Graduation Spotlight: SEE Banner Bearer Hailey Benfield

Meet Hailey, a senior from Colorado with a love for SEE. Learn more about her below!

  • Name & Hometown:
    • Hailey Benfield
    • Arvada, CO
  • Why did you choose SEE?
    • I chose SEE because I wanted to combine my love for the outdoors with my passion for STEM. SEE allows me to apply systems thinking with the environment and analyze the effects we have on the environment around us. Along with this, SEE allowed me to personalize my plan of study, and let me focus on areas that I am really interested in!
Hailey Benfield
Hailey Benfield
  • What were you involved in at Purdue?
    • Society of Women Engineers - Outreach Director
    • Society of Environmental and Ecological Engineers - Vice President
    • College of Engineering Ambassador
    • SEE Ambassador
    • Dean's Leadership Scholar 
    • TA for EEE 355 and 390
  • What do you plan to do after graduation?
    • I will be an Associate Engineer at LyondellBasell in Channelview, TX, working on air permitting, quality audits, and other EHS related activities for their site.
  • What were some of your favorite courses/experiences?
    • My favorite course was EEE 355, it taught me a lot about how the various interactions within sustainability and how to apply it to a city scale. I also loved it so much that I became a TA for the course, and TA'd for 4 semesters and even had the opportunity to create my own lectures.
    • EEE 595CA - Carbon accounting was a super interesting class and taught me a lot about corporate sustainability, and is something I used a lot in my internship!
    • A favorite experience was attending WE25 National Conference in New Orleans, LA this past October. I got to travel with a lot of friends, meet students from other SWE sections, and learn a lot in various information sessions.
  • What is your advice to future SEE students?
    • Try everything! I took classes in SEE that didn't exactly align with my interests, but I learned so much and they have been super helpful in making me into a well-rounded engineer. Enjoy the time with your fellow classmates and friends, SEE is a small but mighty community and it is an amazing family and resource to rely on!