Page 3 - CEGE Magazine Spring 2021

CEGENEWS
UNIVERSITY
The University of Minnesota ranks 17th in the world—#9 among US public universities—on the 2019 “Top 100 Worldwide Universities Granted US Utility Patents,” released by the National Academy of Inventors and the Intellec- tual Property Owners Association. The list draws on data from the US Patent and Trademark Office. UMN has risen in the rankings for the past five years.
CEGE is committed to enhancing diver- sity and accessibility, and we celebrate that the University of Minnesota Twin Cities campus has been recognized for upholding these values.
UMN Twin Cities named a platinum -level Bicycle Friendly University by
the League of American Bicyclists. Only eight higher education institutions received this recognition.
UMN Twin Cities ranked 11 in the top 20 wheelchair friendly campuses across the country by Wheels on Campus, a publication of New Mobility Magazine. Donna Johnson, the director for the UMN Disability Resource Center says, “We want to go beyond the letter of the law and really implement the spirit of the law.”
ESPN named the UMN Twin Cities one of the top five Unified Sports schools in the country. The program
is a collaboration between the UMN’s Recreation and Wellness department, the UMN Special Olympics club, and Minnesota Special Olympics. Over 200 student athletes from UMN and the Special Olympics community compete each year in flag football, basketball, bowling, and soccer.
And we keep pressing forward: a UMN national study is aimed at improv- ing transportation with accessibility data. The goal is to ensure that efficient public transportation is available to
those who need it. And CSE announced a new $1 million donation from Polaris Inc. to provide access to STEM-related education, project-based learning pro- grams, and scholarships for diverse and underrepresented student communities.
DEPARTMENT
The Michael M. and Nancy L. Heuer Soil Mechanics Laboratory Operations Fund was established by CEGE alumnus Michael Heuer to maintain and improve the operational excellence of the Heuer Soil Mechanics Laboratory, a vitally important CEGE instructional facility.
FACULTY
When COVID-19 arose, the use of disinfectants also rose. WILLIAM ARNOLD and his colleagues Priya Hora, Sarah Pati, and Patrick McNamara examined the effects that the rising use of disinfectants have on the environ- ment. Their research, “Increased Use
of Quaternary Ammonium Compounds during the SARS-CoV-2 Pandemic
and Beyond: Consideration of Environ- mental Implications” was published in Environmental Science and Technology Letters and also cited in Environmental Health News (EHN). doi: 10.1021/acs. estlett.0c00437
WILLIAM ARNOLD was appointed by the National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine’s Water Sci- ence and Technology Board to serve on the Committee on the Future of Water Quality in Coeur d’Alene Lake. His appointment term is 18 months.
Researchers MATTHEW BERENS, PAUL CAPEL, and WILLIAM ARNOLD sought more information about the occurrence of neonicotinoid insecticides in surface and groundwater across various land uses. They monitored 65 sites in Minne- sota and collected 157 water samples. Results showed total neonicotinoid concentrations were highest in agricul- tural watersheds, followed by urban and undeveloped watersheds. The seasonal trend of neonicotinoid concentrations
in rivers, streams, and lakes showed highest concentrations coincided with spring planting and elevated streamflow. No samples exceeded acute aquatic-life benchmarks for individual neonicot- inoids; 10% of samples exceeded a chronic benchmark for neonicotinoid mixtures. Observed concentrations suggest there were low acute and potential chronic risks to aquatic life. This the first study of its size in Min- nesota. The research was featured on Minnesota Public Radio. The full article, “Neonicotinoid Insecticides in Surface Water, Groundwater, and Wastewater across Land Use Gradients and Poten- tial Effects,” can be found in the journal Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (doi: 10.1002/etc.4959).
XUE FENG, an expert in ecohydrology and global environmental change, presented a seminar on Water, Plants, and Climate Change, an event hosted by the Minnesota Water Research Fund. Feng explained that the amount of water plants use plays a pivotal role in regulating the global water, carbon, and energy cycles. She explored how plants came to be incorporated in climate models and how being smarter about plant water use can help us make better predictions about climate change and its impacts on forests and farmlands.
University of Minnesota College of Science and Engineering | DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL, ENVIRONMENTAL, AND GEO- ENGINEERING 3