The EEE doctoral program is by its very nature interdisciplinary as it seeks to bridge the divide between natural systems and engineered systems. Also, student advisors ensure that students are linked to other disciplines by means of taking courses and including faculty of other departments in the advisory team. The solid materials used by humanity are extracted from the Earth. After use, these materials, and also the waste streams resulting from their processing and use, must be treated or recycled, in order to conserve non-renewable resources and minimize the adverse effects of disposal on the environment. This area of DEEE research involves the application of Earth sciences, mining and geological engineering, hydrometallurgy, pyrometallurgy, electrochemistry, and surface chemistry in the extraction, processing and disposal or recycling of materials.
Water is the most important material used by humanity.
The total annual usage in the U.S. is about one trillion tons or 4000 tons per person, which is about 200 times as much as all other materials combined. The global use of water amounts to about 4 trillion tons or 700 tons per capita. Most of this use is in agriculture and industry. The volume of water affected by human activities is much greater. Earth and environmental engineering research is also concerned with the environmental effects of land-intrusive operations related to the use of materials, like mining, landfilling, land remediation, constructed wetlands, etc.