Org Involvement
Mel is incredibly passionate about professional community engagement. She maintains a pulse in multiple such groups, including WEF, ASCE, and geographically local environmental advocacy groups.
- Mel Butcher was one of ten individuals nationally recognized in 2014 as a New Face of Civil Engineering, College Edition, by the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE)
- In 2014, Ms. Butcher received the Rising Star award from the Tampa Bay Association of Environmental Professionals (TBAEP), in part for her work founding and developing the USF student chapter (more here)
- Ms. Butcher was one of eight individuals selection nationally by ASCE to attend the Emerging Leaders Alliance Conference, 2013
In the photo below, Mel is standing with Kris Morico at the National Association of Environmental Managers (NAEM) conference. Kris served as her mentor through the ASCE e-mentor program for several years. Through that time, all communication was via email and phone calls. Finally, in 2017, Mel and Kris got to meet in person at NAEM.
UNLEASH Innovation Lab
In 2017, Mel was nominated by the Water Environment Federation (WEF) and subsequently selected as an Innovation Lab talent for the UNLEASH program, which brought together Young Professionals from across the globe to work on solutions to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. The program was hosted in Denmark, with majors sponsors Carlsberg and Grundfos. She ended up on an international team that worked water conservation in the industrial setting. Her teammates pictured here: Toni Wendt, a Genetics Researcher at Carlsberg, Germany/Denark; Danish D.R., a Civil Engineering PhD candidate, India; and Sam Varga, a Wastewater Engineering expert, Belgium
Tampa Bay Association of Environmental Professionals at USF
Mel is proud to be the founding President of the Tampa Bay Association of Environmental Professionals at USF student chapter (2012). She oversaw the management and growth of the chapter from officer recruitment, event advertisement and fund raising from start to finish. Led team of 6 officers to grow chapter to over 100 members in less than 1 year. Arranged over 20 professional guest speakers for events benefitting students' career development
The adjacent photo features Mel with the officers she recruited to develop and run TBAEP@USF for year one. Each individual made special contributions to the growth and success of TBAEP@USF and they have all gone on to have successful careers in fields like Environmental Engineering, Industrial Hygiene, and Research.
(From left to right starting with top row): Greg Pignataro, Matthew Munz, Kushani Rodrigo, Erin Morron, Mel Butcher, Dr. Ivy Drexler
