Spotlight on Engineering with Nature (EWN) Initiative

WEDA’s webinar on Engineering with Nature (EWN) Initiative will take place Friday, November 11, 2020 from 1 to 2 PM EST. This webinar will be presented by Dr. Burton Suedel, a Research Biologist at U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center.

Engineering With Nature is the intentional alignment of natural and engineering processes to efficiently and sustainably deliver economic, environmental, and social benefits through collaborative processes.

Sustainable development of water resources infrastructure is supported by solutions that beneficially integrate engineering and natural systems.

With recent advances in the fields of engineering and ecology, there is an opportunity to combine these fields of practice into a single collaborative, and cost-effective approach for infrastructure development and environmental management.

Triple-win outcomes can be achieved throughout EWN by systematically integrating social, environmental, and economic considerations into decision making and actions at every phase of a project.

The result will be innovative and resilient solutions that are more socially acceptable, viable, and equitable, and, ultimately, more sustainable. 

Dr. Suedel leads the Risk Integration Team in the ERDC Environmental Laboratory where among other research interests he investigates ways in which environmental enhancements can be incorporated into navigation and port infrastructure planning.

He also manages the Dredging Operations Technical Support (DOTS) program that facilitates the transfer of existing and new navigation and dredging technology to stakeholders in the USACE’s navigation mission.

He has received international recognition for applying the EWN initiative in practice at multiple USACE navigation and coastal projects nationwide.