WRMI 2004 Annual Report
Education
WRMI faculty advised 15 Ph.D. and 6 M.S. graduate students in 2004. Of these, 1 Ph.D. and 2 M.S. students graduated.
The Evan R. Liblit Memorial Scholarship Fund was established in 1997 to provide support “for graduate students associated with the MSRC’s WRMI.” The awardee is selected based on, significance of environmental research, commitment to environmental principles, and academic performance. At year’s end, the fund had an account balance of more than $60,000.
The Steering Committee of the Evan R. Liblit Memorial Fund held its seventh annual fundraiser breakfast in conjunction with America Recycles Day, November 16, at the Culinary Arts Center of the New York Institute of Technology. This special event has a 3-fold purpose: it honors the memory and works of Evan R. Liblit, a pioneer and leader in the field of recycling and solid waste management; it serves as a fundraising event for the Memorial Scholarship Fund; and it awards the annual scholarship. Mr. Michael Cahill, a noted environmental lawyer with Germano and Cahill, P.C., and adjunct faculty at Stony Brook University, was the guest speaker. He shared his insights regarding solid waste issues affecting Long Island, as well as his remembrances of Evan Liblit.
Paula Rose, a doctoral student in MSRC, received the seventh annual Evan R. Liblit Memorial Scholarship. The $2,000 award was presented by Dennis J. Lynch, chairman of the Evan R. Liblit Memorial Fund. Rose’s master’s thesis focused on medical radioisotopes in municipal sewage and sewage sludge. The motivation for this work came out of a conference hosted by WRMI in 2001on low-level radioactivity in solid waste. In her acceptance speech, Rose explained that the most common source of radioactivity in solid waste comes from medical patient waste (diagnostic and therapeutic treatments). However, most medical patient waste is disposed of in the sewerage system. She said that while a radioisotope of iodine was detectable in sewage sludge at levels higher than suggested in the scientific literature, it is probably not much of an issue environmentally. For her Ph.D. research, Rose will be exploring its utility as a geochemical tracer for short-term coastal processes.
Dr. Paul Edelson, Dean of the School of Professional Development, spoke about waste management and the School’s Waste Management Certificate Program. This advanced program, offered in association with the Waste Reduction and Management Institute, is designed for waste management professionals in order to provide educational background as well as current expertise in waste management issues.
Additional environmental awards were presented by Dennis Lynch. Larry Swanson, MSRC Associate Dean, and Director of the Center’s Waste Reduction and Management Institute, received a Lifetime Achievement Award for his work and commitment to waste reduction, reuse and recycling. Annual Liblit Environmental Stewardship Awards for outstanding and innovative recycling and environmental programs were given to: A1A/US Green Building Council, Dvirka and Bartilucci Consulting Engineers, Brookhaven National Laboratory, and keynote speaker Michael Cahill, an environmental lawyer with Germano and Cahill, P.C., and adjunct faculty at Stony Brook University.
For more information about the Evan R. Liblit Memorial Scholarship Fund, see http://www.msrc.sunysb.edu/inst_fac/inst_fac_wmri.htm#L and http://www.msrc.sunysb.edu/news/libfun.html.
In a continued collaboration with the University’s School of Professional Development, WRMI oversaw the Waste Management Advanced Graduate Certificate Program, an 18-credit graduate level course of study designed to prepare students for careers in waste management. The program has now been expanded to offer students the option to earn a Master’s of Professional Studies degree with a concentration in Waste Management. For more information, see http://ws.cc.stonybrook.edu/spd/graduate/wastemgmt.html.
Some WRMI faculty have begun to teach courses in a new undergraduate major in environmental studies administered by the Marine Sciences Research Center. This interdisciplinary major focuses on the complexity of environmental issues, integrating areas of social sciences, engineering, the natural sciences, and the humanities.
Institute members served on a number of University and Center-wide committees dealing with education, and were also active in various aspects of the undergraduate education and Honors Degree Program including advising, teaching courses, and serving on the Honors College Faculty Advisory Committee.
Page last modified on Friday, July 21, 2006 by George E. Carroll