鶹Ƶ

Skip to main content
  • Home
  • 鶹Ƶ
  • Faculty Experts
  • For The Media
  • ’Cuse Conversations Podcast
  • Topics
    • Alumni
    • Events
    • Faculty
    • Students
    • All Topics
  • Contact
  • Submit
Campus & Community
  • All News
  • Arts & Culture
  • Business & Economy
  • Campus & Community
  • Health & Society
  • Media, Law & Policy
  • STEM
  • Veterans
  • University Statements
  • 鶹ƵUniversity Impact
  • |
  • The Peel
Sections
  • All News
  • Arts & Culture
  • Business & Economy
  • Campus & Community
  • Health & Society
  • Media, Law & Policy
  • STEM
  • Veterans
  • University Statements
  • 鶹ƵUniversity Impact
  • |
  • The Peel
  • Home
  • 鶹Ƶ
  • Faculty Experts
  • For The Media
  • ’Cuse Conversations Podcast
  • Topics
    • Alumni
    • Events
    • Faculty
    • Students
    • All Topics
  • Contact
  • Submit
Campus & Community

鶹ƵHosts EMPOWER Advisory Committee

Friday, September 18, 2015, By Sarah Scalese
Share
Research and Creative

Last April, an interdisciplinary team of University professors was awarded $3 million from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to support a new graduate-level training initiative called the Education Model Program on Water-Energy Research (EMPOWER).

Laura Lautz

Laura Lautz

Before EMPOWER gets underway, the University will host a two-day meeting with an External Advisory Committee (EAC) to discuss the program’s design and implementation.

EAC consists of some of the biggest names in energy, advocacy, government research, environmental consulting and STEM education. They are Kevin Bohacs, a senior research scientist at ExxonMobil; Gillian Daly, a risk assessor at Golder Associates Ltd.; Steven Hamburg, a chief scientist at the Environmental Defense Fund; William Kappel, a hydrogeologist emeritus with the U.S. Geological Survey; and Aisha Morris, director of the Research Experiences in Solid Earth Science for Students, an internship program managed by UNAVCO, a nonprofit university-governed consortium.

Committee members arrive on Monday, Sept. 21, to participate in a variety of roundtable conversations, where they will discuss how EMPOWER can help graduate students succeed in STEM. They also will be involved with a graduate student-led panel discussion on career pathways in science and engineering.

Principal investigator Laura Lautz G’05, associate professor of Earth sciences in the , calls the meeting the “official kick-off” of the project.

“We are honored to host this impressive array of teachers, scientists and scholars,” says Lautz, also an adjunct assistant professor at the SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry. “I am confident that we will walk away from the meeting with a headful of ideas and strategies that will help us successfully implement the program.”

In addition to Arts and Sciences, EMPOWER involves faculty from the (ECS), the and the . They are Charles Driscoll, University Professor of Environmental Systems and a Distinguished Professor in ECS; Chris Johnson, professor of civil and environmental engineering in ECS; Christopher Junium, assistant professor of Earth sciences in Arts and Sciences; Tara Kahan, assistant professor of chemistry in Arts and Sciences; Christopher Scholz, professor of Earth sciences in Arts and Sciences; Donald Siegel, chair and professor of Earth sciences, as well as the Jessie Page Heroy and Laura J. and L. Douglas Meredith Professor in Arts and Sciences; Donald Torrance, associate professor and director of science communications in the Newhouse School; and Peter Wilcoxen, associate professor of public administration & international affairs and director of the Center for Environmental Policy and Administration in the Maxwell School.

EMPOWER is the latest in a string of successes for Syracuse’s Water Science and Engineering Initiative, jointly funded by the Office of the Provost, Arts and Sciences, and ECS. The team’s proposal was one of only eight funded, from an application pool of nearly 260.

The grant award provides a one-year, $32,000 stipend for up to 46 students. It also underwrites the development of various domestic and international field courses, including one in Rwanda, and a seed-grant training program.

  • Author
  • Faculty Experts

Sarah Scalese

  • Christopher A. Scholz

  • Recent
  • 鶹ƵStage Hosts Inaugural Julie Lutz New Play Festival
    Wednesday, May 28, 2025, By News Staff
  • Timur Hammond’s ‘Placing Islam’ Receives Journal’s Honorable Mention
    Tuesday, May 27, 2025, By News Staff
  • Expert Available to Discuss DOD Acceptance of Qatari Jet
    Thursday, May 22, 2025, By Vanessa Marquette
  • 鶹ƵUniversity 2025-26 Budget to Include Significant Expansion of Student Financial Aid
    Wednesday, May 21, 2025, By News Staff
  • Light Work Opens New Exhibitions
    Wednesday, May 21, 2025, By News Staff

More In Campus & Community

Michael J. Bunker Appointed Associate Vice President and Chief of Campus Safety and Emergency Management Services

鶹ƵUniversity today announced the appointment of Michael J. Bunker as the new associate vice president and chief of Campus Safety and Emergency Management Services following a national search. Bunker will begin his new role on July 1, 2025. He…

鶹ƵUniversity, Lockerbie Academy Reimagine Partnership, Strengthen Bond

鶹ƵUniversity and Lockerbie Academy are renewing and strengthening their longstanding partnership through a reimagined initiative that will bring Lockerbie students to 鶹Ƶfor a full academic year. This enhanced program deepens the bond between the two communities, forged in…

鶹ƵUniversity 2025-26 Budget to Include Significant Expansion of Student Financial Aid

鶹ƵUniversity today announced a major investment in student financial support as part of its 2025-26 budget, allocating more than $391 million to financial aid, scholarships, grants and related assistance. This represents a 7% increase over last year and reflects…

Engaged Humanities Network Community Showcase Spotlights Collaborative Work

The positive impact of community-engaged research was on full display at the Community Folk Art Center (CFAC) on May 2. CFAC’s galleries showcased a wide array of projects, including work by the Data Warriors, whose scholars, which include local students…

Students Engaged in Research and Assessment

Loretta Awuku, Sylvia Page and Johnson Akano—three graduate students pursuing linguistic studies master’s degrees from the College of Arts and Sciences—spent the past year researching and contributing to assessment and curricular development processes. The research team’s project, Peer-to-Peer Student Outreach…

Subscribe to SU Today

If you need help with your subscription, contact sunews@syr.edu.

Connect With Us

For the Media

Find an Expert
© 2025 鶹ƵUniversity News. All Rights Reserved.