Jeanne VanBriesen

Duquesne Light Company Professor
Director, Center for Water Quality in Urban Environmental Systems
Vice Provost for Faculty, Carnegie Mellon University

Bio

Jeanne M. VanBriesen is the Duquesne Light Company Professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and the Department of Engineering and Public Policy and the director of the Center for Water Quality in Urban Environmental Systems (Water QUEST) at Carnegie Mellon University. VanBriesen holds a B.S. in Education and an M.S. and Ph.D. in Civil Engineering from Northwestern University. She is a licensed professional engineer in the state of Delaware.

VanBriesen's research is in environmental systems, including urban water system sustainability and the built environment water cycle, and the energy-water nexus and watershed decision making. She has published more than sixty scientific articles and given more than 150 professional presentations. Her research has been funded by the National Science Foundation, the Department of Defense, the Colcom Foundation, the Heinz Endowments, the Packard Foundation, and the Pennsylvania Infrastructure Technology Alliance. She has supervised twenty one Ph.D. dissertations and six M.S. theses.  VanBriesen has served on the U.S. EPA Science Advisory Board as well as the boards of the Association for Environmental Engineering and Science Professors and the Ohio River Basin Consortia for Research and Education. She is currently the chair of the board of directors of the Consortium of Universities for the Advancement of Hydrologic Sciences (CUAHSI).

VanBriesen is a Fellow of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) as well as of its Environmental Water Resources Institute (EWRI). VanBriesen has received numerous awards, including the 2015 Margaret S. Peterson Woman of the Year Award from the American Society of Civil Engineers, the 2015 Carnegie Science Center Environmental Award, the 2013 Philip L. Dowd Fellowship at Carnegie Mellon, the 2015 Barbara Lazarus Award for Graduate Student and Junior Faculty Mentoring at Carnegie Mellon University, the 2009 American Society of Civil Engineers Pittsburgh Chapter Professor of the year,  and the 2007 Pennsylvania Water Environment Association Professional Research Award in 2007.  VanBriesen was  a selected presenter at the National Academy of Engineering Indo-US Frontiers of Engineering Symposium on Infrastructure in 2008, and an invited speaker at the National Academy of Engineering Education Symposium in 2010. She was selected as a National Academy of Engineering Gilbreth Lecturer in 2011.

Education

PhD 1998 - Northwestern University
MS 1993 - Northwestern University
BS 1990 - Northwestern University

Research

Research Group: EESS, AIS
Research Center: Sii, SEER, ICES, CenSCIR, CEINT

• Urban water system sustainability and the built environment water cycle
• The energy-water nexus and watershed decision making

Publications

Good, K.D. and VanBriesen, J.M. (2017) “Power plant bromide discharges and downstream drinking water systems in Pennsylvania,” Environmental Science and Technology 51(20): 11829-11838.

Kolb, C., Francis, R., VanBriesen, J.M. (2017) “Disinfection by-product regulatory compliance surrogates and bromide-associated risk,” Journal of Environmental Sciences, 58 (191-207).

Cadwallader, A. and VanBriesen, J.M. (2017) “Incorporating Uncertainty into Future Estimates of Nitrous Oxide Emissions from Wastewater Treatment,” ASCE Journal of Environmental Engineering; 143 (8): 04017029-1.

Wang, Y., Small, M., VanBriesen, J.M. (2016) “Assessing the risk associated with increasing bromide in drinking water sources in the Monongahela River, Pennsylvania,”  ASCE Journal of Environmental Engineering. Vol 143: Issue 3.

Good, K.D. and VanBriesen, J.M. (2016) “Current and potential future bromide loads from coal-fired power plants in the Allegheny River Basin and their effects on downstream concentrations,” Environmental Science and Technology. 50(17): 9078-9088.

Good, K.D., Bergman, L., Klara, S., Leitch, M., VanBriesen, J.M. (2016) “Engineered Nanomaterials and Drinking Water Sources,” Journal American Water Works Association. 108(1): E1-E17.

Recent Awards and Honors

• 2018: Named Fellow, American Society of Civil Engineers

• 2016: Achievement Rewards for College Scientists (ARCS) Alumni Hall of Fame

• 2016: Named Fellow, Environmental and Water Resources Institute

• 2015: awarded Carnegie Science Center Environmental Award
• 2015: named an ELATE Fellow, Drexel University
• 2015: awarded the Margaret S. Peterson Award from the American Society of Civil Engineers, Environmental and Water Resources Insititute
• 2013: Selected as the Philip L. Dowd Fellowship recipient, awarded by CIT
• 2011: National Academy of Engineering Armstrong Endowment for Young Engineers Gilbreth Lectureship
• 2010: Selected Presenter at NAE Frontiers of Engineering Education Symposium
• 2009: Aldo Leopold Leadership Program Fellowship
• 2009: presented the McGraw-Hill/ AEESP Award for Outstanding Teaching in Environmental Engineering and Science from Association for Environmental Engineering and Science Professors
• 2009: named Professor of the Year, American Society of Civil Engineers Pittsburgh Chapter
• 2008: awarded Best Research Paper: Journal of Water Resources Planning and Management (JWRPM) for “Efficient Sensor Placement Optimization for Securing Large Water Distribution Networks
• 2007: recieved Pennsylvania Water Environment Association Professional Research Award