We live in a time when no part of the natural environment is untouched by human activities. Great strides have been made in addressing many of the natural resources and environmental problems caused by human activities; however, population growth and rising standards of living continue to stress the natural environment and generate a spectrum of environmental problems that need to be solved.

Environmental engineers are called upon to understand, arrange and manipulate biological, chemical, ecological, economic, hydrological, physical and social processes to balance our material needs with our impacts on the environment. Such are the challenges of sustainability, while global climate makes these tasks all the more important.

At Cornell, environmental engineering majors pursue these challenges in a joint program of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences and College of Engineering.

Environmental Engineering News

Michael Charles headshot

Spotlight

Meet our faculty: Michael Charles
Academic focus: Computational and community-based sustainable solutions. Research summary: Broadly, I explore how computational models can help communities achieve their envisioned futures. My research is centered on designing sustainable...
  • American Indian and Indigenous Studies Program
  • Biological and Environmental Engineering
  • Computational Biology
Two women look at a screen on lab equiptment.

News

The program helped Alexa Schmitz, Ph.D. ’18, and colleagues explore the market potential for their sustainable way of extracting rare earth elements used in many electronics.

  • Biological and Environmental Engineering
Group photo of 8 fellows

News

  • Animal Science
  • Biological and Environmental Engineering
  • Food Science