CAL POLY STUDENT CHAPTER
Society of Environmental Engineers
The Society of Environmental Engineers (SENVE) is a student organization at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo built around the people working to solve real environmental challenges. We bring together students interested in water quality, air quality, sustainable infrastructure, remediation, and the systems that keep communities healthy. Whether your focus is clean water, climate resilience, or the engineering behind everyday environmental protection, SENVE is a place to connect with peers who care about the same problems.
Competing Alongside SCE at the Pacific Southwest Symposium
—
Air & Waste Management Association Student Chapter
—
Community Partner: Surfrider Foundation
—
Community Partner: SLO Botanical Garden
—
Competing Alongside SCE at the Pacific Southwest Symposium — Air & Waste Management Association Student Chapter — Community Partner: Surfrider Foundation — Community Partner: SLO Botanical Garden —
W H O W E A R E
What makes SENVE great?
Our members get hands-on exposure to the field through technical workshops, guest speakers from industry and agencies, site visits, and networking events that open doors to internships and careers. We also host social and professional development activities that help students build the relationships and skills that carry beyond the classroom. Rooted in Cal Poly's Learn by Doing philosophy, SENVE gives environmental engineering students a community and a launchpad into meaningful work.
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT · COMPETITION TEAMS
SENVE-Sponsored Competition Teams: WERC
The WERC Environmental Design Contest is a national competition hosted each year by New Mexico State University that brings students, industry, and government together to solve real-world environmental challenges. Each team works through a full engineering process, producing a technical report, an oral presentation, a poster session, and a working bench-scale prototype they build and demonstrate on-site, all judged by professionals from organizations like the EPA, Department of Energy, and Bureau of Reclamation. Here, Cal Poly's SENVE-sponsored 2016 WERC team presents their project to their judges.
MENTORSHIP & COMMUNITY
Snow days, study nights, and everything between
SENVE's mentor-mentee program pairs incoming first-year students with experienced members during their first quarter at Cal Poly, giving new students a direct connection to someone who can help them find their footing academically, professionally, and socially. It's a straightforward way to build community early and make sure no one has to figure things out alone.
Beyond the mentorship program, SENVE keeps members connected through regular outdoor trips throughout the year. Quarterly camping trips give members a chance to step away from coursework and spend time together outside, while the annual snow trip to Lake Tahoe has become one of the most anticipated events on the club calendar. Together these trips reflect what SENVE is about at its core: a community of people who care about the environment and each other.
GIVING BACK
Taking care of our beautiful community
San Luis Obispo is a genuinely beautiful place to spend four or five years, and part of being an environmental engineer here is treating it that way. One of our regular outreach days is spent at City Farm SLO, where members roll up their sleeves to help with regenerative farming practices. We also partner with Surfrider Foundation on coastal cleanups and water quality monitoring, and work alongside the SLO Botanical Garden on habitat and native plant restoration days.
