Last week, the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Environmental Management, Carlsbad Field Office, announced the renewal of a $14.4 million grant to support the NMSU College of Engineering Carlsbad Environmental Monitoring and Research Center (CEMRC).

CEMRC was created in 1995 with the primary objective to develop, implement, and sustain an independent health and environmental monitoring program in the vicinity of the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant facility, making results easily accessible to all stakeholders. Environmental monitoring is the main activity at CEMRC, and it includes an intensive combination of sampling, analysis, data quality assurance, and scientific interpretation.

I congratulate Professor Lambis Papelis, Ms. Gaby Cisneros, and all of our staff at CEMRC for their outstanding work and wish them much success in the coming five years of this grant cycle. On behalf of all of our staff, I thank Professor Phillip DeLeon, current AVP and previous Associate Dean of Research for the College of Engineering, who ensured successful operations at CEMRC during the last cycle.