Water engineer’s purpose is clear

Water is a recurring theme in Sara Huber’s life; she’s always lived near the ocean and her childhood “summer home” was a 52-foot trawler that her family cruised around Catalina and Baja.

“I lived on the water, where conservation is a way of life,” Huber says.

At UC Irvine, Huber practically majored in water. On Sun., June 18, she will receive her bachelor’s in civil engineering, with a specialty in water resources, and she is the student speaker for the Henry Samueli School of Engineering’s commencement.

“Everyone’s been asking me what I’m going to say,” Huber says. She’s not revealing details but does promise to discuss “what excites engineers.”

Her late father, Gene, who died last July, got Huber excited about water. He served on several water boards and was fascinated by the swirling politics and the engineering feats that brought water rushing through the tap. Huber resisted his gentle prodding to study water until her senior year in high school, when she did a project on the Colorado River.

“I was intrigued. It’s a fight for water in Southern California,” she says. “I decided to get involved in the water industry.”

At UCI, she has excelled in her studies. She’s a Phi Beta Kappa honor society member; Regents’ Scholar; Fulbright finalist; 2005-06 Civil and Environmental Engineer of the Year; and recipient of several scholarships. She’s co-president of Chi Epsilon, the National Civil Engineering Honors Society at UCI; and a member of the UCI chapter of the American Society of Civil Engineers and National Society of Collegiate Scholars.

“Sara is quietly determined about her ideas. She’s destined to become a leader in the environmental field,” says Jan Scherfig, research professor of civil and environmental engineering and director of UCI’s Urban Water Research Center. Scherfig advised Huber on her honors thesis and research, which examines caffeine as a tracer of raw sewage in the environment.

“Her work should have significant impact on how sewer defects are managed,” he says.

Huber will spend next year in Scotland getting her master’s in water law and policy at the University of Dundee’s Centre for Energy, Petroleum, Mineral Law and Policy. She then may return to UCI to pursue a doctorate in environmental engineering.

How would her father react if he could be there on commencement day to see his daughter speak to her fellow graduates?

“He’d be proud,” Huber says. “I’m a perfectionist, and I’ve been practicing my speech over and over. He’d be the one calming me down, saying, ‘Sara, you’ll be OK.’”

UCI’s commencement schedule can be found at www.commencement.uci.edu.