Run and Tumble

I’m starting Intro to Environmental Engineering Science today. It’s a bit like a quantitative sequel to the Env. Sci. course I just finished. The previous course emphasized the effects of oxygen sag downstream from a wastewater outflow. This course talks more about how much organic matter in a waste stream causes a dissolved oxygen decrease of n% x meters downstream, but doesn’t go as much into the effects. I think they complement each other nicely.

One of the issues I’m dealing with in picking out a graduate program is if I want to lean more towards science or engineering. I’ve got strong urges to both learn and create. I won’t be happy building yet another bog-standard anaerobic digester, but I also won’t be happy determining the ratio of micronutrients that triple nitrate reduction if it is never used in the real world. There are plenty of programs that offer opportunities for both, but they are generally lopsided in their mix. This course will help me figure out which side I’d rather have emphasized.

I do have a little anxiety. I am fine with math, and agree with Lord Kelvin that if you can’t measure something, you can’t improve it. However, this is the first course I’ve taken since graduation that flexes my mathematical, rather than conceptual, reasoning abilities.