The NRDC estimates that colleges and universities in the US throw away 22 million pounds of food waste (FW) each year. This not only contributes to methane generation and emission in landfills, but also huge amounts of land, water and energy use throughout the food lifecycle. Campus sustainability initiatives and state laws are moving towards more sustainable FW management. In New York, a state law prohibits large quantity generators (>2 t/wk), including 82 universities, from sending food waste to a landfill. This provides universities with opportunities to enhance our understanding and management of this problem while educating our students who will continue to develop sustainable solutions throughout their professional and personal lives.

Clarkson University and four additional NY campuses are collaborating to generate a much deeper understanding of where, why and how much FW is generated. Buffet, a la carte and to-go options all have different types and quantities of FW and different potential solutions to collect wastes for recycling or recovery. Measurement and analysis of these FW generation data will improve the ability of universities to effectively respond to drivers for sustainable food waste management.

This presentation will provide quantitative and qualitative insight into where, how much and why FW is generated on campuses and identify how that understanding can be used to most effectively change operations and student behaviors to reduce environmental impacts. Opportunities for weaving together learning, research, and operations activities to enhance our students’ preparation for their professionals will be highlighted.

A junior-level introduction to environmental engineering course aims to introduce, contextualize, and connect environmental engineering topics to everyday experiences.

Pre-lecture assignments:

-Introduce technical concepts through readings or videos. Students are provided with background material to supplement background knowledge so all students have sufficient understanding to advance in the course.

-Contextualize environmental engineering issues through articles and videos on historical and current events and policies. For example, students learn “You know nothing, John Snow” (Game of Thrones) doesn’t apply to epidemiologist John Snow, who knew why cholera epidemics occurred.

-Connect environmental engineering to students’ everyday lives through common experiences. For example, students identify a Superfund site near them and post about it on a discussion board. Students gain an understanding of the extend of environmental pollution, the long clean-up required, and, often, the lack of accountability of the polluter.

Laboratory assignments mirror the lecture portion of the course and also are designed to introduce, contextualize, and connect environmental engineering topics to everyday experiences. The standard wastewater biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) lab has been re-imagined as evaluating a soda factory that is discharging their wastewater to a river popular with fishing enthusiasts. The air quality data lab has been reimagined as a method to evaluate the impact of the historical housing practice of red lining on communities’ air pollution exposure.

Students learn to reflect on history, understand the world around them, and to take ownership of environmental protection and ethics in their future careers, all through the lens of an environmental engineer.

Empathy is a critical skill in engineering education and practice, yet it is often overlooked in traditional engineering curricula. This study seeks to investigate the effectiveness of empathy exercises in promoting the development of social competencies among engineering students in an upper-level GIS for engineers course. We designed and implemented a series of exercises aimed at increasing social competencies, such as empathy, throughout the semester. Students enrolled in the course participate in perspective-taking exercises and role-playing activities to simulate real-world interactions between stakeholders and professional engineers. Students also participate in case studies aimed at developing problem-solving skills that increase their awareness of the broader social implications of their work as engineers. Students were also expected to participate in reflection and discussion of their role as engineers to address social issues in Massachusetts. Participants received a mixed methods survey before, during, and after the semester to assess whether the empathy exercises influenced their knowledge of stakeholder perspectives and enhanced their perspective-taking skills. Participants, particularly those who have not had exposure to addressing context-based social issues through engineering coursework, experienced a deeper understanding of broader issues of justice and equity and self-reported an increased sense of connection to stakeholders. Results reveal insight into the effectiveness of empathy exercises, potential barriers to their implementation, and their impact on students' perspectives towards social issues in engineering. Our findings contribute to the ongoing conversation on the role of empathy in the engineering profession and proposed methods for developing social competencies in coursework.

Although many universities require a civil engineering materials course as a basic course for their civil engineering major, there are few courses focused on materials in environmental engineering, despite both majors typically being awarded by the same department. An understanding of materials used in environmental engineering systems is essential. The subjects of mechanical strength, chemical compatibility, corrosion, corrosion byproducts, and microbial growth deterrence have significant implications for public health and level of delivery service. Advancing students’ understanding of materials can not only help students design new engineered systems, but also address challenges in aging infrastructure for water and wastewater utilities. Therefore, we developed a new course titled Environmental Engineering Materials, which is required for undergraduate students in the new Environmental Engineering program at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. In the new course, we systematically introduce properties and tests of materials used in the treatment and conveyance of water and air, including mechanical properties, thermal properties, and corrosion behaviors. In addition to lectures, hands-on experimentation to assess material performance capabilities is an important and indispensable component of the course. Here, we present a framework for faculty at other institutions who may be interested in teaching this unique course. Specifically, we will cover the backward design approach for creating course content, laboratory assignments, and the assessment metrics of student learning. We will also demonstrate how to address the performance indicators for ABET student outcomes and how to incorporate equity and environmental justice in student presentation activities and projects.

Since 2015 more than 120 students from Northeastern University have travelled to Cagliari, Italy, to study sustainable waste management practices and technologies, as part of a study abroad program known as “Dialogue of Civilization”. In this paper we recount the genesis of this program, set it in the broader literature on sustainability and study abroad, and then unpack its contents. In this 5-6 weeks program, undergraduate students take two courses: (i) Resource recovery and waste treatment technologies abroad, which is a 4- credit hour technical elective course in civil and environmental engineering and (ii) Waste management and policy abroad which is another elective. The focus of the program is on sustainability and the creation of a circular economy. The students learn about EU waste management and policy based on discussions with the instructor, as well as interactions with guests from Italian academia, private industry, government agencies and engineers and managers during technical visits and guest lectures. Students, from both engineering and non-engineering departments work in groups to produce integrated reports discussing the science, engineering, and policy challenges to achieve a circular economy in solid waste management. The course and the projects closely examine whether and how societies can learn from each other by comparing Boston and the US with other European cities. Learning environment and assignments are conducive to promote interdisciplinary academic pursuits, experiential learning, and practical applications in waste management, as well as teamwork, and communication skills.