Program Information

Graduate study is offered leading to the degrees Master of Engineering, Master of Science, and Doctor of Philosophy in the field of environmental engineering sciences. Our graduate research and education areas are

Air Resources

• Monitoring of air pollutants: indoor, ambient, industrial, and occupational
• Monitoring methodology and instrumentation development
• Formation and fate of air pollutants
• Air quality modeling
• Air pollution control: system, process and materials
• Sustainability of air quality
• Health effects and environmental impact of air pollutant

Environmental Nanotechnology

• Manufacturing and tailoring of nanomaterials and nanodevices for application in environmental and human health research
• Environmental fate and transport of nanomaterials
• Environmental implications of nanomaterials

Engineering Education Collaborative

• Student-centered learning and design based apprenticeship
• Problem solving and critical thinking
• Diversity and cultures of inclusion
• Role of informal learning environments
• Universal design for STEM students with (learning) disabilities

GeoSystem Engineering/Waste Management

• Bioreactor Landfills
• Combustion and Thermal Treatment Residuals
• Contaminated Soil Characterization and Treatment
• Construction and Demolition Debris
• Electronic Waste
• Hazardous Waste
• Landfill Design and Operations
• Landfill Gas and Leachate
• Recycling and Beneficial Use of Wastes
• Treated Wood
• Waste Characterization and Leaching
• Solid Waste Management in Developing Countries

Stormwater, Water Supply and Wastewater

• Fundamental characterization of aqueous and particulate-phase contaminants including emerging contaminants: representative ambient monitoring, methodology and load quantification.
• Sourcing and generation of aqueous and particulate phase contaminants, physics and chemistry of contaminant transport and fate.
• Water contaminant control: systems, unit operation and processes, and materials development, in particular innovative mass transfer materials and low impact development materials.
• Water reuse as part of the urban water cycle: volumetric and contaminant load impacts
• Unit operation and process modeling: scalable physical models and computational fluid dynamics (CFD).
• Integrated physical, chemical, biological and thermal treatment phenomena for water cycle components.
• Coupling fundamental monitoring and material balance testing with urban water modeling.
• Fundamental and applied studies of physical-chemical water treatment processes, such as adsorption, coagulation, ion exchange, and oxidation, for a wide range of water qualities including surface water, groundwater, membrane concentrate, landfill leachate, and human urine.
• Innovative applications of ion exchange for water treatment.
• Fundamental studies in aquatic chemistry with a focus on the role of natural organic matter.
• Fundamental and applied studies of adsorption and photocatalysis, including surface optimization
• Bottom up integrated urban water system simulation and optimization

Sustainability Science & Engineering

• Rational design of nanomaterial through acute and full-life-cycle toxicity assessment
• Life cycle assessment calculations and comparisons of alternative energy and materials options
• Industrial ecology
• Corporate water resources sustainability
• Campus green building codes
• Green laboratory techniques
• Operation of buildings to meet green energy requirements

Systems Ecology and Ecological Engineering

• Ecological Engineering
• Emergy Analysis and Environmental Economics
• Wetlands and Watershed Ecology
• Ecological Modeling
• Community and Conservation Ecology
• Environmental Policy
• Microbiology of Natural and Engineered Systems
• Biological and Chemical Remediation of Contaminated Systems
• Effects of Climate and Land Use Changes on Biogeochemical Cycles

