A message from our Department Head, Dr. Hua Zhao:
Dear BBE Community,
It is with great sadness that I share the news of Dr. Laura Triplett Bender who passed away unexpectedly on Friday, July 10. She was a University of Minnesota alumni and instructor. She had a B.S. degree from the University of Wisconsin-River Falls. She later completed her M.S. degree in Natural Resources Science and Management (NRSM) in 2014 and her Ph.D. in 2022 in the Bioproducts and Biosystems Engineering (BBE) Department, both at the University of Minnesota. Her work focused on aquatic ecology, wetlands and water quality. In between her M.S. degree she worked for Houston Engineering and Ramsey County Conservation District for several years contributing to water quality-related work and wetland conservation.
Since 2023, she was a BBE instructor, teaching and assisting in classes including Ecological Engineering Principles, Recycling: Extending Raw Materials, Air Quality and Pollution Control Engineering, BBE Graduate Seminar, Global Water Resources & Sustainability, and contributed to others. Prior to that role, she was a postdoctoral researcher working with Dr. Bo Hu and had done contract work with Drs. Chris Lenhart and John Nieber. She helped develop a practical tool for The Nature Conservancy for use by natural resources managers to predict nutrient removal and carbon storage in restored wetlands. The Wetland Restoration Effectiveness Tool (WRET) has been widely used around the state with many local government staff and contractors using the tool to estimate wetland restoration benefits for the Minnesota Board of Soil and Water Resources (BWSR).
She enjoyed outdoor activities, being in nature and playing music. Laura was an excellent naturalist and enthusiastic about the study of plants, wetlands and ecological restoration. She had also played with several bands dating back to her time in college. She will be missed by family, friends, students and colleagues.
A memorial is planned for August 25th from 12-3pm, Augustana Church, 1400 South Robert Street, West Saint Paul, MN.
Hua