Vanderbilt introduced a new environmental engineering major this fall for undergraduate students through the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering. The major focuses on the technical aspects of environmental engineering and the need for effective communication between businesses, the government and communities, according to Vanderbilt School of Engineering .
Students were previously able to minor in environmental engineering as part of the civil engineering department. With the new a major program, students have the opportunity to apply for the undergraduate honors program or pursue the integrated 4+1 undergraduate-graduate pathway.
Majoring in environmental engineering requires students to complete a minimum of 122 credit hours. The engineering department plans to offer courses such as Environmental Engineering Laboratory and Environmental Engineering Design to provide students hands-on experience in addressing environmental issues.
Eugene LeBoeuf, director of undergraduate studies for environmental engineering, noted that the major’s development was largely motivated by growing student interest in environmental issues and sustainability. He said he is confident the program will continue to grow and equip students with the skills and knowledge to make a positive impact on the environment.
“The problems that we’re solving are very complex and pretty open-ended, meaning that you can come up with a solution, and somebody else comes up with another solution as well,” LeBoeuf said. “But which one is fast, the least resource intensive, the least environmentally impactful and the most sustainable?”
There are currently nine undergraduate students majoring in environmental engineering. One of them, first-year Wyatt Riebe, applied to Vanderbilt as a mechanical engineer, but he changed his major to environmental engineering after discovering it on Vanderbilt’s website over the summer.
“I’m really honored that I have this opportunity to start this new major here at Vanderbilt. Environmental engineering is something I’ve always been interested in. I love the environment,” Riebe said in a message to The Hustler. “I’m an Eagle Scout, so I’ve done a lot of hiking and backpacking out in the wilderness, and I grew up in a small town surrounded by water, so I grew up sailing and surfing and fishing.”
Riebe said he was specifically drawn to the major because of his passion for helping his hometown — Coronado, California — counter the effects of climate change. Coronado borders Tijuana, Mexico, whose sewage plant runs from the Tijuana River to the Pacific Ocean.
“I’ve spent the past couple years as a Coronado Beach Lifeguard and a surf instructor,” Riebe said. “Sadly, Tijuana has an obsolete sewage treatment plant, and therefore, their sewage runs from the Tijuana River directly into the Pacific Ocean and flows along the coast, leaving my beach closed due to fecal matter contamination. My community is greatly affected by this problem, and it was my passion to learn more about what is actually going on.”
Senior Joyce Huang said she chose to major in civil and environmental engineering in hopes of pursuing a career that would help protect the planet. She explained that environmental engineering often involves work that is less visible but still crucial to environmental projects.
“As I started taking classes, I quickly realized that environmental engineering is more broad and much more behind the scenes [than I expected],” Huang said. “For example, a real environmental engineer would be a part of a project that would update a water system that discharges used water from a factory into a river so that the discharged water won’t kill fish.”
Huang expressed appreciation for the new major and said it will provide future students with a deeper understanding of the environmental engineering field.
“I’m glad that Vanderbilt is making an environmental engineering major since it’ll provide more in-depth classes and expose students to more curriculum,” Huang said. “It’ll also give students more of a feel of the major in case they realize that this field is not for them.”
