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Karl Linden, Mortenson Professor in Sustainable Development and Professor of Environmental Engineering at ��ƷSM����ӰƬ, will serve as the new Water-Energy Nexus Interdisciplinary Research Theme director, CU Engineering Dean Bobby Braun announced this week.

Linden, a faculty member in the Department of Civil, Environmental and Architectural Engineering,  has been at ��ƷSM����ӰƬ since 2008. He holds a bachelors in agricultural and biological engineering from Cornell University, and a master’s and PhD in civil and environmental engineering from the University of California, Davis. He previously he taught at the University of North Carolina Charlotte and Duke University.

Linden replaces  Jason Ren as director and will serve as the main point of contact for the Water-Energy Nexus IRT, networking across disciplines and preparing for research opportunities.

The six Interdisciplinary Research Themes were originally launched as part of the college’s strategic vision to build on strengths, prepare for future research opportunities and accelerate positive impacts to our state and nation. The goal of the themes is to bring together professionals and driven students from different areas of specialization to address the challenges associated with each.

The Water-Energy Nexus IRT studies the interactions and relationships between the two as well as the related systems that are found throughout our society. Research and work in the group includes areas such as treatment and disposal of water generated during energy production and fracking, energy-water tradeoffs in lifecycle evaluations, alternative water sources for power cooling, low energy catalytic processes for water purification and much more. 

Linden’s personal research focuses on the investigation of alternative disinfectants and oxidation for water treatment. Specifically, his work deals with the use of UV light-based methods to kill pathogens and eliminate pollutants in impaired waters.

“I want to leverage the resources in the Water-Energy IRT to support our innovative faculty and students in seeding high-risk, high-reward research, that will increase the chances of future successful funding of pioneering projects at the intersection of water and energy,” Linden said.

The  Interdisciplinary Research Themes have distributed more than $800,000 in seed grants to date, and it is not too late for faculty or students to join them. Faculty members can sign up online or contact the directors for more information.