The Adventus Group, a world leader in the soil, sediment and groundwater bioremediation industry, once again joined the University of Massachusetts Amherst to recognize emerging environmental scientists during the 25th Annual International Conference on Soils, Sediments and Water held here recently. Three students were awarded $1,000 for the best overall scientific presentations by the Northeast Regional Environment Public Health Center and The School of Public Health.
This year’s judging committee consisted of Scott R. Blaha (General Electric), Matthew Burns (WSP Environment & Energy), David Ludwig (ARCADIS), Dawn Oliveira (EFI Global, Inc.), Frank Peduto (Spectra Environmental Group), Paul Rakowski (Booz, Allen, Hamilton), Richard Raymond (Terra Systems), Christopher Teaf (Florida State University), Stephen P. Truchon (ARCADIS), along with John Valkenburg and Josephine Molin from the Adventus Group.
“For the sixth consecutive year now, Adventus has recognized the value of fostering student involvement in industry events such as this conference,” said Dr. Paul Kostecki, Conference Director and Senior Advisor, Clean Energy China Initiative – Office of the President, at University of Massachusetts Amherst. “It is always encouraging to work with far-sighted firms that give back to the industry. This annual Student Award program is a superb way to bring the state-of-the-art information presented here to the next generation of scientists.”
“These impressive young scientists all displayed a keen understanding of the scientific process and how to present their work. Selecting the winners was extremely difficult, although the industry will surely be hearing more from these students in years ahead,” said John Valkenburg of Adventus. “As our company continues to develop the next generation of remediation biotechnologies, it is our privilege to showcase the important role partnerships with the academic community and private sector organizations can play. To further enable this, we’ve added a new feature called the Winner’s Circle to our website. This will allow the wider industry to enjoy an archived copy of their presentations”. The online link is available at http://www.adventusgroup.com/library/studentawards.shtml.
This year’s contest winners were:
Ms. Pamela Schultz Birak, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, for her poster on ”Rheological Characteristics of Manufactured Gas Plant Tars and Implications for Remediation”.
Ms. Kayleigh Dunnett, University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign, for her presentation on “Biodegradation of Tert-butyl Alcohol (TBA) using Biological Granular Activated Carbon (Bio-GAC)”.
Ms. Laura Nicklaus, Department of Civil Engineering and Construction, Bradley University, for her presentation on “Magnesium Corrosion and Stabilization/Solidification Effectiveness Using the Toxicity Characteristic Leaching Procedure”.
The evaluation factors used to rate the presentations included: Topic Selection/Innovation, Research and Analysis Techniques Utilized, Presentation/Poster Organization and Structure, Quality of Presentation Materials and Communication of Presentation/Poster Content. Each presentation was ranked using a mathematical scale. Scores were tabulated by the Committee, with awards provided to three students possessing the highest total score.
About Adventus Group – Environmental Biotechnologies for the 21st Century
Adventus exclusively offers DARAMEND®, EHC® and related ZVI technologies for In Situ Chemical Reduction (ISCR™) along with TERRAMEND®, AQUABLOK+™, EHC-O®, O-SOX™, and mGCW™ systems to address myriad soil, sediment and groundwater impacts. Our world-class technical team is a clearly recognized industry leader. Since its inception in 2003, Adventus has successfully deployed field installations across North America, South America, Europe, Asia, and Oceania.
The Adventus family of companies is always seeking strategic partnerships with complementary remediation biotechnologies, and qualified international licensees in numerous countries. For more information contact us via Info [at] AdventusGroup [dot] com.
About University of Massachusetts Amherst
Located on 1,450-acres in the scenic Pioneer Valley of Western Massachusetts, The University of Massachusetts Amherst is the flagship campus of the Commonwealth’s University system. UMass Amherst is a major research university enrolling 24,000 students, from all 50 United States and more than 100 countries. Its 10 schools and colleges offer 88 undergraduate majors, 68 master’s and 48 doctoral programs. Sponsored research activities total more than $100 million a year.
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