PhD Student Colin Miller Awarded Green Fellowship for Collaborative Research on the Environment 

 

Mechanical Engineering PhD student Colin Miller, advised by Professor Michael Gollner in Fire Protection Engineering and Geographical Sciences PhD student Kristofer Lasko were recently selected to receive the ‘Green Fellowship for Collaborative Research on the Environment’ awarded by the University of Maryland’s Council on the Environment. Their proposal entitled, “A bottom-up approach to characterize crop residue burning practices and the associated air pollution emissions variation,” will address uncertainties related to crop residue burning emissions variation, map crop residue burning areas, as well as quantify the potential to reduce air pollution emissions through altered residue burning practices and diversion into bioenergy for the Hanoi, Vietnam, area. The improved assessment of crop residue burning practices’ impact on emissions may be useful for not only environmental sustainability and pollution concerns, but also for economic and social sustainability. The findings could guide governmental policies or incentives to encourage farmers to follow improved residue management practices. This may lead to a reduction in biomass burning emissions benefiting the environment as well as public health and the economy.

Colin was also recently accepted into the the Future Faculty Program. The A. James Clark School of Engineering’s Future Faculty Program prepares doctoral students for career-long success in the academic world as mentors and researchers. Participants build skills in areas such as technical and grant writing, curriculum development, teaching, research, oral presentations, applying for academic positions, and interviewing. The program, which includes seminars, a teaching practicum, and a research mentoring practicum, takes three to five semesters to complete.

Colin is advised by Prof. Michael Gollner in Fire Protection Engineering and Kristofer by Prof. Chris Justice in Geographical Sciences. The Green Fellowship project will be co-advised between Prof. Gollner and Prof. Evan Ellicott, an Assistant Research Professor in Geographical Sciences. This project furthers collaboration between the two departments, who started work together through an earlier Council on the Environment Seed Grant, “Tracking the Long-Term Cost of Wildfire Emissions” Led by Prof. Trouve.

The Fellowship is designed to provide support for students from two different disciplines to address society’s environmental problems through an interdisciplinary effort, requiring innovation within disciplines and collaboration across them. The Fellowship provides $10,000 to help cover the students’ research-related costs. The recipients will present their research to the Council on the Environment at the end of the year.

 

More information about the fellowship can be found at: http://cone.umd.edu/index.php/education/green-fund

 

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