(lively classical music)

- [Michelle] Hello, and
thank you for tuning in

to "Connections & Directions,"

our University of Michigan's

civil and environmental
engineering podcast.

My name is Michelle Santillan,

and I am the CEE Marketing
Communications specialist

and host of this series.

During our podcast, we
are featuring members

of our CEE community,

and how their work reflects
our mission of engineers

and service to society.

We will be highlighting
our strategic directions

and our commitment to diversity,
equity, and inclusion.

CEE's five strategic directions

are human habitat experience,

shaping resource flows, adaptation,

automation, and smart
infrastructure finance.

We're here with Professor Lissa MacVean,

who's a lecturer in our CEE department.

Welcome.
- Thanks, Michelle.

Nice to see you.
- Nice to see you as well.

How do you see yourself participating

in our strategic directions in CEE?

- [Lissa] The one that
really resonates with me

the most is adaptation.

And this is something
that I teach a lot about,

as well as my research
being pretty focused

on adaptation, and
specifically the science

or the physics behind
how landscapes function

and how they can be more resilient

in the face of climate change,

and in the face of urbanization,
and human development.

So I look at things like flows
in an estuarine, or marine,

or lacustrine, which
is lakes, environment.

And things like the physics
of salt marsh, for example.

Interactions between waves,
turbulence, and stratification.

So, I look at kind of
fundamental questions

that inform decisions about how landscapes

can be managed better, or can be restored

to a more ecologically-functional place.

And I touch on all these
themes in my teaching as well.

- [Michelle] And specifically,

which classes are you teaching?

- [Lissa] Yeah, so I teach
a whole suite of classes

related to fluid mechanics
at the graduate level.

Right now I'm teaching one called

Analysis of Rivers, Streams and Estuaries,

which is very much focused
on how constituents

travel through these systems
under the influence of flows,

under the influence of
natural phenomena, like waves.

So that's really relevant to questions

of how the landscape can work

and how it could potentially be

restored or made more resilient.

I also teach our
environmental fluid mechanics

which is at the graduate level.

I teach open channel flow,
I teach sediment transport.

Super relevant to the ecological questions

that kind of motivate
this kind of work as well.

And then I teach an undergraduate
sustainability class

that is taken by a lot

of our College of Engineering students.

- [Michelle] Out of all of those classes,

which one do you find
has the most interest

perhaps from the students?

Or would you say that it runs
the whole gamut of people

and their particular interests?

- [Lissa] Well, so I
can't pick a favorite,

it's like picking a favorite child, right?

We can't do that.

They're all, I think, really
interesting in their own ways.

I mean, definitely my
undergraduate sustainability class

gets a really broad
cross-section of interest.

And it's quite big in terms
of student enrollment.

But I think that there are
elements of all the classes

that really connect with students,

depending on their own professional
and academic interests.

And I'm excited about all of them,

and I definitely try to
demonstrate that in my teaching.

- [Michelle] And how does our mission

of engineers in service to
society resonate with you?

And in turn, how do you make
that come through your teaching

and your classes?

- [Lissa] So service to
society to me is kind of

the foundational
definition of what CEE is.

So it just is so essential to every part,

every subdiscipline in our department.

So I feel like the resonance
is pretty significant.

You know, if you're looking at kind of

the traditional disciplines within CEE,

you're looking at infrastructure,

you're looking at roads, you're looking at

access to hospitals, you're looking at

access to clean water.

And these all literally make
it possible for societies

to exist and to thrive.

I think another part that
resonates with me too,

though, is related to our focus

on DEI in our department,
which is really trying

to strengthen connections between people.

And that's just as important
in a community as roads.

So I think focusing on things
like cultural competency,

communicating with each other

with an open mind,
appreciating differences,

all of that kind of strengthens
the fabric between people,

which to me is also elemental
to a community and a society.

So I see our department as
focusing on all of those.

