VeeAnder Mealing ’21

VeeAnder Mealing is a PhD candidate defending her PhD May 2021 at Colorado School of Mines in the environmental engineering program. She has an expertise in life cycle analysis, environmental assessments, data analysis, interdisciplinary communication, and agricultural sustainability & field work. Her interests lie in analyzing the complex interactions between humans and natural systems and utilizing sustainability assessments to provide opportunities to improve both entities. She is passionate about holistic sustainability and serving and supporting underrepresented individuals in STEAM.

During her time at Mines she has submitted 2 proposals and been awarded the Edna Bailey Sussman Foundation Scholarship ($5,000) and the Greening Youth Foundation & North Face’s Moving Mountains Grant ($2,000). The funding from the Moving Mountains grant was used to jumpstart work with Mines undergraduate students to combat both food waste and food insecurity on campus.

Her current research is focused on analyzing the sustainability of emerging feedstocks, guar & guayule, to support the development of a sustainable bio-economy in the southwestern U.S.VeeAnder has led the agricultural life cycle assessment modeling efforts for the SBAR Systems Performance and Sustainability Team, a collaborative project between researchers at the USDA, 4 universities, and industrial partners. As the LCA specialist on this team, she has investigated agricultural products of emerging significance to arid regions for food, energy, and rubber industries, integrated literature and field data to assess environmental impacts of these products, and worked at the forefront of developing and applying new tools for assessing social sustainability. From this work she has submitted manuscripts for publication on the environmental and social sustainability of emerging feedstocks in the Southwest. 

 VeeAnder also enjoys new adventures with family and friends involving traveling, cooking, and all things nature.

One of her favorite quotes: “It always seems impossible, until it is done.” – Nelson Mandela