Throughout his eight-year career with the Corps’ Buffalo District, Andrew Lenox realized the value of working with ERDC personnel in gaining expert technical support to address critical environmental concerns in the Great Lakes. When Buffalo District leadership became aware of the ERDC University (ERDC-U) program for FY17, Lenox was encouraged by his supervisors to apply. Lenox also saw the opportunity to continue an already good working relationship with ERDC experts and gain further insight on how state-of-the-science technology being developed by ERDC could be applied to projects in the Great Lakes region.
Lenox graduated from the University at Buffalo with a bachelor’s degree in Environmental Engineering in 2008, and completed several graduate courses such as Great Lakes Ecology and Advanced Environmental Geochemistry.
Through ERDC-U, Lenox engaged with researchers across multiple disciplines working on varied sediment testing and evaluation projects. This included working on projects associated with Buffalo District, such as evaluating sediment exposure to ecological receptor within the Niagara River area of concern. He also worked on projects across the nation, such as SEDflume testing on dredged sediment in Port Everglades, Florida to determine potential sediment erosion rates and critical shear stresses.
Lenox’s main interests involve dredged sediment management, a critical issue within the Great Lakes. While at ERDC, he gained experience with testing and evaluation procedures being implemented to address dredge sediment nationally, experience that will significantly assist him in applying those procedures on similar issues within the Great Lakes. This was a goal he wanted to achieve through his participation in ERDC-U.
Lenox knows that accurate assessment of environmental risks through scientific approach is integral to ensuring water resource projects are carried out in a cost-effective manner to reach project objectives. During his tenure at ERDC, he built professional relationships and contacts with ERDC researchers to support future harbor maintenance and restoration projects in the Great Lakes area of concern. ERDC-U program allowed both Lenox and his ERDC mentor, Dr. Paul Schroeder, flexibility to tailor the program to meet their specific objectives.
Lenox is ready to recommend ERDC-U to his colleagues. “Generating scientific data within the laboratory that will be used to inform real world solutions is a unique experience that many district professionals do not have the opportunity to participate in. There’s a greater appreciation and understanding of the subsequent modeling and evaluations in seeing the supporting data generated first-hand,” Lenox said.
“From experience, ERDC is a strong resource to have available on complex environmental evaluation projects, with the ability to provide support across a wide range of subjects, including water quality and sediment transport modeling, risk assessment and toxicology, and environmental chemistry.”
“Building awareness of the capabilities available within the Corps is beneficial to district project delivery teams in identifying resources available to support them in project execution.”