Environmental Fluids: Science, Assessment and Treatment
The student research projects will focus on water quality and treatment, air quality monitoring and control, and the impact of climate variability on water resources.
Specific projects available for 2008. (2008 projects are still being updated....)
In addition to working with faculty and graduate student mentors on a research project, the program also includes:
- a focused group experience on field site characterization or water treatment pilot plant operation
- presentations and group discussions on societal issues in environmental engineering, including ethics, sustainability, and policy
- group tours of local governmetal research laboratories, and natural environmental wonders in Colorado
Students will write up a proposal and final project report, and give an oral presentation at the Research Syposium.
Students may also apply for additional funding to support presenting their work at a professional conference.
Students may also want to consider submitting a manuscript on their research to the
Journal of Young Investigators, the premier undergraduate, peer-reviewed science journal.
The 10-week program runs from June 2 through August 8, 2008.
Students are provided with a $3000 stipend, up to $450 for travel, 3-credits of upper division Independent Study through Continuing Education, and room and board at the CU dormitories on campus.
Our program encourages a broad diversity of students interested in Environment-related topics to apply.
Per the NSF guidelines, to be eligible to participate you must be a citizen or permanent resident of the United States or its possessions. You must be an undergraduate student enrolled in a degree program (part-time or full-time) leading to a baccalaureate or associate degree. Students who are transferring from one university to another and are enrolled at neither institution during the intervening summer may participate. High school graduates who have been accepted at an undergraduate institution but who have not yet started their undergraduate study are also eligible to participate. Students who have received their bachelor's degrees (prior to the start of the program) and are no longer enrolled as undergraduates are not eligible to participate.
Students majoring in Environmental, Civil, Chemical, Biological, and Mechanical Engineering; and Environmental Science, Chemistry, Geology, and Physics are encouraged to apply.
We hope our program will help expand the representation of minorities and women in engineering and science fields.
Download the 2008 Application Packet.
pdf version or
MS Word version
Download the list of
specific projects available for 2007.
Angela Bielefeldt, director
Bioremediation of water, soil, and air.
R. Scott Summers, co-director Drinking water treatment.
Joe Ryan [on sabbatical in 2008]
Contaminant fate and transport in natural waters.
Article highlighting
Prof. Ryan's AMD work
Diane McKnight Stream ecology and hydrology, biogeochemistry.
Mark Hernandez Environmental microbiology, bioaerosols, acid mine drainage.
JoAnn Silverstein Biological process engineering in water and soils.
Balaji Rajagopalan Hydrology and Hydroclimatology.
Roseanna Neupauer Groundwater flow and transport modeling.
John Pellegrino Separation Processes.
John Crimaldi Environmental fluid mechanics.
Roseanna Neupauer Groundwater flow and transport modeling.
Shelly Miller Indoor air pollution.
Mike Hannigan Air pollution.
If you have questions about specific research projects, please contact the faculty directly by phone or email.
Current contact information is available on each professor's individual websites, linked above.
Hallie Bevan (Mentor: Joe Ryan) Effects of Acid Mine Drainage on Metals Concentrations in the Waters of Coal Creek
Frannie Bui (Mentor: Joe Ryan) Sources and Effects of Acid Mine Drainage by Sediment Sampling from Coal Creek
Scarlett Graham (Mentor: Joe Ryan) Metal Content of Macroinvertebrates from Coal Creek; presentation
Steve Barr (Mentor: Angela Bielefeldt) - Chromium Bioremediation of Soil under Sulfate-Reducing Conditions; presentation
Shannon Simons (Mentor: Shelly Miller) Indoor Air Quality in Hispanic Immigrant Housing in Commerce City, CO; presentation
MaryBeth Oshnack (Mentor: Mike Hannigan) A Source-Oriented Approach to Health Effects of Air Pollution
Laura Condon (Mentor: Balaji Rajagopalan) The Connection between Large Scale Climate Factors, Water Quantity, and Water Quality in the South Platte River Basin
Aditi Bhaskar (Mentor: Roseanna Neupauer) Verification of Travel Time Probability Density Functions for Sorbing Solutes in Groundwater; presentation
Melissa Mora (Mentor: Diane McKnight) Classification of Cyanobacteria species in Algal Mats from Antarctica
Alicia Greene (Mentor: Diane McKnight) Growth of Didymo in Regulated Streams below the Colorado Front Range; presentation
Presentations and Publications
Barr, Stephen C. and A. R. Bielefeldt. 2007. Hexavalent Chromium Biotransformation Mechanism that Predominates in Soil under Sulfate-Reducing Bacterial (SRB) Activity 17th Annual AEHS West Coast Conference on Soil, Sediments, and Water. Poster. San Diego, CA. March 19-22.
