Ethan Edwards

2021 Fulbright U.S. Student Program Grantee

Hometown

Blacksburg, VA

Major

Civil Engineering

College

College of Engineering; Honors College

 

Ethan Edwards joined the ranks of more than 400,000 Fulbrighters who have gone abroad to conduct research, study, or teach in one of 165 partner countries since 1946.

On the 75th anniversary of the Fulbright program, Ethan began conducting his research project on “The Impacts of Extreme Events and Climate Change on Water Infrastructure Investments” at the National University of Singapore’s Institute of Water Policy. Clearly motivated by his personal experience, Ethan developed an early appreciation for the resources of clean air and water, first as a small child and later as a high school student volunteer on the Virginia Tech Flint Water Team. Ethan recalls how his experience of telling a child not to drink the water in Flint, Michigan, brought back memories from his childhood visits to Taiwan, where he had learned to drink boiled or bottled water. Again, on the heels of placing second in the annual Purdue half marathon, Edwards was appalled by the air quality that precluded him from even going outside during a visit to Beijing, China.

While in Singapore, Ethan will apply the skills he acquired from his co-curricular activities at Purdue, including his work on an EPICS service project, to engage with the local community in planning and volunteering for World Water Day as well as for Singapore’s National Environmental Agency. His future career aspiration is to earn a Ph.D. through a water policy program and contribute to the creation of an Internet of Water, that is, an initiative to improve the sharing and integration of water data among public and private agencies.