Written by: Connor Olson, Nick LoRusso, Ruta Basijokaite and Shiru Wang

Empower trainees come from diverse academic backgrounds and are interested in careers ranging from academia to government to industry. Part of the EMPOWER program is to prepare students to navigate different career paths in which they may currently have little or no knowledge. To this end, EMPOWER seminars often focus on individuals who are not only exceptional in their field but who can also provide insight on their experiences in different career sectors.

In this respect, few can rival recent EMPOWER seminar speaker, Dr. Diane McKnight. Currently a professor of Civil, Environmental, and Architectural engineering at University of Colorado Boulder, Dr. McKnight has had a distinguished career which has included work on acid-mine drainage in the Rocky Mountains and biogeochemistry of lakes near Mt. St. Helens. Dr. McKnight has worked in academia, with USGS, on National Research Council Committees, and helped to found the McMurdo Dry Valley’s Long Term Ecological Research site, where she has conducted substantial work on Antarctic systems.

Dr. McKnight was invited to speak with EMPOWER trainees, instructors, and guests during a recent EMPOWER webinar. Dr. McKnight discussed her career and answered questions ranging in topic from organic matter analysis to her experience as a woman in engineering.