Cohort 4
Urbain Boudjou
EDUCATION • M.S. in Environmental Engineering Milwaukee School of Engineering • Diploma of Advance Technician: Equipment/Civil Engineering Institut National Polytechnique, Yamoussoukro, Ivory Coast
ENROLLED • Cohort 4
LOCATION • Oak Creek, Wis.
Urbain Boudjou, an environmental engineer, is striving to create more links between education and sustainable development. One of his goals is to reform practices, bringing ideas about environmental sustainability into educational and business settings, and leading others to embrace those principles. He wants to help organizations accept and integrate sustainable practices into their business’ strategies. This will enable them to meet sustained development over time, be respectful of a system of social and environmental values, and merge with a logic of continuous progress. To achieve that goal, Urbain has enrolled in the Educational Sustainability doctoral program at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point (UWSP). Urbain’s aspirations in Educational Sustainability was shaped through a successful career, which for a year involved a passion for teaching science to secondary school students in Milwaukee and Waukesha. His classes were oriented towards sustainability, with the desire to have the students contribute to the achievement of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) adopted in September 2015 by the 193 member countries of the United Nations. These goals cover areas such as health, poverty, equal opportunities, academic success, diversity, and climate change. The teaching class experience was challenging but ultimately rewarding. Urbain’s passion for sustainability in the context of education became a reality, which propelled him, naturally, to enroll at UWSP. Before teaching, Urbain served the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District (MMSD) for 17 years as a project manager, where he completed complex and innovative projects unique to the MMSD’s 100-year history. These projects, meant for the public involvement, identified environmental risks, sustainable solutions and long-term systematic changes. His projects have inspired two technical papers: Effect of Climate Change on Sewer Overflows, and Urban Runoff as a Public Health Concern. This professional work produced comprehensive solutions that benefit Milwaukee’s community and local industrial users. Urbain truly appreciates the independent work and the trust the MMSD gave him. Additionally, Urbain worked right after college in Africa for France Volontaires. For this NGO, he assisted municipalities’ capacity to plan and implement micro-infrastructure projects to reduce inequality in low-income neighborhoods in Côte d’Ivoire. This rigorous program, funded by the World Bank, was soon replicated in other African countries. Urbain is also the author and co-author of eight technical papers, and has presented his findings and research at The Water Environmental Federation (WEF) and The American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) conferences and seminars. When he is not working, Urbain enjoys walking his Border Collie, hiking through parks, visiting new cities and countries, and reading books from the local library with his teenage daughter.
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Ed.D. in Educational Sustainability
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