof. Beverley Wemple. He took his civil engineering skills in surveying methods to this course, training the students in field surveying methods, and created a tutorial for students to integrate previously collected data.
Faculty Recognition
Prof. Courtney Giles has been selected for the Outstanding New Civic Learning Faculty Award by UVM’s Office of Community-Engaged Learning (CELO). Courtney has been recognized for her outstanding contributions to community-engaged learning on our campus for her first-year seminar course to over 350 students, where students work on civic projects for campus programs, departments, and clients.
Prof. Matthew Scarborough has been selected as a recipient of the 2024 40 Under 40 Recognition Program from the American Academy of Environmental Engineers and Scientists. The 40 Under 40 Program was introduced to recognize talented individuals who have, either personally or as part of a team, been responsible for helping to advance the fields of Environmental Science or Environmental Engineering. Matt’s research investigates the use of microbial communities (microbiomes) to recover beneficial products from organic wastes and further employ microbiomes to reduce costs associated with waste management and achieve a circular carbon and nutrient economy.
Prof. Dana Rowangould received UVM’s 2024 Outstanding Faculty Advisor Award, which recognizes a faculty member who has achieved excellence in displaying and enacting responsiveness, availability, concern, respect, and depth of knowledge in undergraduate academic advising. This award is a collaboration of the Office of the Provost, the Faculty Senate Student Affairs Committee, and the Student Government Association.
Featured Alumni
Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE) Alum Benjamin Heath is featured as one of the Top 25 Newsmakers by Engineering News-Record for his work with Engineers Construction Inc. for the emergency response to a breach of a major sewer line in Burlington this past July during the record flash flooding.
Zelda Dively ’19 BS and MS CEE is serving Vermont ASCE as the President Elect, after serving as Younger Member Chair the year before. She works at VHB, Inc. primarily with ski resorts and has special interests in environmental permitting, stormwater, and water resources.
Laura Williams ’16 BS Environmental Engineering is serving Vermont ASCE as the Young Member Chair. As a senior project engineer at Sanborn Head, she specializes in landfill design, stormwater planning and design, geotechnical engineering, and compliance within the state of Vermont.
Jordan Duffy ’16 BS and MS CEE is currently serving as the New England Delegate. Jordan has been involved in ASCE since his time at UVM, where he served as the Student Chapter's Vice President. Since graduation, Jordan has been an active board member for the Vermont Chapter, serving as the membership chair, the younger member chair, and the president. He is a water resources engineer at Fitzgerald Environmental Associates and was also recognized as the Young Engineer of the Year for the State of Vermont this year.
Jeffrey Tucker ’86, CEO of Vermont-based DuBois & King, was named the 2024Engineer of the Year for the State of Vermont. He has served as president of both the Vermont Society of Engineers and the American Council of Engineering Companies of Vermont. He specializes in water resources, with a focus on hydroelectric power, flood control, river restoration and resiliency systems.
Our CEE graduate education is interdisciplinary in its true sense. Most of our graduate students have co-advisors, often from different departments. Caitlin Crossett and Lindsay Worley followed their passion to become educators after completing their doctoral degrees in CEE.
Caitlin worked with CEE advisor Prof. Arne Bomblies and Geography & Geosciences advisor Prof. Lesley-Ann Dupigny-Giroux. Caitlin’s research interests lie broadly in hydroclimatic variability, spanning the spectrum from heavy precipitation to drought. Currently Assistant Professor of Atmospheric Sciences at the University of North Carolina Asheville, Caitlin also studies lake-effect snow, mesoscale convective systems, and cold-air damming events.
Lindsay ’13 returned to UVM for a PhD after working in the industry for several years. She worked with CEE Profs. Kristen Underwood and Donna Rizzo on utilizing hydraulic modeling and multi-objective optimization tools to aid in the development of a more holistic approach to river restoration design and conservation planning at the basin and watershed scales. Lindsay is Assistant Professor of Mathematics at Milligan University.
Support Civil and Environmental Engineering
Updating the Pidgeon Structures Laboratory
The Pidgeon Structures Lab is a key facility where students gain hands-on real world experience that is essential to their experience at UVM. We are in the process of updating the structures lab, in particular the large reaction frame with updated actuators and controls and data acquisition programming with expected expense of about $200K.
Donations to the CEE Department have and continue to support student learning, state-of-the-art facilities like the Structures Lab, outstanding research, conferences and seminars, and much more! If you want to contribute to the success of the department and students please consider a donation.