Bachelor of Science in Environmental Engineering

Environmental Engineering at Saint Francis University

Do good in the world, and do a good job at it: help humanity and the environment with an Environmental Engineering degree from Saint Francis University

The Environmental Engineering major is a clear choice for the entering freshman student who wants to protect human health and preserve ecosystems and natural resources. Environmental engineering is a rewarding and in-demand profession. Why? Because we help people and the environment stay healthy.

• Compliment your ABET-accredited degree with a minor in Renewable Energy or Ecological Engineering
• 92% of our environmental engineering graduates find employment in the field within 6 months of graduation
• Tailor your education by pursuing undergraduate research alongside award-winning faculty or internships with local engineering firms or government agencies

Our students prepare to be leaders in the environmental engineering profession by focusing on five transferable skill sets:

• Field-scale design
• Experimentation in the field and the laboratory
• Computational modeling of complex environmental systems
• Written and oral communication
• Ethical decision making

We seek to develop these skills through extra-curricular activities, summer research and internships, service-learning, and, of course, classes.

At Saint Francis you will ;

• Design solutions based on real-world problems while pursuing our ABET-accredited environmental engineering curriculum.
• Participate in real-world projects sit atop a foundation of math, science, and liberal arts with applied engineering coursework serving as a bridge between fundamentals and the applications.
• Have access to award-winning faculty, hands-on application, and an accredited curriculum that is carefully designed for your success.
• Graduate prepared for the high-demand needs of tomorrow's labor market.

The SFU Learning Experience

The Environmental Engineering program at SFU strives to offer an innovative, high-quality education to our students. From constantly developing new projects to offer in our classrooms and laboratories, to providing research and service opportunities in collaboration with our Center for Watershed Research and Service, our faculty and staff have our students’ best educational interests in mind.

The SFU Environmental Engineering faculty and staff demonstrate a humble and generous attitude towards learning to our students through our own actions. The Environmental Engineering professors adhere to the following attitude toward our students: “We will meet your efforts.” In other words, if you are struggling, we will encourage you to come to us for help, and if and when you do, we will be there to help guide you through the challenging work until you find success. Faculty in Environmental Engineering at Saint Francis also seek to learn the most innovative and exciting ideas in the field so that we can best prepare our students for their professional futures.

In addition, our Environmental Engineering program has a reverence for life and a mission to care for creation. We strive to help our students see their own potential in cleaning up environmental problems, but also in helping to avoid environmental catastrophes and to make decisions with the good of public health in mind, guiding our society towards an environmentally-sustainable, socially-just future.

Applying Skills into Practice

Translating your academic knowledge into applied practice is a key differentiator of our environmental engineering program. You won't have to wait to apply your skills both here in Western Pennsylvania through our partnership with the Center for Watershed Research and Service and in developing countries like Bolivia and Peru.

Students also have opportunities to present and network with environmental engineering practitioners at national conferences such as the American Society of Reclamation Sciences.

Environmental Engineers Translate Service into Learning

Through service learning, you'll help those in need while really learning what environmental engineering is all about. Below are some of the service projects.

• Acid Mine Drainage in Central PA:
  Thanks to the work of Dr. Travis Tasker and Mr. Jim Eckenrode, with our Center for Watershed Research and Service, Saint Francis University received $100,000 from the Woodard and Curran Foundation to study and implement a remediation project for the 2,240-acre Kittanning Run watershed. This is the basin that sits above the Horseshoe Curve on the border between Cambria and Blair counties and drains into an Altoona Water Authority reservoir.
• Acid Mine Drainage Treatment in Bolivia:
  Our premier environmental engineering service-learning project is an effort to clean up dangerous toxic metals that are leaching into surface water supplies in the Bolivian Andes. You will spend 2 weeks in-country collecting technical data, interacting with community members, and immersing themselves in the regional culture. The ultimate results are an expanding network of passive treatment systems that make polluted water safe for use in irrigation. Many previous participants have been able to present the findings of their work at national mine reclamation conferences which directly led to job offers. (Dependent on travel restrictions)