Sarah Jakositz ASCE NEW FACES OF CIVIL ENGINEERING
Hello future colleagues and friends and fellow members of ASCE!
I’m Sarah Jakositz and I am thrilled to introduce myself as a UNH
Class of 2018 (almost) B.S. graduate of the Environmental
Engineering program as well as this year’s Top Honoree of the
ASCE New Faces of Civil Engineering College Edition. Since my
freshman year here at UNH, I have contributed to three research
efforts within the Civil and Environmental Engineering
Department. I have explored a range of topics from a life cycle
assessment of New Hampshire’s timber industry to the future of
dams in New England. My sophomore year I branched into the
College of Health and Human Services and worked with a Health
Management and Policy professor to report on climate change
(photo taken by Jeremy Gasowski, UNH
adaptation planning in Exeter, NH at the American Public Health
Communications and Public Affairs)
Association’s 2015 Annual Conference. Currently, I am working
with UNH Assistant Professor Weiwei Mo on developing a crowdsourcing methodology to engage
citizens in water quality monitoring at the consumer tap. I will be continuing to work with Dr. Mo on this
project for my Master’s thesis which I plan to complete in May 2020.
In addition to research, I have spent my time at UNH getting involved with student organizations. After
spending the spring semester of my sophomore year abroad at the University of Canterbury in
Christchurch, New Zealand, I became a Global Ambassador and interact with students who are
considering or who have plans to study abroad. Before leaving for New Zealand, I joined the UNH
College of Engineering and Physical Science’s STEMbassadors, a program that was brand new at the
time. STEMbassadors has taken me across the state of New Hampshire and back several times to work
with elementary, middle, and high school students on engaging classroom STEM activities. Most
recently, I traveled to Atlanta, Georgia to represent the STEMbassadors program at the International
Technology and Engineering Educators Association conference. I have also served as the president of
UNH’s chapter of Tau Beta Pi, the engineering honor society, for the past year.
Outside of academics and extracurriculars, I love being outside and exploring all that New England has to
offer. I grew up on the coast of New Jersey and have been stand-up paddleboarding for the past six or so
years. I spent my first New England summer on Appledore Island last year as a sustainable engineering
intern with Shoals Marine Lab, and I’m looking forward to spending this summer on land working with
Dr. Mo on my Master’s research.