Caroline Scruggs

Caroline Scruggs joined IPER as a doctoral student in the Fall of 2006, with a background in environmental engineering.  She graduated with honors from Virginia Tech with a B.S. in Civil Engineering (1994) and a M.S. in Environmental Engineering (1996).  She then worked for ten years as an environmental process engineer in the Advanced Environmental Technologies Division of a global environmental consulting firm where she developed and modeled water pollution prevention and control strategies for national and international water reuse and wastewater treatment projects.  While working on a large water quality and reuse project in Las Vegas in 2002, she turned her focus to emerging contaminants in the environment, with a particular interest in natural and synthetic chemicals that can disrupt the way an organism or its progeny reproduces, grows, or develops.   She has spent the last several years researching endocrine disrupting chemicals in drinking water and wastewater and developing the issue as a strategic initiative for her company.  Her doctoral pursuits are motivated by the desire to develop her expertise in the scientific and non-scientific areas of knowledge that will be required to find a solution to the complex problems associated with emerging contaminant releases to the environment.

Environmental pollution by emerging contaminants has occurred over the course of many years through use of thousands of chemicals that now support our modern lifestyles.  Because of the many routes of contamination – from commercial, residential, agricultural/livestock, and industrial operations – minimizing contamination will not be simple and may require significant changes in lifestyle, policy, regulation, and treatment practices.  For her doctoral work, Caroline hopes to contribute toward development of a responsible, sustainable, and scientifically-sound plan to minimize emerging contaminants in the environment that fully addresses wildlife and human health concerns.  She plans to approach this work by integrating her interests in engineering, policy, risk analysis, environmental anthropology, and ethics.

Over the past ten years, Caroline has written over 15 articles in professional and peer-reviewed journals, and has been active in numerous professional organizations, speaking at conferences and workshops and moderating technical sessions throughout the US and abroad. Recognized for her knowledge of emerging contaminants, she has been consulted in various magazine articles on the subject, and is co-chair of the Water Environment Federation’s Community of Practice Group on Emerging Contaminants. In addition, she is a licensed professional engineer, and has taught courses in environmental engineering as a visiting lecturer at UNC-Chapel Hill, Virginia Tech, and the University of Kansas.

Aside from her studies, Caroline enjoys yoga, running, cycling, hiking, and most any outdoor activity, and has passions for traveling, pottery, painting, and music.