Rice University’s Qilin Li, the Karl F. Hasselmann Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering, has received the 2026 Walter J. Weber, Jr. AEESP Frontier in Research Award from the Association of Environmental Engineering and Science Professors (AEESP).
AEESP is the premier global organization for academics, researchers, and educators dedicated to developing and implementing environmental protection technologies, and this is the highest honor it bestows for innovative research.
“We are fortunate to have a leader in the environmental engineering field like Professor Li in our department,” said Jamie Pagett, Stanley C. Moore Professor in Engineering and chair of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Rice. “She’s the type of colleague that elevates all of those around her. I’m so pleased that she is being recognized for her many contributions through this prestigious award.”
Li is internationally recognized as a leader in resilient water infrastructure. She pioneered next-generation sustainable, climate-resilient, and lower cost water infrastructure systems that leverage alternative water sources and renewable energy to enhance water reliability and efficiency across residential, municipal, and industrial sectors.
Her research combines innovations in materials science and environmental engineering to design next-generation membranes and treatment processes to purify, desalinate, and recycle wastewater, enabling communities and industries to transform highly contaminated or unconventional water sources into safe, reliable freshwater while minimizing energy use and costs.
Her work includes inventing solar-powered desalination methods to reduce operational costs, creating "smart" anti-fouling coatings that prevent mineral and biological buildup on equipment, and designing advanced oxidation processes to eliminate antibiotic-resistant bacteria from municipal wastewater.
The specialized membrane systems her team has developed are useful in selectively harvesting high-value, critical minerals like lithium from industrial waste streams and geothermal brines—providing a sustainable, domestic source of materials essential for electric vehicles and renewable energy.
Through these interdisciplinary approaches, Li continues to bridge the gap between fundamental research discoveries and practical engineering to secure the future of urban water and energy infrastructure systems.
“Professor Li has been a trailblazer in reshaping the design, optimization, and operation of urban water infrastructure and in advancing the frontiers of desalination and resource recovery,” said award nominator, Pedro Alvarez, George R. Brown Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering. “This award is a highly deserved recognition of her exceptional creativity, leadership, and transformative contributions to sustainable water-quality engineering.”
Reflecting on the honor, Li emphasized the profound personal and professional significance of the recognition. “It is a great honor to be recognized by AEESP, a professional society that has had a tremendous impact on my career since I was a graduate student,” Li said. “AEESP’s vision of ‘creating equitable solutions to solve regional, national, and global environmental challenges’ continues to drive my research and innovation.”