CEE 442/642 – Treatment Processes in Environmental Engineering (Fall Semester | 3 Credits)
This course covers the chemical, physical, and biological principles underlying the design and operation of drinking water and wastewater treatment systems. Topics include water demand and regulations, reactor analysis, coagulation and flocculation, sedimentation, granular filtration, membrane filtration, reverse osmosis, disinfection, wastewater characteristics and regulations, preliminary and primary treatment, wastewater microbiology, secondary treatment, nutrient removal, and infrastructure issues of emerging concern to water professionals. This course incorporates visits to drinking water and wastewater treatment facilities and laboratory experiments designed to simulate selected treatment processes.
CEE 430/630 – Environmental Organic Chemistry (Spring Semester | 3 Credits)
This course covers partitioning and transformation processes that govern the movement and fate of organic molecules, such as synthetic organic chemicals, in environmental systems. Topics are structured as two major modules: physical partitioning and chemical transformations. The physical partitioning module covers volatilization, dissolution, sorption, and uptake processes that control the transfer of organic molecules between the environmental phases of interest: water, air, soil/sediment, and biota. The chemical transformation module covers the mechanisms and kinetics of hydrolysis, reduction, oxidation, and photolysis that control the persistence of organic molecules in the environment. This course incorporates the application of fate and exposure models and tools.
CEE 571 – Water Quality Modeling (Spring Semester | 3 Credits)
This course covers the transport of conservative and reactive substances of management interest (e.g., dissolved oxygen, pathogens, nutrients, organic pollutants) in surface water systems. Topics include the technical and regulatory aspects of water quality management, the mathematical formulation of transport phenomena and biochemical reactions, the quantification of water quality-related processes in streams and lakes, and the demonstration of open-source water quality modeling programs.
Summer Research Internship in Water Quality Analysis (Summer Months – Recurring)
The Summer Research Internship in Water Quality Analysis is a hands-on research program designed for high school students. This program introduces participants to laboratory techniques and analytical methods used in water quality monitoring. Interns will assist in the preparation and analysis of water samples collected from lakes and streams in New York State and contribute to ongoing projects to assess surface water quality, identify emerging contaminants, and develop data-driven watershed management strategies.
Specifically, interns will participate in supervised laboratory and research activities, including but not limited to, measuring basic physicochemical parameters (e.g., pH, conductivity, optical properties) of water samples, preparing samples for advanced instrumental analysis (e.g., liquid chromatography–high-resolution mass spectrometry), and assisting with sample documentation and data management. Interns will be required to complete laboratory safety training provided by Syracuse University’s Environmental Health and Safety Services (EHSS) and will receive appropriate training before performing any laboratory tasks. Guidelines on hosting Minors on Campus are provided by the Office of Institutional Risk Management: https://riskmanagement.syr.edu/minors-on-campus/reference-materials/