This lectureship was founded in 2013 by Steve and Sylvia Burges. The purpose of the endowment is to support an annual public lecture by distinguished practitioners in the field of Civil and Environmental Engineering to broaden the horizons of engineering students and professionals beyond the purely technical challenges of our times.
Speakers include faculty members in the department as well as experts identified by faculty as possessing perspectives, expertise and/or experience of particular importance and interest to the field of civil and environmental engineering.
Burges Lecture 2025
Save the date
Thursday, April 3, 3:30-4:30 p.m.
Alder Hall Auditorium
Reception with light food and drinks in Alder Hall Commons following the lecture
Featuring Dr. Jessica Lundquist
Professor, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Additional details on Dr. Lundquist's lecture will be shared soon.
About the speaker
Jessica Lundquist is a professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Washington. She specializes in understanding spatial patterns of snow and weather in mountainous regions and their implications for streamflow and water resources in a changing climate. Her research has earned her numerous accolades, including the Robert E. Horton Lecturer in Hydrology award, the AGU Ambassador Award, and induction into the AGU College of Fellows. She has also received recognition from leading journals, such as the Journal of Hydrometeorology and Water Resources Research, for her contributions to advancing knowledge in her field.
Dr. Lundquist earned her B.S. in Atmospheric Science from the University of California, Davis, and her M.S. and Ph.D. in Oceanography from Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California, San Diego. Before joining the University of Washington in 2006, she completed a postdoctoral fellowship with the University of Colorado, Boulder, and NOAA.
Outside of academia, Dr. Lundquist enjoys hiking, skiing and exploring the outdoors, as well as spending time with her family and her two cats.
About the donors
Sylvia and Steve Burges have been associated with the University of Washington since September 1970, when Steve joined the faculty as an Assistant Professor of Civil Engineering. Shortly thereafter, Sylvia earned two University of Washington master’s degrees: a Master of Education (Educational Psychology Counseling) in 1973 and a Master of Science (Civil Engineering Department) in 1976. During her career, Sylvia conducted water quality and environmental studies for consulting engineering firms. She joined Region 10 of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in 1988, where she spent the rest of her professional career as a Resource Conservation and Recovery Act enforcement officer. Steve spent his career as a University of Washington faculty member attaining the rank of Professor in 1979. He became a registered Professional Engineer in 1980, a Professional hydrologist in 1990 and a Diplomat Water Resources Engineer in 2005. Steve retired from the university in 2010 with the title of Professor Emeritus.