Camp Award recipient David Stensel with alumna April Gu (Ph.D. ’02), a professor at Cornell University who received the Fuhrman Award at the Water Environment Federation awards ceremony.

Professor emeritus David Stensel is the recipient of the Water Environment Federation’s 2019 Camp Applied Research Award, the highest award bestowed by the society to a researcher who has helped advance the development of wastewater collection or treatment systems.

The Water Environment Federation is the major water professional organization in the United States. During the annual conference in late September in Chicago, IL, Stensel accepted the award.

The award recognizes Stensel’s work to develop and advance biological nutrient processing technology in wastewater treatment, which uses microorganisms to break down organic substances in wastewater without the use of chemicals. In 1979, Stensel led the first installation of this type of system in the country, in Palmetto, Fla., and has continued to advance the technology.

According to WEF, “Stensel’s research and development work in nutrient removal processes is particularly important because of its impact in making such systems less costly and easier to operate with improved reliability.”

The award also recognizes Stensel’s work to co-author a wastewater engineering textbook that is widely used by professionals and in the classroom. Titled “Wastewater Treatment Engineering,” the fifth edition was published in 2014.

According to one nomination letter, “His contribution to the knowledge of nutrients in wastewater will stand out for generations to come. His work in making biological nutrient removal the most effective way of controlling the effect of nutrients on the environment alone makes him a most deserving recipient of the 2019 Camp Award.”