A record attendance (400+) from around the globe gathered at the University of South Florida (USF) in July, for the 2011 Association of Environmental Engineering and Science Professors Education and Research conference, the association’s flagship event for discussion of novel research and educational activities.

Themed Global Sustainability: Implications for Research, Education, & Practice, the conference featured 13 pre-Conference workshops, three presentations from invited keynote speakers, 140 poster presentations, more than 100 oral presentations, and a session on integrating sustainability into engineering practice co-organized with the American Academy of Environmental Engineers. Conference organizers also stressed a salient goal of the gathering was for integrated participation of all attendees in order to encourage and facilitate discussion within and between academic and practitioner communities. The enthusiasm of those attending signified the commitment of the AEESP membership to the continued development of a community built on respect and a determination to see rapid growth in the environmental field.

Pre conference workshops included Integrating Sustainable Development into Engineering Courses; Service Learning Projects and Sustainability; and Frontiers in Environmental Education. Assistant professors and post doctoral researchers packed the workshop on the NSF CAREER Award while 60 graduate students and post docs participated in the Academic Job Search workshop. The “How Do I Teach?” workshops ranged from Engaging Students in the Classroom to Environmental Chemistry Software.

Conference co-chair and USF Assistant Professor Jeff Cunningham noted participants were eager to engage in every aspect of the conference and showed keen interest in each other’s work. “It’s an indication that those in our field are really supportive of this organization and are looking for ways to grow their knowledge and build their abilities to be effective in building a more sustainable world,” said Cunningham.

Attendees were welcomed to USF by Provost Ralph Wilcox; John Wiencek, Dean of the College of Engineering; and Kala Vairavamoorthy, Director of the Patel School of Global Sustainability. Keynote speakers were Paul Anastas, PhD, Assistant Administrator for EPA's Office of Research and Development and the Science Advisor to the Agency (“Designing Tomorrow”); Rosina Bierbaum, University of Michigan Dean of the School of Natural Resources and Environment (“Climate Change and Development: Avoiding the Unmanageable and Managing the Unavoidable”); and James R. Mihelcic, USF Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering (The Day After Tomorrow: Changing our View of Education”).

Other activities included networking sessions at Clearwater Beach and the Florida Aquarium, a student poster presentation, and a photography exhibition.

Organizing committee member Sarina Ergas reports that 86 students participated in the poster presentations and were judged by more than 50 local professionals and non-student conference attendees. Eleven students from nine universities won $200 prizes provided by conference sponsors. The photography competition was aimed at discovering and awarding images that would inspire people to learn about and commit to global sustainability. Master’s student Dee Dee DeVuyst won the popular vote for her image of ripe pomegranates being distributed by bicycle. Doctoral student Ivy Cormier took first place with her battalion of bicycles parked in a city square.

A special feature at this year’s conference was a revival of the celebration of “legacy members” of AEESP who received PhDs before 1976. The “Legacy Celebration: Round 2” was hosted by USF Professor Emeritus Wayne Echelberger and University of North Carolina Professor Phil Singer. The closing night festivities included an awards ceremony, and recognized the 17 legacy members in attendance, including James Symons who earned his PhD in 1957.

In the weeks after the conference the organizers heard from many attendees who have been generous with praise. USF Associate Professor Maya Trotz said, “A female  pioneer who received her PhD before 1996 said we did a great job but more importantly that she was so happy to be a part of this community. I think that captures how we feel about our professional organization and reflects the type of conference we wished to host. We have many ways to engage with each other and the greater public through social media like Facebook, Twitter and You Tube and we hope to post much from the conference so that we continue to interact with each other and correspond about the sustainability issues that are important to us.”

The www.aeesp2011.com website has been updated with links to presentations given during the workshops, photographs from all of the events, videos, summaries from the lunchtime activities, and much more. 

A glance at any university catalog will show that ASL satisfies the language requirement for graduation. Recognition of ASL as a separate language dates from the 1960’s when linguists discovered that ASL is not only a fully-formed language, but a whole culture of people who define themselves as capital-D Deaf. (“Deaf” implies the ability to use ASL, but the word “deaf” usually describes hearing loss.) Many people wrongly assume that signed languages are simply gestures that replicate speech. This is wrong, because ASL is a complete language with its own structure, grammar and even slang. It is not English. In fact, British Sign Language (BSL) is almost unintelligible to ASL users.

The history of ASL starts in 17th century Paris. At the time, deaf people were unable to receive the sacraments, and a French clergyman started a shelter in 1760 in Paris that became the world’s first school for the deaf. Charles-Michel de l'Épée did not invent a signing language at his school, but allowed himself to be taught by the deaf Parisians. It was here at the Institution Nationale des Sourds-Muets à Paris that French Sign Language (LSF) was developed. Unlike many European schools for the deaf at the time, the Institution shared its methods with educators from all countries. It was at the school that Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet, an American minister, met Laurent Clerc, a deaf former pupil and now instructor at the school. These two remarkable men joined forces and opened the first American school in 1817 for the deaf in Hartford, Connecticut.

Not far from Hartford, the 18th century inhabitants of Martha’s Vineyard off the coast of Massachusetts had a very high incidence of deafness. A recessive inheritable trait caused one person in 155 to be deaf from birth. Because so many people were deaf, a local sign language was developed that both deaf and hearing citizens could mutually understand. Many of the deaf children from Martha’s Vineyard were enrolled in the new school at Hartford.  Officially called Martha's Vineyard Sign Language (MVSL), it was in use until the last speaker died in the 1950’s. The combination of the MVSL and the French LSF became the basis for ASL - American Sign Language.

Several graduate students and faculty were among the awardees at the 2011 Association of Environmental Engineering & Science Professors (AEESP) Education and Research conference. They were recognized at the AEESP Business Meeting and Awards Ceremony, held at the Florida Aquarium on July 11.

Cynthia A. Schafer (MS Environmental Engineering graduate) was awarded the second place Montgomery-Watson-Harza Consulting Engineers / AEESP Master’s Thesis Award.  Her research field site took place in Bolivia, and the title of her thesis is “Impact of Tank Material on Water Quality in Household Water Storage Systems in Cochabamba, Bolivia.” Schafer was advised by James R. Mihelcic, Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering and State of Florida 21st Century Scholar.

Professor of the Practice Linda Phillips (Civil and Environmental Engineering) was awarded the Wiley / AEESP Award for Outstanding Contribution to Environmental Engineering & Science Education for her efforts in developing and teaching the International Capstone Senior Design course (offered in Bolivia) and her contributions to the textbook Field Guide in Environmental Engineering for Development Workers: Water, Sanitation, Indoor Air (American Society of Civil Engineers Press, Reston, VA, 2009).

Graduate student Yilin Zhuang received one of eight conference poster awards (out of 140 poster presentations) for her research, “A System Dynamics Simulation Model for Integrated Water Resources Management in Hillsborough County.” Her graduate advisor is Qiong Zhang, assistant professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering. Audrey Buttice, doctoral student in chemical and biomedical engineering, won a poster award for her research on “Sediment and Bacteria Aggregation using Mucilage Gum.” Her advisor is Norma Alcantar, Associate Professor of Chemical and Biomedical Engineering.

Civil and Environmental professors Maya Trotz, Jeffrey Cunningham, and Sarina Ergas received Distinguished Service Awards for Outstanding Service for the 2011 AEESP Research and Education Conference Organizing Committee.