News
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CEGE magazine, Fall 2023
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Read a roundup of news from the summer and fall of 2023 in the Department of Civil, Environmental, and Geo- Engineering
Inspired and Innovative Teaching in CEGE
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Training inspired and innovative engineers requires inspired and innovative teaching. Here we share with you some of our teachers and some new classes and programs that are inspiring CEGE students.
Study explores impacts of a warming climate on global snowfall patterns
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NASA awarded Ardeshir Ebtehaj $2.9 million to provide the longest and the most accurate satellite record of global snowfall. Ebtehaj is an associate professor and researcher in the Department of Civil, Environmental, and Geo- Engineering (CEGE) at the University of Minnesota.
Summertime is fieldwork time: Stream sampling
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Summertime is fieldwork time! Here researchers and students step into a stream for a lesson on the United States Geological Survey protocols for stream sampling. Students learned how to collect samples from the thalwag, the line that connects the deepest points of the stream. They also learned how to measure a stream's velocity, depth, cross-section, and how to log that information into a mobile GIS data collection program.
How is our environment affected by wide use of antibiotics?
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When the COVID-19 pandemic arose, the use of antibiotics soared. Levels of use evened out as we learned more about how the virus is transmitted. People concerned about water, however, are still concerned about the large amounts of antibiotics introduced into the environment and how they might move into and through our water systems. Zihang Wang, a graduate student advised by Bill Arnold, is taking aim at this question with support from a Hsiao Shaw-Lundquist Fellowship.
The next generation of transportation engineers: Ben Rosenblad
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Starting at the University of Minnesota College of Science and Engineering, Benjamin Rosenblad (BCE 2023) was not even aware that transportation was a specialty within Civil Engineering. Four years later, he found himself heading off to graduate school to study Next Generation Transportation Systems with the benefit of a competitive and highly prestigious fellowship from the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Program (NSF GRFP).
Protecting Clean Water: Faculty awarded $2.1 million to study opportunistic pathogens and disinfection byproducts in US drinking water systems
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Pathogens (i.e., microorganisms that can make people sick) and disinfection byproducts (DBPs; potentially toxic chemicals formed when disinfectants like chlorine are added to water) are two classes of contaminants that are of concern in public water systems. Hozalski, et al., will examine opportunistic pathogens or OPs and contaminants that occur as byproducts of disinfection.
Tapping into Random Motion: Art in Engineering
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Vaughan Voller taps dance troupe to communicate about his research into patterns of movement in nature.
To disinfect or not to disinfect, is that the question?
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A recent (May 2023) article by several researchers, including CEGE’s own Bill Arnold, raised a warning about overuse of disinfectants. The use of disinfectants went way up during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. The issue has garnered interest from the media. Is this widespread use doing more harm than good?
Nahum Yelizarov, BCE + Research Led to a Master's Degree
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"Getting involved in research with various professors let me explore my interests and opened a door to a Master’s degree. Taking higher level design and theory classes in structural engineering, as well as doing a thesis, allowed me to get a better technical understanding and taught me to how educate myself on topics I don’t know.”