Dr. James R. Mihelcic
Dr. James R. Mihelcic is a Professor of Civil & Environmental Engineering and a State of Florida 21st Century World Class Scholar. His teaching and research interests are in environmental engineering, sustainability, water scarcity, and implementing appropriate technology that meets the needs of the global community for water and sanitation. He is a past recipient of the Association of Environmental Engineering and Science Professors Wiley Interscience Award for Outstanding Contributions to Environmental Engineering & Science Education. He has also received several departmental teaching awards and traveled extensively in the developing world, working on issues of water supply and treatment, sanitation, hygiene, solid waste management, and watershed restoration.
Dr. Mihelcic is the lead author of three textbooks: Fundamentals of Environmental Engineering (John Wiley & Sons, 1999), Environmental Engineering: Fundamentals, Design, Sustainability (John Wiley & Sons, to appear in late 2008) and Field Guide in Environmental Engineering for Development Workers: Water, Sanitation, Indoor Air, (American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) Press and UNESCO Press, to appear in late 2008). He is the current President of the Association of Environmental Engineering and Science Professors (AEESP) and is also a member of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Science Advisory Board Environmental Engineering Committee.
In 1997, Dr. Mihelcic created the very first Master’s International program in engineering. This unique program allows students to combine graduate school with 2+ years of overseas service as a water/sanitation engineer in the U.S. Peace Corps. Over 60 students have enrolled in this program and served as water/sanitation engineers in 24 countries. He now directs the Master’s International Program in Civil & Environmental Engineering at the University of South Florida and plans to develop a Peace Corps Fellows program for returning volunteers. He also directs a research program in Bolivia supported by the National Science Foundation that solves local problems of water and sanitation by teaming U.S. and Bolivian engineering students, a non-governmental organization, and several communities.