Each year, the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) selects a cohort of students as the collegiate New Faces of Civil Engineering. We are delighted to share that third-year student Leah Mealey has been chosen for the 2022 cohort, in recognition of her outstanding work with UC Berkeley's ASCE student chapter (Cal ASCE) and many other leadership roles she has held since coming to campus.
Leah was first inspired by her grandfather to pursue a career in engineering. As a mining engineer, Leah's grandfather would share stories with her about managing mines all over the world, and show her his coveted rock collection. Leah has always looked up to him, and he has always supported Leah in her pursuit to become an engineer.
In addition to her grandfather, Leah is motivated to pursue civil and environmental engineering by examining the unique challenges presented by climate change, and the creative solutions engineers have found to mitigate its effects. This speaks to her commitment to serve her community and greater society, values central to the profession.
“Similar to the way bioengineers and doctors have created COVID vaccines, civil and environmental engineers will provide something similar against climate change in our infrastructural and technological adaptations,” Leah said. “Serving the community has always been of great interest to me, and climate change mitigation will probably be the greatest opportunity to do just that in my career.”
On campus, Leah is the vice president of Cal ASCE. Last year, in her role as philanthropy chair, Leah led a successful fundraising drive for Habitat for Humanity. This year, Leah helped to launch a Spotify podcast, civil, which covers topics for students ranging from classes and clubs to research and internships.