Water Systems

• Contaminant transport and fate
• Decision support systems
• Ecohydrology and hydrologic restoration
• Hydrology
• Stormwater control
• Water resources planning and management
• Water conservation
• Fundamental characterization of aqueous and particulate-phase contaminants including emerging contaminants: representative ambient monitoring, methodology and load quantification.
• Sourcing and generation of aqueous and particulate phase contaminants, physics and chemistry of contaminant transport and fate.
• Water contaminant control: systems, unit operation and processes, and materials development, in particular innovative mass transfer materials and low impact development materials.
• Water reuse as part of the urban water cycle: volumetric and contaminant load impacts
• Unit operation and process modeling: scalable physical models and computational fluid dynamics (CFD).
• Integrated physical, chemical, biological and thermal treatment phenomena for water cycle components.
• Coupling fundamental monitoring and material balance testing with urban water modeling.
• Fundamental and applied studies of physical-chemical water treatment processes, such as adsorption, coagulation, ion exchange, and oxidation, for a wide range of water qualities including surface water, groundwater, membrane concentrate, landfill leachate, and human urine.
• Innovative applications of ion exchange for water treatment.
• Fundamental studies in aquatic chemistry with a focus on the role of natural organic matter.
• Fundamental and applied studies of adsorption and photo catalysis, including surface optimization
• Bottom up integrated urban water system simulation and optimization
• Aqueous Geochemistry and Water Treatment

Graduate students can also combine one or more of the above areas with specialties in other departments at the University of Florida.

The department participates in the hydrologic sciences interdisciplinary concentration that is offered through 9 departments in 3 colleges. This concentration is described under Interdisciplinary Graduate Studies.

Direct admission into the Master of Science and Doctor of Philosophy programs requires a bachelor’s degree in engineering or in a basic science such as chemistry, geology, physics, biology, or mathematics. Persons with a degree in a nontechnical field may also be admitted into this program after completing appropriate technical courses. Direct admission into the Master of Engineering program requires a bachelor’s degree in engineering from an ABET-accredited institution.

Requirements for a master’s degree normally take 12 to 24 months to complete. The length of time required for the Doctor of Philosophy degree depends partly on the research topic, and may be completed in 3 years, but often takes longer, depending on prior academic experience.

Combination degree program: The department offers a combination bachelor’s/master’s degree program. This program allows qualified students to earn both a bachelor’s degree and a master’s degree, with a savings of 12 credits.

Joint program: The Environmental Engineering Sciences Department, in partnership with the Levin College of Law, offers a joint program leading to the M.S. or M.E. degree in environmental engineering sciences and the Juris Doctor degree. Twelve credits of appropriate course work are counted toward both degrees.

For more information, please see our website: http://www.essie.ufl.edu.

Degrees Offered with a Major in Environmental Engineering Sciences

• Doctor of Philosophy
  • without a concentration
  • concentration in Geographic Information Systems
  • concentration in Hydrologic Sciences
  • concentration in Wetland Sciences
• Master of Engineering
  • without a concentration
  • concentration in Geographic Information Systems
  • concentration in Hydrologic Sciences
  • concentration in Wetland Sciences
• Master of Science
  • without a concentration
  • concentration in Geographic Information Systems
  • concentration in Hydrologic Sciences
  • concentration in Wetland Sciences

Requirements for these degrees are given in the Graduate Degrees section of this catalog.

Environmental Engineering Sciences Program Courses

Hydrology / Water Resources Shared Courses

Environmental Engineering Sciences Departmental Courses

College of Engineering Courses

environmental engineering sciences (PHD)

SLO 1     Knowledge        
Knowledge an ability to identify, formulate, and solve environmental problems using scientific and engineering methods and tools

SLO 2     Skills     
An ability to critically read and evaluate engineering or science literature.
An ability to use the techniques, methods, and appropriate professional tools necessary for professional practice at an advanced level
An ability to communicate effectively

SLO 3     Professional Behavior   
An understanding of professional and ethical responsibility

Environmental Engineering Sciences (ME & MS)

SLO 1     Knowledge        
An ability to identify, formulate, and solve environmental problems using scientific and engineering methods and tools

SLO 2     Skills     
An ability to critically read and evaluate engineering or science literature     
An ability to use the techniques, methods, and appropriate professional tools necessary for professional practice at an advanced level
An ability to communicate effectively

SLO 3     Professional Behavior   
An understanding of professional and ethical responsibility