Taymee Brandon was awarded the Ford Dissertation Fellowship. Ford Foundation Dissertation Fellowships provide one year of support for individuals working to complete a research-based, dissertation-required Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) or Doctor of Science (Sc.D.) degree that will prepare them for the pursuit of a career in academic teaching or research. Practice-oriented degree programs are not eligible for support. The fellowship is intended to support the final year of writing and defense of the dissertation. Read more about Taymee and her research here.

Samuel “Sam” Spears, a EEE Senior, recently received the Raftelis Leadership Scholarship through the American Water Works Association (AWWA). Raftelis offers two Leadership Scholarships to undergraduate or graduate students interested in a consulting career. The Raftelis Leadership Scholarships were established with the goal of supporting and growing relationships with promising students who have an interest in becoming problem solvers for local governments and municipal water utilities.

In honor of Russell Meddin’s legacy as a long-time bikeshare champion and advocate, NABSA created the Meddin Emerging Researcher Scholarship to give up-and-coming shared micromobility researchers access to our valuable resources and annual conference. Russell was a constant fixture at NABSA conferences and gatherings, and he was known around the world as a generous, knowledgeable, and passionate self-made expert of bikeshare.

Lacy Gehmlich, Communications and Marketing Specialist for Purdue Environmental and Ecological Engineering, has received a Bravo Award for her extraordinary work over the past year.

In recognition of his contributions to the Association of Environmental Engineering and Science Professors (AEESP), Dr. John W. Sutherland, Professor and Fehsenfeld Family Head of Environmental and Ecological Engineering, has been awarded the 2024 AEESP Distinguished Service Award.

"Having known Charlie O'Melia, it is really special to receive the Distinguished Educator Award named in his honor. As I am sure with previous winners of the award, we became good teachers, mentors, and researchers through examples set by him and our other heroes in the profession." - Dr. Chad Jafvert

Purdue EEE students, faculty, staff, corporate partners, and members of the External Advisory Council (EAC) came together April 25, 2024, to recognize and celebrate the accomplishments of EEE this year. Seniors in EEE 480 displayed their semester long projects, undergraduates and graduates received scholarships and honors, faculty were recognized, and supporters of EEE were graciously thanked.

This year's awardees: Hailey Benfield - The Rachel Carson award, Delaney Partridge - The Wangari Maathai award, Nikki Zavodny - The Gaylord Nelson award. Though the three individuals for whom these awards were named were not Boilermakers, they had deep character and took giant leaps to protect the environment. The hope is that the recipients of these awards will embody some of the characteristics and passion of those for whom they are named.

"I feel incredibly fortunate to teach, inspire, and collaborate with our talented EEE students every day. EEE 472, Community-Engaged Engineering Design, holds my proudest moments as an educator. I'm not only proud of the curriculum and community-engaged experience I created for my students, but the growth I get to see in them. This is often their first opportunity to "own" a real-world engineering problem and thoughtfully collaborate with communities to address it. They continue to impress me more and more every year with their growth in this space." - Lindsey Payne

Congrats to Lindsey Payne (EEE), Marisol Sepulveda (FNR), and George Zhou (EEE/CE) for receiving funding from Indiana Water Resources Research Center and U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). These three Purdue professors are researching "Bioaccumulation and Biosorption of PFAS and their precursors in the environment." They hope to involve women, minorities, and undergraduate students to deliver new PFAS detection methods to USGS.