News: CEE

It is with great sadness that we announce the death of Richard E. Schuler, professor emeritus of civil and environmental engineering and economics at Cornell University. He passed away on Wednesday, February 13, at the age of 81. Dick grew up in Allentown PA, where he met and married Mary, his beloved wife of 56 years. Dick cherished his family and children, including his son Rick Schuler (Natalie), daughter Anne Schuler and daughter Judy Miller (Joel). Dick was the proud grandfather of Max (Tatyana), Nikhon and John Schuler and Jake, Cassie, Elizabeth and Zach Miller. He will be remembered by... Read more

CEE Professor Tom O’Rourke along with Dean Lance Collins were among the engineering experts brought in to re-engineer the L Train Tunnel project. Last month O’Rourke and Collins toured the L Train's Canarsie Tunnel with Governor Cuomo and along with experts from Columbia University's Fu Foundation School of Engineering and Applied Science. On January 3, 2019, at a press conference O’Rourke, Collins and experts from Columbia recommended a series of “a series of innovative engineering methods to streamline the required repair work and limit the impact on L Train service.” Professor Tom O’Rourke... Read more

The Mekong River, flowing from the Tibetan Plateau through Myanmar, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam to the South China Sea, is a hotbed of ecological diversity. The roughly 60 million people who live in the region, many in poverty, depend on the river and its tributaries for food and income. But a surge in hydropower projects is threatening to plunge the Mekong River basin into catastrophic ecological collapse, hampering the flow of fish, nutrients and sediment, unless a viable alternative is found. Enter Thomas Wild, Ph.D. ’14, who as an Atkinson Center for a Sustainable Future... Read more

Professor Patrick Reed has been awarded an endowed chair with the title of Joseph C. Ford Professor of Engineering. Dr. Reed's primary research interests relate to sustainable water management given conflicting demands from renewable energy systems, ecosystem services, expanding populations, and climate change. Read more

CEE Professor Emeritus Wilfried Brutsaert was awarded the prestigious 8th Prince Sultan Bin Abdulaziz International Prize for Water in the Surface Water category. The awards ceremony occurred this past Monday, October 29, 2018 in New York City. According to the PSIPW website,“Dr. Brutsaert’s work develops, demonstrates, and validates a new theory that can generate unprecedented estimates of evaporation from the natural landscape, with successful applications in numerous locations. Evaporation is one of the most complex of all hydrologic processes, and its accurate estimation is a continuous... Read more

In most places around the country where freshwater lakes and beaches offer recreational opportunities, health officials monitor the water for elevated bacterial counts—usually about once a week in populated areas, less often in more remote locations. However, the current state-of-the-art testing leaves about 24 to 30 hours of lag time between when water is tested for bacteria and when results come back. During that time, if the water seems unsafe, officials usually limit access to it. This summer, researchers from Cornell University were testing a new approach using environmental DNA (eDNA)... Read more

Cornell helps students in kindergarten through 12th grade explore science, technology, engineering and math through a variety of innovative programs. Read more

Vanessa Tejada receives Clark Construction Scholarship. Read more

Ruth Richardson and her team are working on a rapid DNA-based tool for detecting fecal indicator bacteria. Read more

For Ruth Richardson, this is where she says her heart meets her science. Read more