Environmental Engineering—PhD

Develop a deeper understanding of how human systems impact the natural environment and how to engineer systems to protect human health and ecosystems. Apply advanced environmental engineering principles to improve and maintain the environment for the protection of human health, nature's ecosystems, and quality of human life. Are you ready?

Program Overview

Sustainability is integrated throughout the curriculum. Our doctorate in environmental engineering faculty and students regularly work on interdisciplinary research projects that interface with Sustainability; the Earth, Planetary and Space Sciences Institute; the Center for Water and Society; and faculty in the areas of biological sciences, chemistry, forestry, geological engineering and sciences, chemical and mechanical engineering, and environmental policy.

  • Delivery Options

    • On-Campus: PhD

Environmental Engineering Program Details

Learn more about the environmental engineering program at Michigan Tech. For international students, Environmental Engineering is a designated STEM program.

On-Campus Programs

Additional Program Information

Want to learn more about environmental engineering at Michigan Tech? Visit the department for more information:

Building Equitable Partnerships

"My doctoral research is building equitable research partnerships between Michigan Tech and the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community to address the shared concern about the mixture toxicity associated with fish consumption. With an interest in both science and policy, I am grateful for advisors and mentors that support interdisciplinary degrees."

Emily Shaw
Emily Shaw
'22, PhD Environmental Engineering

Contact

Graduate Director

Veronica Webster and Shiliang Wu

Graduate Assistant

Angela Keranen

 

Sample Areas of Interest

Select areas of interest to help customize your environmental engineering PhD. Sample areas include:

  • Air Quality
  • Surface Water Quality
  • Subsurface Remediation

View full listing for this program

Application Process and Admissions Requirements

Applications are reviewed on an individual basis using a holistic approach. Fill out our free graduate application online to apply to any of our programs. Official transcripts and scores are not required for the initial application, although you will need to upload them later.

Accredited by HLC

Michigan Tech has been accredited by the Higher Learning Commission (HLC) since 1928. Our Graduate School offers over 125 certificates, master's, and PhD programs to provide our students and the world with what tomorrow needs.

Who You'll Work With

Our expert faculty have made our graduate program one of the best in the nation. Because this is an interdisciplinary program, you may collaborate with faculty in biological sciences, chemistry, forestry, math, physics, material science, geological engineering and sciences, chemical and mechanical engineering, and environmental policy to help get the entire picture.

Where You'll Work

Graduate students have access to more than 43,000 square feet of research and teaching labs with state-of-the-art equipment for drinking water and wastewater treatment, organic and inorganic contaminant characterization, air- and water-quality monitoring, and sediment analysis. Lab spaces can accommodate a variety of research from small-scale batch studies to large-scale simulations. Michigan Tech maintains its own research vessel, the R/V Agassiz, which allows researchers to take advantage of the largest freshwater laboratory in the world: Lake Superior. 

Faculty Spotlight

Eric Seagren

Eric Seagren
Professor, Civil and
Environmental Engineering

"Inspired by the challenge of harnessing naturally-occurring microbial processes to solve environmental problems."

Seagren applies environmental microbiology and engineering tools to investigate and solve challenges including biological wastewater treatment, bioremediation of contaminated subsurface environments, treatment of urban storm water runoff, and the improvement of the engineering properties of soils.

Program Faculty