U.S. News & World Report ranked Purdue’s Division of Environmental and Ecological Engineering’s graduate program No. 9 and its undergraduate program No. 12 among the best environmental engineering programs in the nation for 2024, an impressive accomplishment, Purdue officials say, considering how new the program is.

Purdue EEE grad students came home with prizes from the American Center for Life Cycle Assessment (ACLCA) conference last month! Catherinne Mejia Melara won first place in the student poster competition, with Elizabeth Kelley in second! Both Catherinne and Elizabeth are graduate students under professor Heather Liddell.

This summer, about 20 researchers from Purdue University Environmental and Ecological Engineering (EEE) and North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University (NC A&T) were awarded a cumulative $3 million in grants to establish a new doctoral program focused on integrating master’s and PhD graduates into environmental sustainability industry careers.

Thomas & Jane Schmidt Rising Star Associate Professor Hua Cai was recognized for her exceptional dedication to teaching on September 26, 2024, at Purdue University’s annual "Celebration of Teaching Excellence" awards ceremony. Cai received the esteemed Teaching for Tomorrow Fellowship Award (Junior Fellow).

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