MTU Prof. James Mihelcic Named to EPA Science Advisory Board Committee

HOUGHTON -- Michigan Tech University Professor James R. Mihelcic of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering has accepted an invitation from EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) Administrator Stephen Johnson to serve a three-year appointment on EPA's Science Advisory Board Environmental Engineering Committee.

The Science Advisory Board -- comprised of non-governmental expert scientists, engineers and economists -- provides scientific advice to the the EPA administrator and several Congressional committees, including the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works and House of Representative Committees on Science and Technology, Interstate and Foreign Commerce, and Public Works and Transportation.

James Mihelcic, MTU professor of civil and environmental engineering and former co-director of the Sustainable Futures Institute (SFI) , chats with Qiong (Jane) Zhang, post-doctoral researcher and SFI operations manager, during the September 2006 SFI poster session. (Keweenaw Now file photo © 2006 Michele Anderson)

Mihelcic was a founding member of the Sustainable Futures Institute (SFI), where he served as co-director for several years. He has directed the Peace Corps Master's International Program in Civil and Environmental Engineering since its creation in 1997. He is also a founding member of the Michigan Tech Engineering Development for Humanity "D80" Center, which is dedicated to assisting the most vulnerable 80 percent of humanity in meeting their basic needs for food, water, shelter, sanitation, waste disposal, energy, income and education.

He researches ways in which biological processes can be applied to natural and engineered systems, green engineering and sustainability, water scarcity and its impact on human health, and water/sanitation/hygiene issues of the developing world. Read more on Tech Today.