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Two environmental engineering students earn major National Science Foundation fellowship

Jeff Zehnder — Wed, 15 Apr 2026 15:01:13 +0000

Two environmental engineering students earn major National Science Foundation fellowship Jeff Zehnder Wed, 04/15/2026 - 09:01

Two environmental engineering graduate students have earned prestigious National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Program awards.

Grace Berg and Kate Rodelli are 2026 recipients of the NSF GRFP awards, which recognize and support outstanding grad students from across the country in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields who are pursuing research-based master’s or doctoral degrees.

Awardees receive a $37,000 annual stipend and cost of education allowance for the next three years as well as professional development opportunities.

Find out about their research below:

Grace Berg

1st Year PhD Student

Advisor: Mike Hannigan
Lab: Hannigan Air Quality and Technology Research (HAQ) Lab

My proposed research focuses on leveraging low-cost sensors, activity data, and crowdsourced reporting to characterize overlapping environmental hazards—such as air pollution, extreme heat, and noise—in urban environments. My goals are to identify coincident drivers of multiple hazards and help cities be more strategic about data collection and mitigation actions.

Kate Rodelli

1st year PhD student

Advisors: Daven Henze and Kelvin Bates
Labs: Henze Group, Bates Lab

Nitrogen oxides (NOₓ) and ammonia (NH₃) are primary contributors to reactive nitrogen (Nr) deposition and react in the atmosphere to form aerosol ammonium nitrate, a key component of fine particulate matter (PM₂.₅). PM₂.₅ causes over four million premature deaths annually, and nitrogen deposition degrades ecosystems. While U.S. NOₓ emissions have declined, NH₃ emissions remain highly uncertain and are often systematically underestimated, limiting the predictive skill of air quality models such as GEOS-Chem. My research uses satellite observations to improve reactive nitrogen emission estimates. I will conduct a high-temporal-resolution joint inversion of NO₂ and NH₃, assimilating TEMPO, CrIS, and IASI satellite observations into GEOS-Chem using an ensemble-based data assimilation framework. This work will produce more accurate emission estimates that strengthen predictions of air quality and nitrogen deposition, supporting exposure assessment, ecosystem analysis, and policy-relevant decision making.

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CU �鶹ӰԺ Environmental Engineering ranked #7 among public universities by U.S. News

Jeff Zehnder — Tue, 07 Apr 2026 15:04:39 +0000

CU �鶹ӰԺ Environmental Engineering ranked #7 among public universities by U.S. News Jeff Zehnder Tue, 04/07/2026 - 09:04

The �鶹ӰԺ is again ranked as one of the top 10 public engineering graduate programs in the country, according to U.S. News and World Report’s Best Graduate Schools list for 2026-27.

In the specialty rankings, nearly all of CU Engineering’s graduate degree programs were ranked in the top 20 amongst their public peers – with two in the top 10.

Aerospace engineering sciences: No. 5
Environmental engineering: No. 7
Chemical engineering: No. 11
Mechanical engineering: No. 14
Computer engineering: No. 14
Civil engineering: No. 15
Computer science: No. 15 (Best Computer Science Schools)
Electrical engineering: No. 17
Biomedical engineering: No. 19
Materials science and engineering: No. 20
Biological engineering: No. 26

“These U.S. News & World Report rankings represent the strongest performance in the history of our graduate programs and reflect the extraordinary dedication of our faculty, staff and students,” said Keith Molenaar, dean of the College of Engineering and Applied Science. “Having every department with at least one graduate program ranked in the top 20 among public universities speaks to the depth and consistency of excellence across the college. This recognition affirms our commitment to impactful research, outstanding graduate education and preparing engineers and applied scientists to lead and serve society.”

When compared to its public university peers, CU �鶹ӰԺ’s engineering graduate program landed at No. 10. The college was ranked No. 18 overall, tied with Columbia University and the University of Maryland-College Park, when compared to both public and private universities.

To calculate its rankings, U.S. News and World Report looks at a range of data about graduate programs, including research activity, peer and recruiter assessments, and student selectivity. Read the full methodology.

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Professor interviewed on Colorado River crisis

Jeff Zehnder — Wed, 18 Feb 2026 16:13:35 +0000

Professor interviewed on Colorado River crisis Jeff Zehnder Wed, 02/18/2026 - 09:13

Rajagopalan Balaji was interviewed by KGNU radio about the extreme difficulties facing western states as they renegotiate the Colorado River Compact that governs water use.

