2026 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Education for Thriving in a Changing Climate: Private Property, the Commons, and America’s Policy Barriers

Presented at Engineering and Public Policy Division (EPP) Technical Session 2

Engineering solutions to climate adaptation increasingly require fluency in governance, policy, and ethics. Traditional U.S. frameworks, rooted in private property and exclusionary conservation, often conflict with collaborative, shared-governance models that support sustainable resource management. Engineering education can prepare students to navigate multi-actor governance challenges, develop policy literacy, and integrate ethical reasoning into technical solutions. Using case studies on wildfires and prescribed burns, water governance in interdependent infrastructure, and parametric insurance for fisheries, we illustrate how multi-actor, policy-informed decision-making can be taught through experiential learning, role-playing, and system design exercises. By synthesizing theory, practice, and pedagogy, and integrating insights from Nobel laureate Elinor Ostrom, indigenous stewardship models, and adaptive governance literature, we provide recommendations for preparing engineers to operate as ethical, policy-savvy practitioners capable of addressing planetary health challenges. The pedagogical approaches are offered as concrete contributions that are intended to align with and extend the forthcoming NASEM consensus study “Education for Thriving in a Changing Climate.”

Authors

Dr. Daniel B Oerther P.E. http://orcid.org/0000-0002-6724-3205 Missouri University of Science and Technology [biography]

Professor Daniel B. Oerther, PhD, PE joined the faculty of the Missouri University of Science and Technology in 2010 as the John A. and Susan Mathes Chair of Civil Engineering after serving for ten years on the faculty of the University of Cincinnati where he was head of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering. Professor Oerther is internationally recognized for leadership of engineers, sanitarians, and nurses promoting the practice the sustainable development, local to global. Dan is a Past President of the American Academy of Environmental Engineers and Scientists. He is a Diplomate Laureate of the American Academy of Sanitarians. Dan is a Fellow of the Association of Environmental Engineering and Science Professors, the American Academy of Nursing, the National League for Nursing, and the National Academies of Practice. In the United Kingdom, he is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health, the Royal Society for Public Health, and the Society of Operations Engineers. Professor Oerther's awards as an educator include the Excellence in Environmental Engineering Education Award from the American Academy of Environmental Engineers and Scientists, the Gordon Maskew Fair Distinguished Engineering Educator Medal from the Water Environment Federation, the Engineering Education Excellence Award from the National Society of Professional Engineers, the Robert G. Quinn Award from the American Society for Engineering Education, and the Duncan Fraser Global Award for Excellence in Engineering Education from the International Federation of Engineering Education Societies.

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