Dr. Hicks’s research group at the University of Wisconsin-Madison in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering is recruiting new graduate students for the Fall 2021 semester. Students will be supported through a combination of research and teaching support.
We are looking for quantitatively sustainability minded graduate students to join our research group in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering. Projects will focus on the environmental impacts and sustainability implications of emerging technologies, using tools such as life cycle assessment (LCA), technoeconomic assessment (TEA), agent based modeling (ABM), and optimization. Research will be framed around the three paradigms of sustainability, environment, economy, and society, and theories in Industrial Ecology. Examples of current projects include the life cycle implications of engineered nanomaterials, closed loop food production systems, resource recovery from human and agricultural wastewater, and autonomous vehicles. We seek to work in areas that will benefit the sustainability of society as whole.
Preferred candidate qualifications include an undergraduate or master’s degree in engineering, or natural science. Undergraduate or previous research experience is desirable, but not required. For the current application season the Department of Civil and Environmental has decided to waive the GRE requirement. Ideal experience would include either life cycle assessment or computer programing examples. Students wanting to earn a PhD degree are preferred, although exceptional candidates at the MS level will also be considered.
If you are interested please contact Dr. Andrea Hicks at hicks5(at)wisc.edu, and include a copy of your CV and a 1 page statement of research purpose (essentially, why do you want to do this type of sustainability work?).