Balaji, a �鶹ӰԺ professor in the Department of Civil, Environmental and Architectural Engineering and Environmental Engineering program, is an expert in climate and hydroclimatology.

The interview follows a second missed deadline by Colorado and six western states to agree on a plan addressing record drought and water shortages.

Balaji said states are facing “sobering and humbling reality” of drought and the impossible demands placed on the Colorado River.

Listen to the whole interview at KGNU...

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Students study metal contamination in Colorado waterways

Jeff Zehnder — Fri, 12 Sep 2025 17:37:24 +0000

Students study metal contamination in Colorado waterways Jeff Zehnder Fri, 09/12/2025 - 11:37

Jeff Zehnder

Collecting water samples in the field.

In the most beautiful places in Colorado, hazards to aquatic life lurk in the water.

A team at the �鶹ӰԺ is studying heavy metal pollution in a watershed near Aspen. Their efforts have a dual goal: contributing to efforts to clean up the area, and studying the potential of recovering some of those metals, including rare earth elements, from other similarly polluted streams.

“We gave a presentation to the public, and when you mention valuable minerals in Aspen, ears perk up,” said Adam Odorisio, a master’s student in environmental engineering.

The issue concerns tributaries of Lincoln Creek, which feed into a large reservoir above Aspen. The metals in the water represent more than just pollution. The potential for recovering and utilizing the rare earth elements found in natural and mine acidic drainage is an area of active research, driven by increasing demand for these elements in many industries, such as electronics manufacturing.

Metals often leach from old mines, a process called acid mine drainage. In the case of Lincoln Creek, the primary contamination is a natural phenomenon, according to Athena Bolin, a 2025 environmental engineering master of science graduate student working on the project.

“The leaching of metals and rare earth elements can be caused by humans when they excavate and expose rock formations, but it can also occur naturally. This happens when mineral-rich rock weathers and the resulting acidic water leaches metals from rocks along its flow path. Both processes can cause significant environmental pollution,” Bolin said.

Bolin and Odorisio are part of Professor Diane McKnight’s research team and CU �鶹ӰԺ’s Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research, which have been studying the problem. The contamination has caused significant fish kills in the area, and the team has determined that metal concentrations are increasing significantly, a trend that is evident both seasonally and over many years in multiple watersheds in the Colorado Rocky Mountains as summers have become warmer.

“We analyzed a sediment core from Grizzly Reservoir,” Odorisio said. “The reservoir was built in 1936, and the core shows the contamination is getting worse. The thought is the world is heating up, which is melting sub-surface permafrost more quickly, which flows through the ground and eventually reaches the surface.”

The study involves taking on-site samples of water from a small tributary, a mine outflow, and the main stream, as well as a type of sediment called flocculant material, and aquatic insects, bringing them back to the laboratory, and using analytical methods to determine elemental concentrations.

Sediment core processing in the lab.

“One of the things we've found in the samples is copper is more elevated. That causes a lot of environmental damage. It can be extremely harmful to fish. They can't breathe. They suffocate,” Odorisio said.

As regional officials investigate the best solutions for Lincoln Creek, McKnight’s group is also working with colleagues to see if it would be cost-effective to recover the metals and rare earth elements for sale at similar sites.

Damaging heavy metal drainage occurs at locations across Colorado and regions with mining history. Being able to generate revenue from cleanup presents a unique opportunity in locations that often present complex remediation challenges.

“This takes place in a very remote wilderness area above 11,000 feet. A standalone recovery operation would not be financially viable. However, if recovery from the small tributaries and mine outflows were to happen concurrently with remediation, the income from the operation could help offset the cost of cleanup,” Bolin said.

Regardless of the eventual outcomes, Odorisio said the research and public response have been a positive experience in an area of study that can be discouraging.

“There’s a lot of doom and gloom in environmental engineering,” Odorisio said. “It’s just the nature of the job. Here we have two different motivations. We have the potential utility of it, recovering rare earth elements, and understanding how to make creeks like this one more environmentally friendly sites.”

In the most beautiful places in Colorado, hazards to aquatic life lurk in the water. A team at the �鶹ӰԺ is studying heavy metal pollution in a watershed near Aspen. Their efforts have a...

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