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Department of Environmental Engineering and Earth Sciences

An academic department within the School of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Earth Sciences

About the School
Female scientist testing water quality. of river
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Main Campus
445 Brackett Hall, Clemson, SC

Rich Environmental Lab
342 Computer Court, Anderson, SC
(864) 656-3276

Events

Family weekend invitation to join us at Lowry Hall on Sept 18

Family Weekend/Anniversary

Join us for the SCEEES Family Weekend & EEES 60th Anniversary Celebration

Who: All Are Invited (Free)
Date: Friday, September 18, 2028
Time: 11:30 AM - 2:00 PM
Where: Lowry Hall Courtyard

The School of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Earth Sciences invites you to join us for our Family Weekend Social. As part of the SCEEES Family Weekend Social, we are celebrating the 60th anniversary of the Environmental Engineering program at Clemson University.

More than six decades ago, a small but visionary program took shape within Clemson’s College of Engineering, and has since grown into the dynamic, multidisciplinary Department of Environmental Engineering & Earth Sciences it is today.

Register Today
Student talking with industry member at career fair

Industry Days

We invite you to the SCEEES Industry Days, a Two-Day Career Fair

Welcome to the SCEES Industry Days - your opportunity to connect directly with highly sought-after Clemson students across key engineering and earth science disciplines, all in one dynamic, streamlined event.

With dedicated tracks for both the built and natural environments, you can engage with students whose skills and interests align with your industry, making it an efficient, high-impact way to discover and recruit top talent.

Day 1: The Built Environment-CE
October 6, 2026

Day 2: The Natural Environment-EEES
October 7, 2026

Sponsorship & Registration
Upcoming Events

Main Campus
445 Brackett Hall, Clemson, SC

Rich Environmental Lab
342 Computer Court, Anderson, SC
(864) 656-3276

EEES in the News

Global Impact

Clemson University Bio-complex Greenhouses

Grand Challenges

Things vital to life on Earth are clean water and clean air. At Clemson, you have an opportunity to study and research biofuels, bioactive molecules and biomaterials in green-processing technologies, among many others. Or you can design the next sustainable community through stormwater retention and ecologically sound food and energy crop production.

We leverage our expertise in Environmental Engineering and Earth Sciences to pursue innovative research in two overarching Grand Challenges defining the future of engineering – infrastructure and the environment. From aquifer systems to biofuel production, our cross-disciplinary curriculum and service-learning allow our graduates to be global citizens who understand societal needs.

Our Research
Beyond the Classroom

Career Outlook

Our undergraduate degree program for Environmental Engineering offers a core curriculum that emphasizes wastewater treatment, air pollution control, sustainability and risk assessment. Biosystems Engineering is a focus of almost any field in the modern world. The discipline’s sustainable designs for energy, water and food are paramount when shortages of all three are not only possible but almost inevitable. Geology is a broad field, and Clemson University embraces the flexibility that comes with that. As an applied science, geology combines concepts from chemistry, physics and biology with other areas in studying the Earth.

  • Federal and state governments
  • Water utilities and resources
  • Engineering and environmental consulting firms
  • Manufacturing
  • International industries
  • Research groups
  • Nonprofit agencies
  • Food systems and processing
  • Bioplastics
  • Infrastructure design
  • Alternative energy
Female and male scientists measuring water quality
#21 
Academic
Department Ranking

Environmental Engineering and Earth Sciences is ranked #21 by the U.S. News & World Report for Public Departments.

Excellence in Hands-on
Professional Development

Clemson's Center for Career and Professional Development consistently rates high nationally for career services, internships, and co-op opportunities.

Career Services
$4.6M 
Research
Expenditures

Research thrusts include environmental chemistry, environmental transport, hydrogeology, nuclear environmental engineering and science, process engineering, and sustainable systems.

Find Your Path

Michael Smith sitting with friend on Clemson water dikes

For biosystems engineering major Michael Smith, receiving a Fulbright scholarship is an opportunity to reconnect with the region where he spent the first years of his life in Kyiv, Ukraine. He remembers neighbors referring to the infamous Chornobyl nuclear disaster and its effects on their children’s health and friends warning them away from eating food out of the city’s Dnieper River. Those conversations led Smith to explore unequal health outcomes brought about by systemic issues, environmental pollution and climate change by turning waste streams into product streams.

Read his story

Majors Offered

Degree B.S. M.S. Ph.D.
Biosystems Engineering X X X
Environmental Engineering X
Environmental Engineering and Science X
Optional Online: EES Degree Program  X
Optional Focus Area: Environmental Health Physics X
Environmental Engineering and Earth Sciences X
Geology X
Hydrogeology X

Our undergraduate and graduate programs are nationally recognized for their quality, with more than 1000 people earning academic degrees from the Department of Environmental Engineering and Earth Sciences.

For Graduate Applicants, There Is No Application Fee.

FACULTY EXCELLENCE

The department has over 30 faculty members and 50 adjunct and joint faculty. Our program is the only one in the nation with three faculty members (Linvil G. Rich, Thomas M. Keinath, and C.P. Leslie Grady. Jr) honored with the prestigious Founders Award by the American Association of Environmental Engineering and Science Professors.

connect with faculty
Faculty member Cates with student in lab
Dismantling Toxic Chemicals
Ezra Cates

Toxic chemicals that have been used in a wide variety of commercial products and refuse to break down in the environment (PFAS) have been linked to health problems that could be treated with a technology that Ezra Cates is advancing at Clemson University. Cates and his students are studying how photocatalysis could remove a group of toxic substances from water, a task he said is becoming more urgent.

Creative Inquiry
Study Abroad
Research Centers
EEES Organizations
Environmental Engineering & Earth Sciences
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Environmental Engineering & Earth Sciences | 342 Computer Court, Anderson, SC 29625
864-656-3276 | | Tour Campus