Jeanne VanBriesen
Duquesne Light Company Professor, Civil and Environmental Engineering, Engineering and Public Policy
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 60 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 21 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
- Ph.D., Civil Engineering, Northwestern University, 1996
- MS, Civil Engineering, Northwestern University, 1993
- BS, Education, Northwestern University, 1990
VanBriesen’s work with drinking water systems helped improve the quality of Pittsburgh’s Monongahela River.
VanBriesen discusses the water-energy nexus that is integral to understanding how fracking for natural gas impacts the environment. VanBriesen is also an expert in the area of urban water issues.
VanBriesen presented about water concerns related to shale gas development at the symposium celebrating the launch of the institute.