Welcome to the Spring 2016 newsletter of Environmental and Ecological Engineering (EEE)!  

We often mark our way through life with milestones. Scoring our first soccer goal, our first piano recital, leaving for college, getting married, and the births of our children. For many of these milestones we can identify a specific date on which they occurred. In the near future, we will be celebrating the anniversary of a major milestone in the history of EEE – the founding of EEE.

This semester's research spotlight previews Dr. Inez Hua's Research Experience for Teachers (RET) Program that launches this summer that will give high school teachers a hands on researched based experience to help strengthen their teaching curriculum. We also introduce Dr. Zhi (George) Zhou's work on microbial solutions to environmental challenges.

During the annual EEE Recognition Night the senior design teams held a poster session to present their final work. This year, over 30 representative of industry were in attendance.

2016 has been a big year for both EEE students and faculty. Among the numerous awards received this semester, Professor Larry Nies received the Outstanding Undergraduate Teaching Award in Memory of Charles B. Murphy, the highest of undergraduate teaching honors.

The numbers for the first year of the EEE graduate program are in and a combined degree program was recently approved.

Hear from the Society of Environmental and Ecological Engineers and the Student Advisory Council. Also, read about Silpa Varanasi's study abroad experience in New Zealand.

The EEE External Advisory Council (EAC) provides leadership and advice to EEE. The EAC is composed of sixteen professionals from consulting, industry, government, and academia. In this newsletter, we introduce Stephen A. Leeper and Cherlyn Washington Tribble.