Jeanne M. van Briesen, PhD, PE, Examines “Wicked” Water Challenges Through Convergence Research

Students, faculty and staff came together Friday, March 27, for the College of Engineering’s annual Claire L. and Gerard F. Jones ’72 Distinguished Lecture. Held in the Dionisio Lecture Hall in Drosdick Hall, the event featured Jeanne M. van Briesen, PhD, PE, dean of the College of Engineering and Information Technology at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County.

A Philadelphia area native and leader in environmental systems, Dr. van Briesen discussed her decades of research in river biochemistry, drinking water safety and the impacts of energy extraction in her lecture “Convergence Research for Solving Wicked Water Problems.” 

“Wicked,” Dr. van Briesen noted, refers to challenges that are unique and resistant to resolution.

“You can’t study water problems without understanding climate change—there are many interdependencies, and the causes are often multiple,” she said. “We may think we’ve solved one problem, only to make another worse. That’s very common with ‘wicked’ problems, which are often socially complex and require changes in behavior.”

Dr. van Briesen compared these challenges to more straightforward technical problems, noting that water issues require approaches that go beyond a single field of expertise. She explained that unlike multidisciplinary or interdisciplinary work, convergence research brings together different areas of knowledge and encourages ongoing collaboration—starting with a real-world problem and focusing on finding new ways to understand and solve it.

The lecture also highlighted the urgent need to address aging water infrastructure, noting that much of the nation’s drinking water system is more than a century old and in need of significant updates. Ensuring safe, equitable and resilient water access, she said, will require continued adaptation and new approaches to increasingly complex challenges.

“It’s really about mindset and how you approach these problems,” Dr. van Briesen said. “Wicked problems don’t get solved; they get stewarded.”

Endowed in 2023, the Claire L. and Gerard F. Jones ’72 Distinguished Lecture Series brings world-class experts to Villanova to share their knowledge, experience and wisdom with faculty, students, the University community and the public.