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When Sharon Jones, associate professor of civil and environmental engineering, arrived at Lafayette last year, she was already a seasoned engineering professor and professional.
“The primary reason I applied to Lafayette was because of the unique opportunity in the College’s A.B. engineering program,” she says. “By moving to Lafayette, I have been able to combine my interests in engineering, developing economies, and teaching in a complementary way that I hope continues for a very long time.”
Jones, who teaches courses in engineering and public policy, says she also chose Lafayette for the research opportunities it offered. And, after only a year and a half on the job, she has taken advantage of those opportunities, landing a NASA Summer Faculty Fellowship to conduct research in 2003 at Langley Research Center in Hampton, Va., and mentoring five students in EXCEL, independent study, and senior honors thesis research.
Jones, a former project engineer, also continues to work as a consultant with the Tohono O’odham Nation in southwestern Arizona, where she spent the 2001-02 academic year on sabbatical from Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology.
During that year, she developed infrastructure management systems for the Tohono O’odham Nation in southwestern Arizona as part of her work on a variety of sanitary-facility projects at the reservation.
Outside the classroom, Jones spends time with A.B. engineering majors both as an academic adviser and adviser of the Leonardo Society for A.B. engineers. She also advises the Minority Scientists and Engineers Association.
“Lafayette has been a pleasant surprise in terms of the diversity of the students, politically, culturally, and racially,” she says. “I’ve been impressed with the quality of the students as well. They’re interested in the impact of what they’re doing.”
For Nicole Joy ’04, a double major in A.B. engineering and mathematics-economics, Jones’ influence in EXCEL research last year and a senior honors thesis this year has been a positive one.
“She’s very easygoing, but she’s brilliant in her field,” Joy says. “I really enjoy working with her.”
Janille Smith ’03, now a master’s degree candidate in city and regional planning at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, says she decided to conduct senior honors thesis research last year after taking a class with Jones for only a few weeks.
“I had thought about doing a thesis, but I was not sure with whom I could pursue such research,” Smith says. “I found that her interests were very much aligned with my own I admire her because she is a great teacher and a highly motivational and positive individual. She has a warmth that is very encouraging. I am definitely better able to develop my ideas, and have matured as a student, because of my experience with her.”
Highlights
Publications: “Enhancing Environmental Literacy,” I. Nair and Jones, ASEE Journal of Engineering Education, 91(1), January 2002. “AWWA’s Role Facilitating Student Internships at Utilities,” S. A. Jones and D. Jones,American Water Works Association Journal, 95(8), August 2003.
Honors: NASA Summer Faculty Fellowship, 2003; Indian Health Service’s Tribal/Urban Recognition Award for work with Tohono O’odham Native American Nation, 2003; Clare Boothe Luce doctoral and junior faculty fellowships, 1993-2000.
Achievements: Academic adviser, first-year A.B. engineering students; adviser, Leonardo Society; adviser, Minority Scientists and Engineers Association; faculty mentor for Alternative Spring Break trip to New Mexico, May 2003.
Contact: (610) 330-5410