{"id":110928,"date":"2026-09-24T10:24:20","date_gmt":"2026-09-24T10:24:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/?p=110928"},"modified":"2026-09-24T10:24:21","modified_gmt":"2026-09-24T10:24:21","slug":"uri-college-of-engineering-launches-new-environmental-engineering-degree","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/2026\/09\/uri-college-of-engineering-launches-new-environmental-engineering-degree\/","title":{"rendered":"URI College of Engineering launches new environmental engineering degree"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

KINGSTON, R.I. \u2013 Sept. 24, 2026 \u2013 The University of Rhode Island College of Engineering is now offering a Bachelor of Science in environmental engineering<\/a>, adding to the wide range of engineering majors and minors available to students. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Previously offered as a minor course of study, the new major features multiple classes specifically designed for students pursuing the degree. Among the new classes offered as part of the curriculum are: EVE 444 Air Pollution Engineering and EVE 222 Environmental Chemistry for Engineers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIncoming freshmen can choose environmental engineering as a major for the first time in the school’s history, which is kind of exciting,\u201d said Joe Goodwill<\/a>, the Carroll D. and Charles M. Billmyer associate professor in URI\u2019s Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe were very intentional and collaborative in developing the curriculum for this program,\u201d said Goodwill. \u201cSome of the electives in our curriculum are offered by the ChemEng department\u2014a close sibling to environmental engineering. There’s also a required public health class in the curriculum to honor the unique role of environmental engineers in the public health protection space.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The new major addresses a growing workforce need. Environmental engineering jobs are expected to grow by at least 4% in the next 10 years<\/a>. Graduates could find themselves designing solutions to improve water and air quality as concerns over pollution and access to clean drinking water continue to grow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Goodwill said the career path presents opportunities for URI graduates who wish to stay and work in Rhode Island, as companies and state agencies are frequently looking to hire environmental engineers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI am aware of companies and state regulatory agencies that work in the environmental engineering fields that have difficulty finding people\u2014including those for entry-level positions and mid-career people,\u201d Goodwill said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Demand for the new major is already building. Goodwill said students have previously expressed interest in concentrating in environmental engineering, but that interest in bringing the degree to URI was especially strong.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe knew there was some degree of interest based on interest in the minor,\u201d said Goodwill. \u201cBut when we inquired further about whether students would be interested in an environmental engineering degree, the answer was a resounding yes. We\u2019re excited about being able to offer the program to meet student demand and also excited to see where it will go.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

URI\u2019s environmental engineering minor will remain available. Students can visit the degree program\u2019s website<\/a> to learn more.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

KINGSTON, R.I. \u2013 Sept. 24, 2026 \u2013 The University of Rhode Island College of Engineering is now offering a Bachelor of Science in environmental engineering, adding to the wide range of engineering majors and minors available to students.  Previously offered as a minor course of study, the new major features multiple classes specifically designed for […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":25,"featured_media":110930,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[25,1905,1902],"class_list":["post-110928","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-archives","tag-college-of-engineering","tag-research","tag-student-engagement"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/110928","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/25"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=110928"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/110928\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":110929,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/110928\/revisions\/110929"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/110930"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=110928"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=110928"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=110928"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}