ASCE Environmental and Water Resources Institute Boston Chapter

The ASCE Environmental and Water Resources Institute’s (EWRI) mission is to “provide for the technical, educational, and professional needs of its members, and to serve the public in the use, conservation, and protection of natural resources and in the enhancement of human well-being.” EWRI Boston Chapter meets regularly to discuss industry-related topics and coordinate events that are of interest to the environmental engineering community. Meetings are held regularly from 5:00 - 6:00 PM on the first Thursday of the month. 

EWRI Boston Chapter has hosted one event this year, with several more webinars and events coming down the pipeline. EWRI Boston Chapter is pleased to have provided a presentation with Al Leblanc and Jihyon Im on “PFAS – An Emerging and Evolving Focal Point for Water Supplies.” This event was held virtually on January 19, 2021, due to the rise in cases in COVID-19. The presenters reviewed the evolution of the issue from discovery of PFAS, bench-scale studies to evaluate treatment with granular activated carbon and ion exchange, and design of the PFAS treatment facilities.

The annual John R. Freeman Fund Lecture will be held on April 4 and is currently proposed to be a hybrid event taking place at Northeastern University. The proposed event will include a presentation on climate adaptation in Boston and will be presented by John Sullivan, chief engineer of the Boston Water and Sewer Commission. To stay updated on events like these, join the mailing list of EWRI Boston Chapter! Please email ewri@bsces.org to join the mailing list. More information about all upcoming BSCES events can be found on the website (https://www.bsces.org/events).

There will be several other webinars and presentations held in the spring, going from March to late May. Currently EWRI Boston Chapter plans on holding the Karl R. Kennison Lecture on a stormwater application in March, the Thomas R. Camp Lecture in May, and a spring networking event in late May or early June of 2022. EWRI Boston Chapter is also happy to say that we will be awarding the Jonathan B. Golden Scholarship  this year. As in previous years, the EWRI Boston Chapter executive committee will review various applicants and provide one distinguished graduate student pursuing a degree in Environmental or Water Resource Engineering with the Golden Scholarship for academic excellence. 

EWRI Boston Chapter is always looking for new members! We currently meet virtually to coordinate and run environmental and water resources events, although we may move to in-person meetings later in the year as the pandemic, hopefully, wanes. If you would like to get involved, please contact me at riyer@kleinfelder.com or ewri@bsces.org for more information.