Civil & Environmental Engineering
Civil and Environmental Engineering – Designing a Sustainable Tomorrow
Engineers are the ultimate problem-solvers. In civil and environmental engineering, you’ll take on the vital work of improving communities through innovation—revitalizing infrastructure, advancing sustainable design, and protecting our planet’s resources.
Our award-winning faculty will mentor you as you gain hands-on experience in state-of-the-art facilities and collaborate directly with industry professionals. The program emphasizes sustainable engineering design, giving you the tools to address tomorrow’s global challenges. Through real-world, project-based learning and research opportunities, you’ll graduate ready to stand out—whether entering the workforce or pursuing advanced studies.
Atmospheric and Environmental Sciences – Understanding and Protecting Our Planet
If you’re fascinated by weather, climate, and ecology, our Atmospheric and Environmental Sciences program offers the perfect balance of science and application. You’ll study weather patterns, severe storms, and long-term climate trends that influence ecosystems, infrastructure, and global sustainability.
From developing life-saving forecasts to understanding how environmental changes affect forests, cropland, and rangeland, you’ll play a crucial role in building a safer, more sustainable future for all.
Department Overview
Discover more about the Civil and Environmental Engineering Department.
Our ASCE chapter is very active and has many participants. Join us to build your engineering, teamwork, and leadership skills - and have fun doing it. (Photo right - ASCE team pilots concrete canoe.)
Join CAMP to design, build, test, and compete in a variety of engineering challenges. CAMP is a hands-on engineering program in which you can demonstrate leadership and apply what you learn in class to real-world situations that involve fundraising, planning, deadlines, and international competitions.
Experience the adventure of international travel while helping others. ESA has projects based in Chile, Suriname, and other countries, and gives you the opportunity to apply your engineering knowledge to humanitarian efforts on a global scale.Photo right: ESA students in Mongolia in May 2014
CEE faculty have been involved in over 75 international projects and trips and are interested in using similar activities to help students gain professional experience in global engineering. ESA has since developed into a largely student-led organization with ongoing projects in regions all over the developing world. ESA students have engineered solutions for boarding schools, universities, medical clinics, orphanages, and conference centers that have improved the lives of over 1,500 people in developing countries. Other projects have included securing clean drinking water, site surveying, pollution abatement, high quality concrete, developing alternative energy sources, and providing water drainage. We encourage all students to include an international or cross-cultural engineering experience in their undergraduate studies at South Dakota Mines. These experiences lead to a broader understanding of the engineering profession and increased opportunities for challenging careers in the global engineering marketplace.
ESA students have the opportunity to earn credit from their work on projects abroad. CEE students have used international design activities for course credit in Asia, Africa, Europe, and Latin America! Students are also encouraged to incorporate their ESA experience into their course of study by applying it to the Global Engineering Certificate.
For more information, contact:
Suzi Aadland
Director, Ivanhoe International Center
Phone: (605) 394-6884
Email: International@sdsmt.edu
Research Labs & Centers
The Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering is actively engaged in research aimed at enhancing society by developing new materials, preserving and protecting the environment, creating sustainable solutions, increasing our understanding of engineering systems and their design, and examining the best approaches for training a new engineering workforce. CEE researchers are highly collaborative and are working with colleagues both on-campus and across the globe on multi-disciplinary projects.
Mines Awarded $1 Million DOE Grant to Build Climate Resilience Center with Tribal Communities
South Dakota Mines has been awarded a $1 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to establish a Climate Resilience Center (CRC) focused on strengthening adaptive capacity within tribal communities along the Missouri River Basin.
The CRC will bring together students, faculty, tribal leaders, and regional stakeholders to develop strategies and technologies that help vulnerable communities respond to the growing impacts of extreme weather events and climate change. This initiative represents a vital step in building sustainable and equitable solutions for the future.
At South Dakota Mines, researchers in the BioWRAP program are advancing sustainability through the development of high-performance materials and efficient manufacturing processes. Their work integrates cutting-edge materials science with environmental responsibility—creating innovative solutions that reduce waste, improve durability, and support a cleaner future.
BioWRAP Team Members: Heidi Sieverding, David Salem, James Stone, Christopher Shearer, Tanvi Govil, and Rajesh Sani.
The AES Program offers a minor in atmospheric sciences through the bachelor of science in atmospheric sciences program, an MS degree in atmospheric and environmental sciences, and a PhD program in atmospheric and environmental sciences.
The new knowledge developed as a result of basic research about the earth's biogeochemical system is transformed by atmospheric and environmental sciences students and scientists into practical applications.
In order to leverage scientific and intellectual resources in the region, our faculty scientists collaborate with many partnering institutions such as the National Center for Atmospheric Research and the EROS Data Center, and with several Tribal Colleges, including Sinte Gleska and Oglala Lakota Colleges.
Contact Us
Phone: (605) 394-2622
William.Capehart@sdsmt.edu or atmosphericsciencesinfo@sdsmt.edu
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Phone: (605) 219-8269
Jeffrey.Hoffmann@sdsmt.edu
MS Graduate Program Coordinator
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Phone: (605) 394-2563
Marc.Robinson@sdsmt.edu
Department Head & Professor
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Phone: (605) 394-2443
James.Stone@sdsmt.edu
Professor
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Phone: (605)-219-8259
venkataramana.gadhamshetty@sdsmt.edu
CEM Program Coordinator
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
(605) 394-2704
Mark.VanVleck@sdsmt.edu
Have more questions?
Dr. James J Stone