CHEE Alumna Wins AISES Technical Excellence Award

Otakuye Conroy-Ben, who earned her PhD in environmental engineering from the University of Arizona, was recently awarded the 2019 Technical Excellence Award from the American Indian Science and Engineering Society.

Conroy-Ben currently works as an assistant professor at Arizona State University's School of Sustainable Engineering and the Built Environment. In that role, she researches the biological effects of polluted water and teaches courses on environmental engineering and soil and groundwater remediation. She is also adviser to the ASU chapter of AISES.

In a recent interview with Winds of Change, an AISES publication, Conroy-Ben discussed growing up on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation and her fascination with the natural world.

“I can still taste the water from the reservation. It was clean and not disinfected, and there were no chemicals in it,” Conroy-Ben said. “I also saw the downside of pollution, where we didn’t have solid waste management and allowed garbage pits to be burned. I remember how much that would burn my eyes and nose.”

Conroy-Ben became interested in wastewater research while earning her PhD at UA. 

“I wanted to see about unregulated contaminants that get back into the water cycle because it’s discharged and possibly pulled into drinking water or could impact aquatic animals and recreation,” Conroy-Ben said. “It’s very important in the Southwest and Northwest. As tribes manage more wastewater, it’s important to know the environmental impacts."