Adaline Buerck, a University of South Florida alumna and environmental engineering professor, has been named to the 40 Under 40 Recognition Program by the American Academy of Environmental Engineers and Scientists (AAEES).
The national award honors early-career professionals under the age of 40 who have made significant contributions to environmental engineering or science within the past year. Winners are selected by a panel of past recipients based on their professional impact and civic engagement.
Buerck earned her doctorate in civil engineering from USF and a graduate certificate in social marketing and social change. She is now an assistant professor of environmental and civil engineering at Mercer University in Georgia, and director of the Cecil Day Family Center for International Groundwater Innovation. Her dissertation work at USF, from 2018 to 2022, focused on lead exposure from hand pumps in Madagascar.
Photo Credit: Matt Smith
“This past year her research on reducing lead exposure in Sub-Saharan Africa attracted the interest of UNICEF, the Lead Exposure Elimination Project, USAID, and the CDC,” said James Mihelcic, a professor in USF’s Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering. “Her work gained global attention after calls for a Lead-Free Future at the World Economic Forum.”
Buerck’s research focuses on water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) technologies, heavy metal exposure, and the intersection of engineering, public health and behavior change. She has brought these efforts to Mercer’s Mercer on Mission (MOM) program, leading student trips to Belize and the Dominican Republic.
Notably, her team’s fieldwork with the University of Belize during the summer 2024 Mercer On Mission program helped identify lead contamination in public fitness equipment, prompting a government response. “Addie is a creative and dynamic engineer, faculty member and mentor who is emerging as a leader in advancing our understanding of lead detection and mitigation in the environment,” said Adam Kiefer, a distinguished university professor in Mercer’s Department of Chemistry.
Photo Credit: Matt Smith
In addition to teaching and research, Buerck advises Georgia’s first student chapter of the American Water Works Association and serves as vice chair of the American Society for Engineering Education Southeastern Section’s Civil and Environmental Engineering Division.
The AAEES 40 Under 40 program celebrates those who are driving innovation and positive changea in their fields. Learn more about the program here.
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