The University of Miami (UM), Florida International University (FIU), Florida Atlantic University (FAU), and Florida Gulf Coast University (FGCU) will jointly host the American Academy of Environmental Engineers and Scientists (AAEES) Kappe Lecture on March 28, 2025, on the Coral Gables Campus of the University of Miami. The event will be hosted in the Grand Hall of the Frost Institute for Chemistry and Molecular Science (FICMS, 1201 Memorial Drive, Coral Gables, 33146).
This year's Kappe Lecture will be given by Dr. Craig H. Benson, PhD, PE, BCGE, BCEE, NAE, titled "Elevated Temperature Landfills: Causation, Impacts, and Best Management Practices Learned from the Field". Our developed lecture program is targeted to attract the broader audience in South Florida who are interested in solid waste management. A poster session and networking lunch will be organized during the event.
Topics for the poster session can be in any area of environmental engineering or environmental science. Posters are welcome from companies, faculty, postdoctoral associates, graduate students, and undergraduate students. Poster abstracts can be submitted at the link below prior to the March 16, 2025 deadline (midnight). All graduate and undergraduate students will be eligible for a cash prize for the top posters in the graduate or undergraduate category (details about student prizes within the poster submission portal).
University of Miami | David Chin, Helena Solo-Gabriele, Chang-Yu Wu, Yang Wang |
Florida International University | Berrin Tansel |
Florida Atlantic University | Yalan Liu, Dan Meeroff, Masoud Lashaki |
Florida Gulf Coast University | Jong-Yeop Kim |
Florida Department of Health | Samir Elmir |
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9:00 to 9:30 | Group meeting with UM students and faculty | MEB 289 |
9:30 to 10:00 | Group meeting with regulators and consultants: DERM, DSWM, FDOH | MEB 289 |
10:00 to 10:30 | Group meeting with academic partners: FIU, FAU, FGCU | MEB 289 |
10:00 to 11:15 | Registration and poster setup | FICMS |
11:00 to 12:30 | Kappe lecture presentation | FICMS |
12:30 to 14:00 | Networking lunch and student poster presentation | FICMS |
14:00 to 14:30 | Closing ceremony | FICMS |
Elevated temperature landfills (ETLFs) are municipal solid waste landfills (MSW) with waste temperatures substantially in excess of 65 oC that persist over a large area for a sustained period of time. Phenomena commonly associated with ETLFs include substantial and rapid settlements; strong leachate with high BOD and COD, high VOC concentrations, and high total suspended solids; landfill gas depleted in methane and rich in carbon monoxide and hydrogen, and very strong odors that often result in strained relationships with the local community. Remedial measures to address ELTFs can cost in the $100Ms. When the first ETLFs were encountered, they were poorly understood and perceived as an “existential threat” to the solid waste industry. The mechanisms responsible for ELTFs were unclear and a subject of intense debate, as were the appropriate remedial actions. Extensive research and field experience derived through industry-academic partnerships over nearly two decades have clarified the mechanisms that cause ETLFs as well as identified appropriate best management practices (BMPs) to address impacts and return the landfill to a stable equilibrium state. BMPs have also been developed for landfill operations, including characterization of heat generating potential of different waste streams, pre-treatment approaches for heat generating wastes, and disposal strategies to manage the accumulation of heat. This presentation will provide the historical evolution of our understanding of ETLFs and illustrate how BMPs developed from field experience result in successful outcomes at actual MSW landfills. Recommendations are provided that are important to current students as well as seasoned professionals.
Craig H. Benson, PhD, PE, BCGE, BCEE, NAE
University of Wisconsin-Madison | University of Virginia
Craig H. Benson is Wisconsin Distinguished Professor Emeritus at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and Dean of Engineering and Hamilton Professor Emeritus at the University of Virginia. Benson is a geoenvironmental engineer with expertise in waste management, waste containment systems, recycling and beneficial reuse, and sustainability. He served as Dean of Engineering at the University of Virginia and as a Department Chair and Director of Sustainability Research and Education at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Benson has a BS from Lehigh University and the MSE and PhD from the University of Texas at Austin, all in Civil Engineering with an emphasis in geoenvironmental engineering. He is a member of the US National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and the National Academy of Inventors (NAI), as well as a Fellow in the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS).
