By Alyssa Patrick, College of Engineering and Architecture intern
PULLMAN, Wash. – Ricardi Duvil, a civil engineering Ph.D. student at Washington State University, has earned a prestigious Bullitt Foundation fellowship for research focused on water quality improvement.
“The Bullitt Foundation was looking for a unique individual who has promise to make a difference, and Ricardi hit all of those areas,” said Marc Beutel, Duvil’s advisor and an associate professor in the WSU Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering.
Based in Seattle, the foundation is a leading environmental charitable organization established by prominent businesswoman and philanthropist Dorothy Bullitt in 1952. Led by Denis Hayes, who started Earth Day, it focuses on protecting and restoring the environment in the Pacific Northwest.
In addition to supporting research and projects, the foundation each year grants a fellowship to a candidate pursuing a leadership position in the environmental field. The $100,000 award is split over two years and is available to graduate students in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, western Montana, southern Alaska and British Columbia.
Duvil came to WSU in spring 2011 to work with Beutel on research about how nitrogen may affect mercury cycling in aquatic systems.
“His research is somewhat of a paradox,” Beutel said. Nitrogen is a chemical that is most often considered a pollutant, especially in agriculture. Duvil, on the other hand, is exploring the ability of nitrate, a form of nitrogen, to improve water quality, specifically in its control of mercury cycling.
Duvil started this research with the help of a two-year Nitrogen Systems: Policy Integrated Research and Education (NSPIRE) Fellowship that he received when he arrived at WSU. NSPIRE is an integrative research and graduate training program whose students include a policy component as well as scientific discovery in their studies.
Duvil’s broad knowledge of environmental science and policy likely helped make him a standout candidate at the Bullitt Foundation, Beutel said.
Duvil’s diverse background added to his qualifications. His mother is Haitian and his father is Cuban. He was born in Haiti, lived in France for part of high school and then moved to Boston.
While growing up in Haiti, Duvil was very aware of a nearby industry that was dumping waste and polluting regional water bodies. No one spoke out against the industry for fear of violence and the government.
“By adding the knowledge and credibility he is gaining with education to his understanding of the culture and language in Haiti, Ricardi is empowering himself to make a difference in underdeveloped communities,” Beutel said.