Online Engineering Programs Home

Top Environmental Engineering Professors

Find schools

badge-image
Jeff Kuo - California State University, Fullerton

As a professor of civil and environmental engineering at California State University, Fullerton, Jeff Kuo focuses his research on dechlorination of halogenated aromatics by ultrasound, fines/bacteria migration through porous media, biodegradability of bitumen, surface properties of composite mineral oxides, and wastewater filtration, nutrient removal and disinfection. Other research areas he has focused on recently include landfill gas recovery and energy generation, among many others.

Peter Schlosser - Columbia University

Peter Schlosser is the chair of the department of earth and environmental engineering at Columbia University, as well as the Maurice Ewing and J. Lamar Worzel Professor of Geophysics, where he has served since 1993. His selected activities include studies of water movement and its variability in natural systems using natural and anthropogenic substances and isotopes as “tracers” or as “radioactive clocks,” among others.

Upmanu Lall - Columbia University

Upmanu Lall serves as the Alan & Carol Silberstein Professor of Engineering at Columbia University, as well as the director of the Columbia Water Center. He is also a senior research scientist at the International Research Institute for Climate & Society, and his research largely focuses on hydroclimatology, nonlinear dynamics, and applied statistics, among others.

Daniel Schrag - Harvard University

Daniel Schrag is a professor of environmental science and engineering at Harvard University, where he also serves as the Sturgis Hooper Professor of Geology and the director of the Harvard University Center for the Environment. He has worked on theories for Pleistocene ice-age cycles, including a better determination of ocean temperatures during the Last Glacial Maximum, 20,000 years ago.

William Ball - Johns Hopkins University

William P. Ball is a professor within the Whiting School of Engineering at Johns Hopkins University, where his research focuses on environmental engineering, physical and chemical processes, and water quality. He has received a host of awards, including the Abdel Wolman Doctoral Fellowship and the Rudolph Hering Medal from the American Society of Civil Engineers.

Sankar Arumugam - North Carolina State University

Sankar Arumugam is both a professor and university faculty scholar within the department of civil, construction and environmental engineering at North Carolina State University. He also serves as the associate editor for the Journal of HydroMeteorology, and acted as the associate editor for Water Resources Research and for the Journal of Hydrologic Engineering.

Brian Wood - Oregon State University

Brian D. Wood is a professor of environmental engineering within the department of chemical, biological and environmental engineering at Oregon State University. His primary research focuses on the description of mass, momentum, and energy transport in natural and engineered multiscale systems.

Khaled Abdelghany - Southern Methodist University

Khaled Abdelghany is an associate professor and chair of the department of civil and environmental engineering at Southern Methodist University, where his research focuses on crowd dynamics and airlines scheduling and irregular operations, among other areas. He has authored a wide number of peer-reviewed publications, and is the co-author of the book Modeling Applications in the Airlines Industry.

David Cooper - University of Central Florida

David Cooper is a professor within the department of environmental engineering at the University of Central Florida, where he also serves as the director of the Air Quality Lab. In addition to teaching undergraduate courses on air pollution and environmental engineering, he leads graduate courses on atmosphere dispersion modeling and hazardous waste incineration, among others.

Ni-Bin Chang - University of Central Florida

Ni-Bin Chang is a professor of environmental engineering at the University of Central Florida, where he also serves as the director of the Stormwater Management Academy. In addition to teaching undergraduate courses in environmental engineering and hydraulics, he also teaches a variety of graduate courses, including those in advanced hydrology, industrial ecology, and groundwater modeling, among others.

Rajagopalan Balaji - University of Colorado at Boulder

Rajagopalan Balaji is a professor within the department of civil, environmental and architectural engineering at the University of Colorado, where he also serves as the department head. His areas of research include hydrology, water resources, and environmental fluid mechanics, and he has received a number of honors and distinctions, including the 2003 Young Researcher Award from the University of Colorado at Boulder.

Christine Angelini - University of Florida

Christine Angelini is an assistant professor of environmental engineering at the University of Florida, where she has served in this position since 2014. Since then, she has started new research on the role of habitat-modifying organisms in shaping marine and terrestrial food webs and contaminant fate and transport, and on other topics.

Elliot P. Douglas - University of Florida

In addition to serving as an associate professor of environmental engineering at the University of Florida, Elliot P. Douglas is also the program director for the National Science Foundation. One of his current projects is focused on the role of ambiguity during problem-solving.

Frank Bowman - University of North Dakota

Frank Bowman is an associate professor in the department of chemical engineering at the University of North Dakota, as well as the Tom Owens Endowed Fellow and the associate chair for education and outreach. He has co-authored a significant amount of peer-reviewed publications, including the 2014 “You’re Hired! Changing Student Attitudes Toward Engineering,” and was the 2015 recipient of the CEM Outstanding Faculty Award.

Wayne Seames - University of North Dakota

Wayne Seames is the Chester Fritz Distinguished Professor within the department of chemical engineering at the University of North Dakota, where he also serves as the director of SUNRISE. His areas of expertise include the remediation of porous building materials, and renewable fuels, chemicals, and materials technologies, among others.

Amy Childress - University of Southern California

Amy Childress is a professor within the department of civil and environmental engineering at the University of Southern California, where she also serves as the director of the environmental engineering program. Her research interests include membrane contractor processes and solar ponds for brine reduction and energy recovery, among a number of others.

Chris Cox - University of Tennessee at Knoxville

Chris Cox is the Robert M. Condra Professor within the department of civil and environmental engineering at the University of Tennessee at Knoxville, where he also serves as the department head. He has been a faculty member at the institution since 1991, and served as the director of the Institute for a Secure and Sustainable Environment from 2011 to 2015. His areas of interest include bioenergy production, mathematical modeling of metabolic and genetic regulatory systems, and modeling of engineered pollution control and remediation systems.

Andy Hong - University of Utah

Andy Hong is a professor within the department of civil an environmental engineering at the University of Utah, where he has served since 1987. His research interests include treatment processes for contaminated waters, soil/sediment, and hazardous chemicals, and he has authored over 60 journal papers and book chapters along with 110 conference presentations and seminars.

John Bergendahl - Worcester Polytechnic Institute

In addition to serving as an associate professor within the department of civil and environmental engineering at the Worcester Polytechnic Institute, John Bergendahl is also the director of the environmental engineering program as a whole. He also has six years’ experience as a practicing engineer in industry, and he has authored and co-authored more than 70 peer-reviewed journal articles and professional presentations, along with one textbook.

Methodology

We used a specific set of criteria to narrow the field to these influential educators. Each of these professors met two or more (or all, in some cases) of the following four requirements:

  • Professorship - All of the educators on this list are professors at their institutions (none are adjunct professors).
  • Peer-reviewed publications - We selected professors who have been named as authors or co-authors of articles or other works in peer-reviewed publications.
  • Outside work - In addition to serving as professors, many of these educators also work outside of their institutions in environmental engineering organizations or in some capacity as an environmental engineer.
  • Doctorate degrees (or the equivalent) - Finally, the educators on this list have obtained a doctorate degree (or the equivalent) in environmental engineering or in a related engineering field.