Environmental Engineering

research
Gonzaga Environmental Engineering students examine with Dr. Shimabuku a biochar sample they made to treat stormwater runoff.

As a Gonzaga environmental engineering student, you might:

  • Quantify greenhouse gas emissions of civil engineering projects
  • Design air pollution control systems that treat emissions from waste-to-energy facilities
  • Test affordable water treatment technologies that can empower low-income communities

You’ll learn how to assess the health of natural and urban environments and engineer solutions to pollution.

alumni
“I work to protect the public health of citizens by making sure people aren’t drinking polluted water, and ensure the water we discharge from wastewater treatment facilities is not going to harm the river ecosystem, especially the fish.”
Sam Nieslanik, '20, Civil Engineering,
Mountain Waterworks, Idaho

What Can You Do with Environmental Engineering?

Gonzaga civil engineering graduates interested in environmental engineering are in high demand to protect environmental resources and public health. Recent graduates have jobs in engineering consulting firms, regulatory agencies, environmental non-profits, environmental remediation equipment suppliers, international development agencies, and government entities at federal, state, and local levels.

environmental project

What You'll Study

The subdiscipline requires knowledge of how to apply physical, chemical, and biological processes to design water treatment, air pollution control, waste management, and sustainable civil engineering systems. Some of these subjects are in the standard civil engineering coursework. Others are specific technical electives for your senior year. The Degree Worksheet marks these electives with an "E."


Learn More

Biochar Research

Listen to a Gonzaga Sustainability podcast interview about Dr. Shimabuku's research into burnt, crushed bone as a water purifier

About Environmental Engineering

See a video overview of Gonzaga's Environmental Engineering program.

Students work in The Bollier Center's Environmental Engineering Lab.

Environmental Engineering Lab

In this dynamic learning space, students get hands-on experience with:

  • Simulating water treatment plants from the water source to the faucet
  • Testing the efficiency of treatment technologies to remove contaminants from emerging environmental disasters such as wildfires
  • Practicing environmental sampling and field tests in the Spokane River
  • Implementing practical environmental monitoring techniques including total organic carbon (TOC) analysis and biological oxygen demand (BOD)

More about the lab's research under Dr. Shimabuku