WALNUT CREEK, Calif. — Brown and Caldwell, a leading environmental engineering and construction firm, today announced the recipients of its 2017 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, and is proud to announce the award of $35,000 in scholarships to six exceptional students.
In partnership with the American Water Works Association and in recognition of the contributions Brown and Caldwell co-founder Dave Caldwell made to engineering and technology in the drinking water field, the annual AWWA Dave Caldwell Scholarship awards $10,000 to a female and/or minority graduate student with demonstrated leadership ability in applied research and consulting in the drinking water field.
The 2017 recipient is Shona Robinson, a Ph.D Candidate in Environmental Engineering at the University of British Columbia. Her research probes long-term aging of membranes in drinking water applications. She aims to address real-world membrane challenges by connecting lab-based research to outcomes in water treatment plants.
Brown and Caldwell also continued the tradition of offering the Dr. W. Wesley Eckenfelder, Jr. Scholarship. This 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 students pursuing education and a career within the environmental industry. There were two recipients for 2017:
Caitlin Swalec is an environmentally-conscious chemical engineering undergraduate from Worcester Polytechnic Institute. She plans to pursue her master’s degree in environmental science and management at the University of California, Santa Barbara this fall.
Kasia Grzebyk is pursuing her Ph.D in Environmental Sciences and Engineering at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where she works on improving drinking water quality through science, engineering, and policy. In her Ph.D research, she modifies high pressure membranes for water reuse purposes and analyzes their ability to remove environmental contaminants. She received her master’s in biology and geography with an ecotoxicology specialization from Uniwersytet Jagiellonski, and her bachelor’s in pharmacology from UC Santa Barbara.
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 or one of the environmental sciences. Each scholarship winner receives $5,000, and this year’s recipient is:
Tranice Warner, a graduate student at California State University, Fresno, was selected as a Husband-Boeing Honors Scholar — an honor only granted to the most elite applicants at the Lyles College of Engineering who demonstrate dedication to academic excellence, leadership, and professional service. Ms. Warner will begin her Ph.D program in environmental engineering at the University of Southern California in August 2017. Her research will focus on resource recovery and biological processes in water treatment.
Brown and Caldwell revamped its scholarship program last year to further support diversity in the industry through the creation of the GLBTQ and Women in Leadership Scholarships. Each scholarship winner receives $5,000, and this year’s recipients are:
Brandon Simons is a senior studying electrical engineering at the Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago. During his undergraduate years, he served as president and student advisor for the Engineers for a Sustainable World student chapter where he worked on solar energy, urban farming, aquaponics, vermicomposting, and tiny house projects. In addition, he joined the Chicago 350 student outreach committee and founded the Fossil Fuel Divestment Campaign at his university.
Evvan Morton, from Cincinnati, Ohio, is a sustainable engineering Ph.D student at Arizona State University. She serves as the President of the Black Graduate Student Association and a Shades Multicultural Mentor. Evvan’s current research projects include developing waste-to-energy strategies using anaerobic digestion in Belize and analyzing the food-water-energy nexus concerning concentrating solar power in Morocco. Upon graduation, Evvan plans to work for a government agency to develop and integrate decision tools for transitioning to future sustainable energy development.
Scholarship recipients are selected by a committee of Brown and Caldwell professionals on the basis of their 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.