Bhaskar, A. and R. Neupauer. 2006. Verification of travel time probability density-functions for sorbing solutes in groundwater. Paper 26-14. Geological Society of America, Annual Meeting. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Oct 22-25.
Neupauer, R.M., J.L. Wilson, and A. Bhaskar, Forward and backward temporal probability distributions of sorbed phase solutes in groundwater, Water Resources Research, accepted August 2008, pending minor revision.
Cameron Bracken (Mentor: Balaji Rajagopalan) A Multi-Site Streamflow Forecast Framework: Application to the Upper Colorado River Basin; presentation
Janet Cardenas (Mentor: R. Scott Summers) GAC Sorption of MTBE: Effect of Backwashing; abstract
Matt Coggon (Mentor: JoAnn Silverstein) Chemical Oxidation of Pyrite by Fe(III): Rate Analysis and Investigation of Product Inhibition by Fe(II); abstract
Caitlin Cox (Mentor: Diane McKnight) Copper Binding Depending on Source and Chemical Quality of DOM in the Colorado Front Range; abstract
Garland Deshazer (Mentors: Mark Hernandez; Paul Rota and Azaibi Tamin at CDC-Atlanta) Fusion Inhibition Assays: Validation of a BSL-2 Diagnostic Method for Nipah Virus Infection; abstract
Jessica Garcia (Mentor: Mike Hannigan) Organic Contaminants in Denver Aerosols; abstract
Katherine Jones (Mentor: Joe Ryan) Acid Mine Drainage Metal and Colloid Attenuation by Hyporheic Zone Sediment; abstract
Stacey Louie (Mentor: Mike Hannigan) Analysis of DASH PM2.5 Compositions for Inorganic Ions; abstract
Andy Schauf (Mentor: John Pellegrino) Membrane-Assisted Solar Distillation; abstract
Cherylynn Schilling (Mentors: Angela Bielefeldt; R. Scott Summers) Removal of Virus and Bacteria Sized Surrogates by the Filtron Point-of-Use Water Filter; presentation
Presentations and Publications
Corwin, Christopher J., Janet Cardenas, and R. Scott Summers. 2008. Micropollutant Control by Activated Carbon Adsorbers: Effect of Backwashing and Pulse Loading. American Water Works Association (AWWA) Annual Conference and Exposition. June 8-12.
Bracken, Cameron, and Balaji Rajagopalan. 2007. "A Multi-Site Streamflow Forecast Framework: Application
to the Upper Colorado River Basin" American Geophysical Union (AGU) conference. San Francisco. Dec. 10-14.
Cox, Caitlin, and Diane McKnight. 2007. Copper Binding Depending on Source and Chemical Quality of DOM in the Colorado Front Range. session #: B11A-0067. American Geophysical Union (AGU) fall meeting. San Francisco. Dec. 10-14.
Melissa Merrill (Mentor: Balaji Rajagopalan) Risk Assessment of Indian Monsoon Climate for Agriculture Drought Impact Planning; presentation
Austa Parker (Mentor: R. Scott Summers) GAC Sorption Interactions of Micropollutants; presentation
Jacqueline Stroncek (Mentor: JoAnn Silverstein) Modeling Intervention to Prevent AMD: Biokinetics of Acidphilic Heterotrophic Bacteria; presentation
Katelyn Gerecht (Mentor: Diane McKnight) Kinematic Wave Modeling in Antarctic Streams; ; presentation
Emily Sheehan (Mentor: Mark Hernandez) Diverse Microbial Methods to Characterize the Effect of an Indoor Waterfall on Bioaerosols
Shoshana Blank (Mentor: Mike Hannigan) Analysis of Denver Aerosol (DASH) PM2.5 Composition for Inorganic Ions; presentation
Travis Doom (Mentor: Karl Linden) UV-Photochemical Oxidation of Emerging Contaminants; presentation
Adam Caldwell (Mentor: Angela Bielefeldt) Permanganate Oxidation of NDMA; presentation
Anna Edwards (Mentor: Jana Milford) Modeling Air Pollution Effects of Electric Hybrid Vehicles; presentation
Simon Schreier (Mentors: Angela Bielefeldt; R. Scott Summers) Removal of Virus, Bacteria, and Protozoan Sized Surrogates by the Filtron Point-of-Use Water Filter; presentation
See a description of previous projects and pictures of student activities from the Environmental Engineering REU site from 2000 to 2004.
Sigma Xi "The Responsible Researcher"
ORI "Introduction to Responsible Conduct of Research
National Academy Press "On Being a Scientist"
This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. 0552895 for the REU Site in Environmental Fluids.
Any opinions, findings and conclusions or recomendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation (NSF).
