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Honors and Awards

2023           Outstanding Achievement Award, China Chemical Society.

2023           Thompson Reuter’s Highly Cited Researcher (consequently, since 2014)

2022           Distinguished Fellow of IETI (International Engineering and Technology Institute)

2022           Elected to Chinese Academy of Engineering

2022           ACS Southwest Regional Partners in Progress & Prosperity (P3) Award (with M. Reynolds & M. Wong)

2021           ASCE Simon Freese Award

2021           NSF Engineering 40th Anniversary Distinguished Lecture

2020           ES Nano best papers: DOI: 10.1039/C9EN00143C and DOI: 10.1039/C9EN00827F

2020           ES&T best feature article: DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.8b05041

2020           Advisory Professor, Shanghai Jiao Tong University

2019-now    Board of Directors, Houston Endowment Inc.

2019           William Mong distinguished lecture, Faculty of Engineering, The University of Hong Kong

2018           Inducted into the National Academy of Engineering

2018           Perry McCarty AEESP Founders’ Award for Outstanding Contributions to Env. Eng. Education & Practice

2018           Brown and Caldwell Lifetime Achievement Award for Remediation

2017           Association of Environmental Engineering and Science Professors (AEESP) Distinguished Lecturer

2017           Sustainable Nanotechnology Organization tribute conference session, Marina del Rey, CA.

2017           Distinguished Scientist (Einstein Prof), President’s International Fellowship Initiative Program, China

2016-2019  Advisory Board, Directorate for Engineering of the National Science Foundation

2015     Best paper award, ES&T Letters, (1), 26-30, 2014

2015    Thompson Reuter’s Highly Cited Researcher (top 1% in Chemistry and in Environment Ecology)

2014    AAEES Grand Prize, Excellence in Env. Eng. And Science University Research Award

2014    Thompson Reuter’s Highly Cited Researcher (top 1% in Environment/Ecology)

2014    Honorary Professor, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing

2014    Most downloaded paper in Water Research (Wat. Res. 47, (12), 3931–3946).

2013    Most cited paper in Water Research in the last 5 years (Wat. Res. 44:2894-2900)

2012    The Athalie Richardson Irvine Clarke Prize

2012    South Texas Section AIChE’s Best Fundamental Paper Award

2011     Science Advisory Board to the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)

2011     Dean of Engineering’s Lecture, Columbia University

2010    Most cited paper in the past 5 year, Water Research (Wat. Res. 40(19):3527-3532

2010    Top-10 most read paper, ACS nano (ACS Nano, 2010, 4 (7), pp 3580–3590).

2010    Honorary Professor, Kunming University of Science and Technology, Kunming, China

2009    Professor of the Year, ASCE & Chi Epsilon Student Chapters, Rice University

2008    Frontier in Research Award, Assoc. of Environmental Engineering and Science Professors

2008    Founding Member, Nicaraguan National Academy of Sciences

2008    John Henske Distinguished Lecture, Yale University

2007    McKee Medal for Groundwater Protection, Restoration or Sustainable Use (WEF)

2006    Board of Directors, Strake Jesuit College Preparatory

2006    Honorary Professor, Nankai University, Tianjin, China

2005-2006 President, Association of Environmental Engineering and Science Professors

2005    Fellow, American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE)

2004    Reviewer Award, Environmental Science and Technology

2003-2006 Board of Directors, Nicaragua’s Water Management Agency (ENACAL)

2003    Consul of Nicaragua for Iowa (ad honorem)

2003    Best Poster Award, EPA International Applied Phytotechnologies Conference. Chicago, IL

2002    Research project of the year award, SERDP cleanup division, Department of Defense.

2002-2006 Board of Directors, Assoc. Env. Engrg. and Science Professors (AEESP)

2002    Editorial Board Member of Bioremediation and Bioavailability, The Scientific World

2000    Awarded the Button of the City of Valencia, Venezuela, by the Mayor of the City

2000    Best Student Paper Award, Battelle 6th Bioremediation Symposium, San Diego, CA

1998     The UI Collegiate Excellence in Teaching Award, University of Iowa

1997      Participant, National Academy of Engineering’s Symposium: Frontiers of Engrg.

1997      Best Student Paper Award, WEF 70th Annual Meeting, Chicago, IL

1997      Listed in Who’s Who in Science and Engineering

1997      Appointed Adjunct Professor, Universidad Autónoma de México, Mexico, D.F.

1996      Honored Member, Strathmore’s Who’s Who Register of Business Leaders

1996      Listed in Who’s Who Among America’s Teachers and Who’s Who in Environ. Engrg.

1996      Awarded the Alejo Zuloaga Medal by the Universidad de Carabobo, Venezuela

1995      Inducted into the American Academy of Environmental Engineers, Diplomate Status

1995      Career Award, National Science Foundation.

1995      Best Paper Award, EPA Hazardous Substance Research Center for Regions 7 and 8

1995      Appointed Adjunct Professor, Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Brasil

1995      Old Gold Summer Fellowship, University of Iowa

1994, 2002 Elected to The University of Iowa Faculty Senate

1994      Old Gold Summer Fellowship, University of Iowa

1992      Outstanding Presentation Award, AIChE Summer Meeting, Minneapolis, MN

1992      The Rackham Predoctoral Fellowship, The University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI

1991       The Outstanding Achievement Award in Environmental Engineering, U. of Michigan