Brief award descriptions are presented below. All nomination materials must be submitted online. The submission link for each award, full instructions, and a list of prior award winners can be found on the AEESP Foundation Website as well as on each specific Award page.
The AEESP coordinates the activities of an Awards Committee which oversees the annual selection of the following awards to recognize different aspects of service, research, professional involvement, and teaching in the area of environmental engineering and science.
AEESP Awards
- Student Awards
Jacobs Engineering Group/AEESP Outstanding Doctoral Dissertation Award
This award, endowed by Jacobs Engineering Group, is given annually to recognize an outstanding doctoral dissertation that contributes to the advancement of environmental science and engineering.
Paul V. Roberts/AEESP Outstanding Doctoral Dissertation Award
This award is given annually to recognize a rigorous and innovative doctoral thesis that advances the science and practice of water quality engineering for either engineered or natural systems. Special consideration will be given to physical-chemical process research and/or research that especially supports underserved communities, environmental awareness, or sustainable solutions.
Edward J. Bouwer/AEESP Outstanding Doctoral Dissertation Award
Annually awarded to honor the excellent work done by emerging researchers in the environmental engineering and science field and honor Ed’s legacy of research and mentorship that contributes to the advancement of environmental science and engineering (*beginning in 2023).
AEESP Master’s Thesis Awards
This award annually recognizes the top two most outstanding M.S. theses that contribute to the advancement of environmental science and engineering.
Parsons/Engineering Science AEESP Doctoral Dissertation Award
The original doctoral dissertation award was established in 1974 with sponsorship from the consulting firm Engineering-Science, Inc. When Engineering-Science merged with Parsons Corporation in 1995, sponsorship of the award was continued by the Parsons Corporation for another 10 years. This award has been discontinued.
Virginia Tech Student Travel Award
This endowed award was established in 2007, and was the first award sponsored by the newly formed AEESP Foundation. It is given biannually to a Virginia Tech undergraduate or graduate student to support his or her travel to attend the biennial AEESP Education and Research Conference. Recipients are chosen based on a combination of need and merit, as decided by the faculty of Virginia Tech’s Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering.
- Education, Research and Practice Faculty Awards
Charles R. O'Melia AEESP Distinguished Educator Award
This award is given annually to recognize the significant contributions of Professor O’Melia to environmental engineering education and will be awarded to an environmental engineering or science professor who has a record of excellent teaching in the classroom and through graduate student advising; significant research achievements that have contributed to environmental engineering knowledge; and an outstanding record of influence through mentoring of former students and colleagues.
AEESP Award for Outstanding Contribution to Environmental Engineering & Science Education
This award is given annually to recognize excellence in teaching scholarship and/or professional society educational initiatives.
AEESP Award for Outstanding Teaching in Environmental Engineering & Science
This award is given annually to recognize an environmental engineering or science professor who is making outstanding contributions to the teaching of environmental engineering, both at the individual’s home institution and beyond.
AEESP Outstanding Publication Award
This award is given annually to recognize the author(s) of a "landmark environmental engineering and science paper that has withstood the test of time and significantly influenced the practice of environmental engineering and science."
Walter J. Weber, Jr. AEESP Frontier in Research Award
This award is given annually to recognize an environmental engineering or science professor who has advanced the environmental engineering and science field through recognized research leadership and pioneering efforts in a new and innovative research area.
Perry L. McCarty AEESP Founders' Award
This award is given annually to recognize an environmental engineering and science professor who has made "sustained and outstanding contributions to environmental engineering education, research, and practice."
Steven K. Dentel AEESP Award for Global Outreach
This award is given annually to recognize outstanding contributions and leadership by a faculty member through involvement in environmental engineering and science outreach activities to the global community.
AEESP/Mary Ann Liebert Award for Publication Excellence in Environmental Engineering Science
Starting in 2018, this award will be given annually to the authors of an outstanding paper published in Environmental Engineering Science during the previous calendar year. Environmental Engineering Science is the official journal of AEESP, and this award recognizes publication excellence among its members.
Sponsor: Mary Ann Liebert, Inc. Publishers
AEESP/AAEES JOINT Awards
- Faculty Awards
The Frederick George Pohland Medal
This award honors an individual who has made sustained and outstanding efforts to bridge environmental engineering research, education, and practice.
Excellence in Environmental Engineering Education (E4) Award
The E4 Award will be granted to an educator who has made a significant contribution to the profession in the area of educating practitioners. The award will be jointly administered by AAEES and AEESP and will be bestowed annually at the AAEES Excellence in Environmental Engineering (E3) awards banquet.
- Student Awards
William Brewster Snow Award
This award is given annually to recognize an environmental engineering graduate student who has made significant accomplishments in an employment or academic engineering project.
W. Wesley Eckenfelder Graduate Research Award
The purpose of this award is to recognize a student whose research contributes to the knowledge pool of industrial wastewater management.
Paul F. Boulos Excellence in Computational Hydraulics/Hydrology Award
This award is given annually to recognize a student whose research contributes to the knowledge pool of in the area of Computational Hydraulics & Hydrology. The award selection will be based on original, innovative research of publishable quality and other factors listed below. Both Master's and Ph.D. students are eligible.