Sustainability

From left: Bill Buttlar, Punyaslok Rath, Nandita Gettu, Anneliese Owor

Jan. 15, 2025

Mizzou Civil Engineers receive High Value Research Award  

Researchers from the Missouri Center for Transportation Innovation (MCTI) accepted a High Value Research Award for their work in sustainable pavements. 
Ellen Wan with biochar panels

Nov. 14, 2024

Using biowaste to create clean water

Mizzou Engineer Caixia “Ellen” Wan is filtering clean water using new materials created from lignocellulosic biomass waste.
Bill Buttlar and Punya Rath examine rubber-modified asphalt in the Mizzou Asphalt Pavement and Innovation Lab in Lafferre Hall.

Oct. 15, 2024

Where rubber meets the road

Mizzou researchers are devising a way to demonstrate how rubber-based asphalt reduces greenhouse emissions.
Yingchao Yang posed with biochar sample in the lab

Oct. 8, 2024

Eco-friendly firefighting

Mizzou Engineer Yingchao Yang and collaborators are developing a new biochar-based foam to reduce the use of harmful chemicals in controlling fires. 

April 12, 2024

Water and Environmental Research Lab team takes honors at statewide meeting

For the second year in a row, a Mizzou Engineering research group snagged an overall first place and a third-place award in the student poster competition at the joint annual meeting of the Missouri Water Works Association (MO-AWWA) and the Missouri Water Environmental Association (MWEA).

March 8, 2024

Xiao recognized with Excellence in Research Award from Environmental Science & Technology journal

Mizzou Engineering’s Feng “Frank” Xiao has been recognized with an Excellence in Review Award from Environmental Science & Technology (ES&T), the premier journal in environmental engineering and science.

Jan. 24, 2024

Through internship at NASA, Mizzou Engineer finds satellite imagery key to monitoring environmental changes

The ice that used to cover roughly 85% of Alaska is thawing, causing ground to collapse and putting communities at risk. Jaweed Nazary, a Ph.D. student in civil and environmental engineering, has found that satellite imagery is key to pinpointing exactly which locations are most susceptible to these changing conditions.

Dec. 1, 2023

Interdisciplinary team develops fast, reliable model to predict how seeds move

Playing an essential foundational role in an ecosystem, plants contribute to the well-being of human health by helping create resources like food and medicine. Therefore, to better understand how plants can maintain resiliency in the face of challenges like climate change, a team of researchers at the University of Missouri and Michigan State University recently collaborated to develop an innovative mathematical model that can provide fast and reliable predictions of how far wind can carry a plant’s seeds.

Dec. 1, 2023

Xiao Honored as 2023 Emerging Investigator, Presents Keynote at AWWA Conference

Feng “Frank” Xiao, associate professor of civil and environmental engineering, was honored by the Association of Environmental Engineering and Science Professors (AEESP) as the 2023 Emerging Investigator lecturer and presented a keynote address at the American Water Works Association’s (AWWA) Water Quality Technology Conference in Dallas last month.

Nov. 10, 2023

Algae-based manufacturing system uses CO2 to create eco-friendly plastic

Biodegradable plastics made from sustainable sources and CO2 are one step closer to reality thanks, in part, to a Mizzou Engineer’s expertise in bioprocesses and bioproducts.