To earn an MS degree, students typically must take a comprehensive exam (this is campus policy) or in special cases where they have arranged it in advance, complete an MS thesis or report. To help students plan for sufficient performance on the comprehensive exam, the following guidelines were adopted by the ENV faculty, in consultation with student representatives, in the 2025-26 academic year:
We are proud to announce that Assistant Professor Maya Carrasquillo has been named a 2026 recipient of the Graduate Division’s Carol D. Soc Distinguished Graduate Student Mentoring Award, receiving recognition as the Early-Career Faculty Winner. The Carol D. Soc Distinguished Graduate Student Mentoring Awards recognize exceptional mentorship within the Berkeley community.
Assistant Professor Cynthia Gerlein-Safdi has been recognized as one of the “11 Women to Watch in Science” by The Story Exchange. The annual feature honors women scientists whose work is driving innovation and addressing global challenges.
At CEE, Dr. Gerlein-Safdi studies how climate change reshapes the water cycle, integrating field research, satellite data, and ecosystem modeling to better understand and predict environmental change.
The Berkeley CEE ADA selects its Class of 2025, welcoming ten inspiring engineers into its ranks. The CEE Academy of Distinguished Alumni proudly announces its Class of 2025, a cohort of outstanding civil and environmental engineering leaders with strong ties to Berkeley CEE!
Congratulations to our eight newest members, and in-memoriam of the late Dr. Jim Kelly and Dr. Juan Pestana.
The Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering at the University of California, Berkeley is inviting alumni, friends, and supporters to participate in Big Give on Thursday, March 12, 2026, a campus wide day of giving dedicated to strengthening the future of Berkeley.
Berkeley Civil & Environmental Engineering (CEE) alumni Mason Walters (MS 1980) and Andrew Whittaker (MS 1985, PhD 1988) have been elected to the National Academy of Engineering (NAE), one of the highest professional honors in the engineering field.
Be part of an exciting week introducing young learners to the fundamentals of Civil & Environmental Engineering! Campers will explore real-world engineering challenges through hands-on activities, interactive field trips, and experiential learning designed to spark curiosity, creativity, and confidence.
The Cal Construction Team recently competed in the Associated Schools of Construction (ASC) Annual Student Competition and Construction Management Conference, a premier national event that brings together construction students, faculty, and industry leaders. ASC is a professional association dedicated to advancing construction education through collaborations between academia and industry. It is also the leader in promoting excellence in curricula, teaching, research, and professional practice.
The Structures Lab in the Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering at UC Berkeley was selected through a competitive process to evaluate Shape Memory Alloy (SMA) dampers for the Grimes Engineering Center. Working with Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM) and TriPyramid Structures, the CEE team tested an innovative SMA-based lateral force-resisting system—believed to be the first of its kind in new construction.