Benson has been conducting research related to protection of the environment for nearly four decades, with primary focus on environmental containment of wastes; beneficial use of industrial byproducts; and sustainable infrastructure. He is recognized as a foremost international authority on waste containment systems, and is widely sought after for his expertise in design, operation, and performance assessment of waste disposal facilities. Benson is currently evaluating sustainable reuse of historically disposed coal combustion products, developing guidance on managing landfill gas and odor issues and quantifying the physical and social correspondence between landfill odors and odor complaints, and evaluating the efficacy of plastic waste recycling and upcycling. He frequently consults as an expert in waste containment systems and sustainability.
Benson’s research experience involves laboratory studies, large-scale field experiments, and predictive modeling. He has published more than 300 refereed articles based on his research and has received numerous research awards, including the Karl Terzaghi Award, Ralph Peck Award, Huber Research Prize, Alfred Noble Prize, Croes Medal (twice), Middlebrooks Award (twice), Collingwood Prize, and Casagrande Award from the American Society of Civil Engineers and the Award of Merit, Ivan Johnson Award for Outstanding Achievement, and the Best Practical Paper Award (twice) from ASTM International. Benson is the 2024 Kappe Lecturer for the American Academy of Environmental Engineers and Scientists.
Benson has a distinguished record of public service, having served as Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering, President of the ASCE Geo-Institute (GI), Chair of the GI Geoenvironmental Committee, Vice Chair of the Executive Committee of ASTM Committee D18 on Soil and Rock, Chair of ASTM Committee D18.04 on Hydraulic Properties and Barriers, and Chair of Section 4 of the National Academy of Engineering.
Our sponsors include Nova Consulting, AECOM, BCC Engineering, Carollo Engineers, Lennar, and UniCapital Asset Management Group. Thank you for supporting this event!
Undergraduate First Place Winner (sponsored by BCC Engineering)
Elia Reagan and Alexander Hays, University of North Florida, Dept of Chemistry and Biochemistry (Dr. Benjamin Williams Research Advisor): Selective Capture of Carbon Dioxide from Landfill Gas Using Metal Organic Frameworks
Undergraduate Second Place Winners (sponsored by Carollo Engineering)
Avi Friedman, University of Miami, Department of Biology and Dept. of Chemical, Environ., and Mat. Engineering (Dr. Wu Research Advisor): Studying the toxicological relationship between indoor mold and household cleaning products
Annabella Cordovez, University of Miami, Department of Chemical, Environ. and Mat. Engineering (Cristy Fayad Martinez and Dr. Solo-Gabriele Advisors): Amount of Household Dust and Its Impact on Children's Hand Contamination
Undergraduate Third Place Winners (sponsored by Lennar)
Jessica Austin, University of Miami Department of Chemical, Environ., and Materials Engineering (Dr. Wu Research Advisor): Assessing the HMOX-1 response in lung cells to mold-air freshener co-exposure
Emma Gonsalves, University of Miami Department of Chemical, Environ., and Materials Engineering (Dr. Solo-Gabriele Research Advisor): Impact of an Electric Vehicle Burn on Contaminants (PFAS, PAHs, Metals) in Soil and Water
Victoria Gonzalez (Poster presented impromptu)
Graduate Frist Place Winner (sponsored by Nova Consulting)
Mohammad Washeem, University of Miami Department of Chemical, Environ., and Materials Engineering (Dr. Wu Research Advisor): Water-Injection based BioCascade Impactor for Size-Fractionated Bioaerosol Collection
Graduate Second Place Winners (sponsored by Unicapital)
Ruoyu Zhang, University of Miami Department of Chemical, Environ., and Materials Engineering (Dr. Y. Wang Research Advisor): An Extremely Inexpensive and Simple Method to Remove Indoor Respiratory Aerosols
Meshach Ando, University of North Florida, Department of Civil Engineering (Dr. F. B De La Cruz Research Advisor): Estimation of Whole Landfill Emissions using Surface Emissions Monitoring Data
Graduate Third Place Winners (sponsored by AECOM)
Brittany Mc Intyre, University of Miami, Abess Center for Environmental Science and Policy and Department of Chemical, Environ., and Materials Engineering (Dr. Solo-Gabriele Research Advisor): Does Sargassum on Beaches Pose Health Risks to Children Through Arsenic Exposure During Recreational Play?
Laura Rojas, Florida Atlantic University, Department of Civil, Environmental and Geomatics Engineering (Dr. Masoud Jahanda Research Advisor): Studying the Performance and Stability Characteristics of Triamine-Modified Mesoporous Silica Materials for CO2 Capture from Ambient Air
Chanakya Ramesh, University of Miami Department of Chemical, Environ., and Materials Engineering (Dr. Y. Wang Research Advisor): TiO2 and SiO2 Formation in AC Corona Discharge Assisted Combustion