On November 20, 2003, the National Ground Water Association (NGWA) and the American Petroleum Institute (API) announced the selection of an EMSE graduate student for a 2004 NGWA/API graduate scholarship. The honor went to Stephen T. Fields, a doctoral student in the Environmental and Energy Management concentration. Mr. Bruce Bauman, API Soil and Water Research Program Coordinator, indicated in announcing the award that Steve won the award from "a rather large pool of applicants."
Steve presently is conducting research to develop a management tool to help expedite cleanups of leaking underground storage tank sites by state and local government agencies throughout the United States. He is working with the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency to test his theories in a real-world setting, using databases containing information on groundwater and soil depth, location of EPA regulated sites, population, location of potentially affected facilities, surface water data and other relevant data.
According to Steve's academic advisor, Prof. Jonathan Deason, “Steve is using the most recent advances in Geographic Information Systems to develop an innovative and practical decision support system to assist state responders in addressing a very important and difficult challenge. The NGWA/API award reflects recognition by the sponsoring organizations of the importance of Steve's project, as well as the quality of his work.”