W. Wesley Eckenfelder Graduate Research Award
2023 Recipient: Anna Kogler, Stanford University
Faculty Advisor: Dr. William A. Tarpeh, Stanford University
Anna Kogler is a fourth-year PhD student and Stanford Interdisciplinary Graduate Fellow in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Stanford University. She previously interned as an operator at Stanford’s Codiga Resource Recovery Center and worked as an environmental engineering consultant in water treatment. She earned a BS in Chemical Engineering at Washington University in St. Louis.
Now in Dr. William Tarpeh's lab, Anna studies electrochemical ammonia recovery from wastewater, which can reduce the costs and environmental impacts of wastewater treatment and chemical production while facilitating expansion of sanitation systems. She developed and evaluated flexible electrochemical stripping, a novel reactor that facilitates tunable recovery of ammonium sulfate fertilizer and ammonia disinfectant. To evaluate the quality and safety of recovered products, Anna investigates the fate of organic contaminants, including pharmaceuticals and disinfection byproducts, in electrochemical technologies treating urine. She also evaluates performance stability and maintenance requirements during long-term operation of electrochemical stripping to inform scale-up and implementation. Throughout her PhD, Anna has collaborated with practitioners in the U.S. and Senegal to enhance the impact of her research. She has also engaged undergraduate and master’s students in her projects to build her mentorship skills.
With undergraduate education and mentorship at the heart of her mission, Anna aims to become a professor at a predominantly undergraduate institution. She hopes to integrate content on electrochemical treatment, environmental justice, and decentralized wastewater systems in her teaching while she conducts interdisciplinary research building on her PhD work and centering undergraduate experiences.
Past Recipients
Year |
Recipient |
Advisor |
2022 |
Nguyen, Duong |
Anthony Straub, Ph.D. |
2021 |
Gao, Jiong |
Dionysios D. Dionysiou, Ph.D., BCEEM |
2020 |
Joseph E. Weaver |
Dr. Francis L. de los Reyes, III and Dr. Joel J. Ducoste, BCEEM |
2019 |
Christopher Lawson |
Katherine McMahon |
2018 |
Andrew Pfluger |
Junko Munakata-Marr and Linda Figueroa |
2017 |
No recipient |
|
2016 |
Dr. Matthew Verbyla |
|
2015 |
Bryan D. Coday |
Tzahi Cath, Colorado School of Mines |
2014 |
Maureen Kinyua |
Sarina Ergas, University of South Florida |
2013 |
Roland Cusick |
Bruce Logan, Pennsylvania State University |
2012 |
Xie He |
Francois de los Reyes, North Carolina State University |
This award is given annually to recognize an environmental engineering or environmental science graduate student whose research contributes to the knowledge pool of wastewater management. The award selection will be based on original, innovative research of publishable quality and other factors as provided below.
Both Master’s and Ph.D. students are eligible. The award will consist of a plaque and a cash honorarium of $1,500.00 for the student and a plaque for the faculty advisor. A $500.00 travel allotment to student recipients who attend the AAEES Excellence in Environmental Engineering and Science awards ceremony will also be provided. This award selection committee is administered jointly by AEESP and AAEES, and is co-sponsored by HDR. Eligible applicants will be judged based on academic program performance (45%), professional or community service (15%), project significance (25%), purpose and goals (10%), and any other evidence provided (5%). An applicant remains eligible up to one calendar year following graduation and receipt of the degree earned.
Electronic nomination packages should include: (1) A letter from the faculty advisor of the applicant, indicating that the applicant has completed all substantive requirements for the graduate degree sought, and has earned a minimum GPA of 3.3/4 in the current program, (2) Two academic letters of recommendation, detailing the contributions of the research to the profession, (3) Copy of a publication (or manuscript submitted for publication) derived from the subject research for which the applicant is the first author – 25 page limit, (4) A professional resume of the student applicant, listing all professional affiliations, publications, honors, service, and relevant experience, and (5) An applicant-prepared statement of professional purpose in pursuing the graduate degree and goals for the first five years of professional practice – (limit 500 words).
Information on where to submit a nomination package can be found here: https://aeespfoundation.org/awards/eckenfelder-graduate-research.
Professor Wesley Eckenfelder, Jr. is considered the “godfather” of industrial wastewater management. He was a great colleague and mentor to numerous practitioners, professors, and students. His prolific contributions to the environmental engineering discipline included writing over thirty books, serving as a principal in several environmental engineering firms, and receiving twenty-eight awards from a wide range of professional societies. In addition, Dr. Eckenfelder was an accomplished professor with a teaching career that included positions at Manhattan College, the University of Texas at Austin, and Vanderbilt University. He was known internationally as an early developer and innovator of biological treatment technology that is now considered a standard skill employed by practicing professionals, worldwide.