Award Year
Graduation Year
Department
Award Category
Biography
For more than 15 years, Mandy Michalsen has dedicated herself to developing and implementing new methods to accelerate the remediation of contaminated groundwater, soil, and sediment, primarily in the Pacific Northwest.
“It’s rewarding to identify solutions that can save years of work and hundreds of thousands of dollars in cleanup costs,” she said. “Publishing our findings then helps others to build on and improve our ideas, and to amplify their impact at contaminated sites around the nation.”
One of Michalsen’s most noteworthy projects began in 2020, when she was assigned to manage an ambitious program to research, develop, and demonstrate scalable technology for minimizing the impact of harmful algal blooms. HABs are overgrowths of algae that can devastate the environment.
“I’m incredibly proud of the U.S. Army Engineer Research Development Center and our federal and nonfederal research partners for this ongoing work,” Michalsen said. “They’re doing an amazing job every day to reduce the severity and frequency of freshwater HABs.”
She emphasized that HABs are one of many large-scale environmental challenges that must be addressed.
“Thoughtfully integrating the latest science and technology can help us find answers and scale solutions quickly,” she said. “That requires people with strong engineering competency, flexibility, responsiveness, and the ability to work well on interdisciplinary teams. I’ve found that College of Engineering graduates possess those qualities, putting them in a strong position to meet these challenges.”
After receiving her B.S. in civil engineering from the University of Iowa in 2002, Michalsen headed to Corvallis to begin her graduate studies. While at Oregon State, she was engrossed in learning and applying environmental engineering research with like-minded individuals.
“I was fortunate to have worked with a wonderful group of peers and mentors,” she said. “The experience strengthened my environmental engineering foundation and reinforced my passion for groundwater remediation. I’m also grateful to have established a strong relationship with my advisor, Professor Jack Istok, a groundwater hydrologist, which led to many successful research collaborations. And I’m also grateful for all of the hiking, backpacking, and enjoying life I got to do with my future husband, Dave Michalsen, who earned his master’s degree in ocean engineering from Oregon State in 2004. It was the best time of my life.”