Impact. > 2021 top ten > Patrick Robichaud

Patrick Robichaud

Academics

  • Voiland College of Engineering and Architecture, Honors College
  • Civil Engineering
  • WSU Pullman
  • Moscow, Idaho

Involvement

Outstanding Junior and Senior in the Department of Civil Engineering; Outstanding Junior and Senior for the Voiland College of Engineering and Architecture; observer at the UNFCCC Conference of the Parties 25 in Spain; team leader and officer for Engineers Without Borders in Panama; study abroad at Swansea University in Wales; chair of the ASWSU Environmental Sustainability Alliance (including organizing TEDx WSU Countdown event); WSU Sustainability and Environmental Committee undergraduate representative; teaching assistant for Honors and civil engineering courses; Honors Advisory Council member; Honors College Head Ambassador; undergraduate research peer mentor; president of Tau Beta Pi Washington Beta; Truman Scholar finalist; Carson Award for WSU Undergraduate Research; adventure facilitator for University Recreation; research assistant with top WSU researchers and has worked to write his own position paper on water resource management; policy internship with ASTM International; coordinator with National Youth Science Camp

Favorite WSU experience

Traveling down to Panama with Engineers Without Borders was one of my favorite experiences, as we created a meaningful difference for those community members, with a new water system. As chair of the Environmental Sustainability Alliance, we put on a Countdown event through TED last fall, which was well received at WSU. All of the different talks were around climate change and potential solutions and effects. That was an amazing experience especially because we had some WSU professors give presentations as well.

My research experiences have been a big part of my time at WSU. I worked for two different professors, Dr. Jenny Adam and Dr. Julie Padowski. Completing these research projects taught me the value of grit and the importance of collaboration as you don’t know what you’re going to find.

Future plans

This summer I’m completing an internship with the North American Youth Parliament for Water working on the Columbia River treaty renegotiation between the US and Canada. I’m also going to be working for the National Youth Science Foundation, which runs a science camp for graduating high school seniors. I’m looking for other opportunities before I attend graduate school in the fall of 2022. My broad career goal is to increase access to water as the climate changes. Where I end up down the road could potentially be the State Department, the United Nations, or maybe at some other international nonprofit such as the World Resources Institute or Stockholm International Water Institute.