ÃÛÌÒ´«Ã½Æƽâ°æÏÂÔØ

Education:

• BS, Broadcast Journalism (Honors), University of Colorado Boulder, 2006
• BS, Aerospace Engineering Sciences, University of Colorado Boulder, 2006
• MS, Aerospace Engineering Sciences (Bioastronautics), University of Colorado Boulder, 2006
• PhD, Aerospace Engineering Sciences (Bioastronautics), University of Colorado Boulder, 2009
• MPH, Masters in Public Health, Oregon Health and Science University, 2014​

Honors and Distinctions:

• Association of Environmental Engineering and Science Professors (ASEEP) - 2023 Steven K. Dentel Award for Global Outreach (This award is given annually to recognize outstanding contributions and leadership by a faculty member through involvement in environmental engineering and science outreach activities to the global community.)
• Research Development Award, Civil, Environmental and Architectural Engineering, 2022
• Million Lives Club - Vanguard, 2020
• The Million Lives Club celebrates innovators and social entrepreneurs who are reaching new horizons of impact and improving the lives of those living on less than $5 a day. MLC Vanguard celebrates those who have directly impacted 1,000,000+ clients with their innovations.
• Mortenson Endowed Chair of Global Engineering
• Director and Endowed Chair of the Mortenson Center in Global Engineering and Resilience and the Climate Innovation Collaboratory at the University of Colorado Boulder.
• Bellagio Center Practitioner Residency, Rockefeller Foundation, 2015
• Rockefeller Foundation Bellagio Center Residency Fellowship, 2015
• Kalpana Chawla Outstanding Alumni Award, 2015
• Outstanding Recent Alumni Award, 2015
• NASA Johnson Space Center Fellowship, 2008-2009
• Finalist, Canadian Astronaut Selection, 2017
• University of Colorado at Boulder Kalpana Chawla Outstanding Recent Alumni Award, 2015
• University of Colorado at Boulder College of Engineering Recent Alumni Award, 2015
• Portland State Impact Entrepreneurs Entrepreneurship Award, 2014
• NASA-JSC Engineering Achievement Medal, September 2007
• International EnergyGlobe Awards, Rwanda National Award, 2007, 2008, 2009
• Engineers Without Borders-USA Humanitarian Award, 2004

Patents

• Thomas, E., Sharpe, T., Bedell, E., Alarm Threshold Microbial Fluorimeter and Methods, US Patent Pending US Serial No. 62/843,860.
• Wilson, D., Coyle, J., Thomas., E., Machine Learning Techniques for Improved Water Service Delivery, US Patent Pending US Serial No. 62/843,836.
• Fleming, M., Spiller, K., Thomas, E., System and Methods for Operating a Microcomputer in Sleep-Mode and Awake-Mode with Low Power Event Processing, United States and International Patent Pending – US 62/101,048.
• Thomas, E, Fleming, M., Distributed low-power monitoring system, United States Patent US 9,077,783 B2, Issued July 7, 2015.
• Weislogel, M., Thomas, E., Graf, J., Systems and Methods for Separating a Multiphase Fluid, United States Patent US 7,905,946 B1, issued March 15, 2011
• Gold, M., Thomas, E., Bring Your Own Water Treatment System United States Patent US 8,002,993 B2, issued August 23, 2011

Interest:

• Water and air testing and treatment applied in developing communities through to operational spacecraft.
• Remote sensing and "Internet of Things" technologies for monitoring of water, sanitation and energy resources.
• Developing methodologies, technologies and markets to enable large-scale watershed restoration programs in the U.S.

Books

• Thomas, E. (Author), The Global Engineers - Building a Safe and Equitable World Together. Springer, 2020
• Thomas, E., (Editor), Broken Pumps and Promises: Incentivizing Impact in Environmental Health Springer, 2016

Recent Publications:
* indicates graduate student

• *Ecklu, J.; Thomas, E. Digital Monitoring, Reporting, and Verification Technologies Supporting Carbon Credit-Generating Water Security Programs: State of the Art and Technology Roadmap. Environ. Sci. Technol. Lett. 2025, acs.estlett.4c01048.
• Islam, M.; Contreras, J. D.; Unicomb, L.; Rahman, M.; Arnold, B. F.; Colford, J. M.; Luby, S. P.; Thomas, E. A.; Ercumen, A. Sensor-Measured versus Reported Latrine Use to Characterize Sanitation Intervention Uptake in a Randomized Controlled Trial among Households in Rural Bangladesh. International Journal of Hygiene and Environmental Health 2025, 264, 114511.
• *Demaree, K.; Kurli, V.; Magnuszewski, P.; Andersson, K.; Thomas, E. Development and Evaluation of a Digital Behavioral Economics Game towards Improved Understanding of Groundwater Conservation in Southern Colorado. PLOS Water 2024, 3 (12), e0000298.
• Porter, B. W.; Sowby, R. B.; Williams, G. P.; Limb, B. J.; Quinn, J. C.; Johnson, A.; Thomas, E. Mitigating Wildfire Impact on Water Quality through Climate-Based Financing: A Case Study of the Provo River Watershed. October 3, 2024.
• *Ecklu, J.; Johnson, A.; Landon, T.; Thomas, E. Leveraging the Voluntary Carbon Market to Improve Water Resilience in the Colorado and Mississippi River Basins. Preprints 2024, 2024081314.
• B.J. Limb, J.C. Quinn, A. Johnson, R.B. Sowby, E. Thomas. The potential of carbon markets to accelerate green infrastructure based water quality trading. Commun Earth Environ 5, 185 2024.
• *Falcone, M. S.; Salvinelli, C.; Sharpe, T.; Kamara, A.; Thomas, E. Assessing the Functionality of a Water-Vending Kiosk Network with High-Frequency Instrumentation in Freetown, Sierra Leone. Heliyon 2024, 10 (8), e29152.
• *Holland, M.; *Demaree, K.; Thomas, E. Investigating technology opportunities toward improved Colorado water monitoring: Insights from key informant interviews and stakeholder surveys. PLOS Water 2023 2(6): e0000054.
• Thomas, E.; Ntazinda, J.; Kathuni, S. Applying Climate Reparative Finance Toward Water Security. Science of the Total Environment 2023, 875, 162506.

Ìý