May 28, 2015, WALNUT CREEK, Calif. — Brown and Caldwell, a leading environmental engineering, consulting, and construction firm, today announced the recipients of its 2015 scholarships awards. Brown and Caldwell annually provides college scholarships to promising full-time students pursuing careers in the environmental engineering industry under several award programs, including the Dr. W. Wesley Eckenfelder, Jr. Scholarship and the Minority Scholarship Program.

The Dr. W. Wesley Eckenfelder, Jr. Scholarship was established to honor Dr. Eckenfelder and his more than 50 years of pioneering work in the environmental profession. Each year, Brown and Caldwell awards this $5,000 scholarship to a student pursuing education and a career within the environmental industry.

This year’s recipient is Alysse Ness, an environmental engineering graduate student at the University of Florida. Ness graduated summa cum laude with a degree in biosystems engineering from the University of Tennessee. In addition to serving on the Southeast Region Collegiate Executive Council of the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers, Ness was an active member of the Society of Women Engineers and the Tau Beta Pi Engineering Honor Society. In 2014, Ness received the Undergraduate with Professional Promise Award in Biosystems Engineering.

Through its Minority Scholarship Program, Brown and Caldwell provides time and monetary commitment to invest in scholarships, internships and mentoring for full-time minority college students at the junior, senior or graduate level majoring in environmental engineering. Minority scholarship winners are chosen from a pool of applicants who have a declared major in engineering or one of the environmental sciences and have a cumulative GPA of 3.0 or higher on a 4.0 scale (or equivalent on a 5.0 scale). Each winner receives a $5,000 scholarship. This year's recipients are:

• Kaitlyn Sakiko Chow is an undergraduate student at California State University, Monterey Bay, where she is pursuing a degree in applied marine and watershed science. Her latest endeavors include studying Monterey County’s regional municipal water history and assessing photogrammetric technology to help monitor water quality through changing landscapes.
• Breyandi Malulani Yoshiko Bond is a graduate student at Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah, working on a degree in structural engineering. She was born and raised in Waimanalo, Hawaii, where she hopes to return and pursue her career.
• Cristian Virrueta is finishing his undergraduate earth science degree at the University of California, San Diego. He is a member of the Geological Society of America, the Society for the Advancement of Chicanos and Native Americans in Science, and a Robert McNair Program Alumnus. He volunteered his time as a mentor for the California Alliance for Minority Participation outreach programs and as a student editor of the Warren College Equilibrium research journal.
• Nicollette Laroco is an undergraduate student at the University of Colorado in Boulder. She is studying environmental engineering with an emphasis in water resources and treatment. Her engineering interests include microbial applications in wastewater treatment systems to transform the conventional thinking of a wastewater treatment plant into an energy-neutral and resource recovery facility.
• Daniel Smith is an undergraduate student in his last year at the University of Maryland, College Park, majoring in civil and environmental engineering. His primary focus is on environmental and water resources. Smith’s passion for educating and sharing his experiences with others led him to become a tutor for the America Reads America Counts and Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship programs.

Scholarship recipients are selected by a committee of Brown and Caldwell professionals on the basis of academic accomplishments. Scholarships are open to full-time college students enrolled in their junior or senior years or graduate programs. For details on eligibility, visit: https://brownandcaldwell.com/scholarships.asp.