Dr. Joel G. Burken holds B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. degrees in Civil and Environmental Engineering from the University of Iowa. Past experience includes time as a research intern at EAWAG in Zurich Switzerland. He has been at the University of Missouri – Rolla since 1997, as an Assistant and now an Associate Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering. Dr. Burken is also the founding coordinator of the Undergraduate Environmental Engineering Program at UMR. Dr. Burken specializes in the fate of organic contaminants in phytoremediation systems; the use of genetically enhanced organisms in rhizosphere degradation of organic pollutants; and the use of constructed wetlands for treating heavy metal contaminated waste streams.

Email address: burken@umr.edu