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About

Department of Environmental Engineering Sciences

Mission Statement

The department is a leader in interdisciplinary programs aimed at solving environmental problems and as a major on campus crucible for identification, conceptualization and resolution of environmental issues.

Faculty Member

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Elliot Douglas, Ph.D.

Head

Dr. Elliot P. Douglas is Professor of Environmental Engineering Sciences, Associate Director for Research in the UF Institute for Excellence in Engineering Education, and Distinguished Teaching Scholar at the University of Florida. His research interests are problem solving, cultures of inclusion, and environmental justice. He has served as Deputy Editor of the Journal of Engineering Education and Program Director for Engineering Education at the US National Science Foundation.

Department news

‘Positivity, intelligence and empathy’: Meet Fabiola Y. Rodríguez Rodríguez

Fabiola Y. Rodríguez, a first-year Ph.D. student at UF’s Engineering School of Sustainable Infrastructure and the Environment, is already making waves in sustainable waste management.

ASEE Elects Elliot Douglas as VP of Finance 

Members of the American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE) elected Elliot Douglas, Ph.D., a professor and department head of environmental engineering sciences and professor of engineering education, as vice president of finance. He’ll serve a two-year term beginning in June 2025, during which he will lead the finance committee and work with ASEE finance staff […]

Meet Dr. Tracy Fanara: Gator graduate makes waves with cocaine sharks

When famed scientist Tracy Fanara – the triple Gator known as Inspector Planet – heard about the horror movie “Cocaine Bear,” her reaction was simple: Oh, please. You think bears and cocaine are scary? She studies sharks ingesting cocaine, and the “scary” part, Fanara said, is not stoned sharks “but rather the chemicals that are impacting us. That is scarier than a random bear in the forest finding a package of cocaine.”

Two Faculty Named 2024 UF Research Foundation Professors

The University of Florida Research Foundation has recently named 34 of the university’s most productive and promising faculty members as UFRF Professors for 2024. Two professors Lily Elefteriadou, Ph.D., the Barbara Goldsby Professor in the Department of Civil & Coastal Engineering, and Timothy Townsend, Ph.D., the Jones, Edmunds & Associates, Inc. Professor in the Department of […]

UF Researchers Tackle Florida’ Waste Management Challenges with EPA Grant

Scientists in the University of Florida’s Department of Environmental Engineering Sciences are investigating Florida’s waste management system to quantify the amount of garbage and recycling produced in Florida and evaluate the capacity of existing infrastructure to manage the state’s various waste streams.  Hannah Sackles, a doctoral student in environmental engineering sciences, is a part of […]

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History

The Environmental Engineering Sciences (EES) program can be traced back to 1948 when Drs. A. Percy Black, a leader in the field of water chemistry and water treatment and Earle B. Phelps, a leader in the field of public health engineering and stream sanitation, were prominent members of the Civil Engineering faculty. In 1966, their group of faculty broke off from Civil Engineering to establish a new graduate program in Bioenvironmental Engineering Sciences, which soon after became the current Department of Environmental Engineering Sciences.

An undergraduate program in Environmental Engineering was established in 1972, one of the first of its kind in the United States. The 16 faculty members of EES, consisting of both engineers and scientists were organized around major federal training and research grant programs in the following areas: air pollution, water and wastewater treatment, environmental biology, environmental chemistry, water resources, radiological health, solid waste, and systems ecology. These program areas (aside from radiological health which moved to Nuclear and Radiological Engineering) continue as strong programs in EES today. With substantial research funding over these many years of prominence, EES has generated many bachelor, master and doctoral graduates now working in all facets of professional practice.

In 2011, to explore new collaborative opportunities, the Department of Environmental Engineering Sciences joined with the Department of Civil and Coastal Engineering to form the Engineering School of Sustainable Infrastructure & Environment (ESSIE).