- [Michelle] And you are
on the DEI committee,

and you also are very involved

with the Pelham Scholars program.

Can you tell me how
those efforts play a role

in forwarding our message and our mission?

- [Lissa] Yeah, so I've been
the chair of the department,

DEI Committee, for two years,

and I've been the faculty
advisor for Pelham.

This is my fourth year
since its inception.

And both of these programs,

or the work that is done in both spaces,

is precisely focused on

those relationships between people,

and increasing a sense of belonging

among students, for example.

Increasing the ability
of all of our members

in CEE to communicate
well with each other,

and to convey their respect
and appreciation for people,

even over disagreements.

Which of course are natural,
and they're a good thing

to experience in an academic setting.

So yeah, I see our work on both of these

as just supporting that mission to create

healthy and strong bonds

between all of our community members,

to increase the sense of everyone in CEE

that this is a place where they do belong,

and where they're valued.

- [Michelle] And through your work

in the Pelham Scholars program,

what has it meant to you personally

to be involved with that?

- [Lissa] That's been a really
big source of joy for me

in my professional life.

The Pelham program, it's
pretty groundbreaking

in terms of eliminating
a very real barrier,

a material barrier to graduate education

for a lot of our students.

And I'm talking about tuition, of course.

So, I feel like it's really
kind of putting our money

where our mouth is, and
saying that these things

are important, but then also demonstrating

that they're important.

And I've seen the Pelham
program bring people

into a master's program
who would otherwise

not have the opportunity at all.

And these are excellent students.

And they have this completely
unique perspective.

So they're gaining all of
this technical expertise.

Through Pelham, they're also
gaining a tight-knit community.

They're also gaining a lot of programming

and access to DEI learning,

through our monthly meetings,

and through our activities,
and the programming

that's specific to Pelham.

So they're emerging these
really well-rounded,

service and society-focused engineers.

So I'm extremely excited about Pelham.

And I kind of like see it
working right before my eyes.

- [Michelle] That said,
what is the favorite aspect

of your job?
- My favorite aspect

is getting to know my students.

Whether that's in Pelham,
whether it's in the classroom,

whether it's through committee work.

They're very engaged in the DEI Committee.

And just do an absolute ton of work

in furthering our goals there.

And our students are funny,

they're clever, they're so creative.

And my interactions with them

are absolutely the highlight of my job.

- [Michelle] And is there anything else

that you would like to add?

- [Lissa] Well, just that it's been

a really kind of exciting
homecoming for me,

because I'm also an alum of our program.

I did my bachelor's and
masters here ages ago.

And so coming back in this
capacity has been a real gift.

- [Michelle] And that said,
what would your message be

to fellow alumni about the program,

and perhaps encouraging
them to get involved

or give back in some way?

Is there any sort of call to action

that you might have for them?

- [Lissa] Well, I think that
probably CEE has done a service

for so many of us who did
graduate from this program.

And students almost universally recognize

the community, and how special
it is when you're here.

So yeah, I would definitely encourage alum

to kind of reflect on their experience

and give back by mentoring or donations,

or any way that they can kind of fit in

a time or financial contribution.

Because as they know, it
goes to an excellent cause.

- [Michelle] And if you had
a pearl of wisdom to offer

a prospective grad
student, who is considering

the University of Michigan's CEE program,

what would you say to encourage them?

- [Lissa] You know, I would just emphasize

all of these elements of
the community of scholars,

and engineers, and staff members,

and just all of the expertise
that we have right here

around us, and the focus
on supporting each other

that we have.

And I would absolutely encourage anyone

considering undergrad or graduate school

in these disciplines to come here.

There's no better choice.

- [Michelle] Thank you very
much for joining us today.

- [Lissa] Thank you, Michelle.

(lively classical music)

- [Michelle] Thank you for listening

to our podcast conversation.

For more information
about CEE at Michigan,

please visit our website at cee.umich.edu.

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