Rice environmental engineer doubly honored

Pedro Alvarez wins two awards from American Academy of Environmental Engineers and Scientists 

Pedro Alvarez

Groundbreaking research by Rice environmental engineer Pedro Alvarez and his colleagues has earned two honors from the American Academy of Environmental Engineers and Scientists.

The Alvarez lab’s collaborative discovery with Nankai University of antibiotic-resistant superbugs that thrive in Chinese sewage plants won the grand prize for university research in this year’s Environmental Engineering and Science Excellence Awards.

The lab’s creation of tools to test for the presence of enzyme-producing microbes that degrade dioxane at the site of chemical spills earned an “honor award” for university research.

Alvarez will speak at the organization’s annual awards luncheon and conference April 24 at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C.

Alvarez is the George R. Brown Professor and chair of Rice’s Civil and Environmental Engineering Department, and a member of the Environmental Protection Agency’s science advisory board.