Prof. Evan Thomas
Associate Professor and Mortenson Center Director
ethomas@colorado.edu
303-550-4671

Director, Mortenson Center
Mortenson Endowed Chair in Global Engineering

Department: Civil, Environmental, and Architectural Engineering
Education: BS, Broadcast Journalism (Honors), University of Colorado at Boulder (2006); BS, Aerospace Engineering Sciences, University of Colorado at Boulder (2006); MS, Aerospace Engineering Sciences (Bioastronautics), University of Colorado at Boulder (2006); PhD, Aerospace Engineering Sciences (Bioastronautics), University of Colorado at Boulder (2009); MPH, Masters in Public Health, Oregon Health and Science University (2014​)
Teaching: CVEN 5837 Development Engineering
Research: Water and air testing and treatment applied in developing communities through to operational spacecraft. Remote sensing and "Internet of Things" technologies for monitoring of water, sanitation and energy resources. 

Office: SEEC N290

Honors and Distinctions:

  • Rockefeller Foundation Bellagio Center Residency Fellowship, 2015
  • NASA Johnson Space Center Fellowship, 2008-2009 
  • Finalist, Canadian Astronaut Selection, 2017
  • University of Colorado at Boulder Kalpana Chawla Outstanding Recent Alumni Award, 2015
  • University of Colorado at Boulder College of Engineering Recent Alumni Award, 2015
  • Portland State Impact Entrepreneurs Entrepreneurship Award, 2014
  • NASA-JSC Engineering Achievement Medal, September 2007 
  • International EnergyGlobe Awards, Rwanda National Award, 2007, 2008, 2009
  • Engineers Without Borders-USA Humanitarian Award, 2004

Recent Publications with graduate students:
* indicates graduate student

  1. *Turman-Bryant, N., *Fankhauser, K., Clasen, T., Thomas, E., “Measuring Progress Toward Sanitation and Hygiene Targets,” Waterlines, 2018.
  2. *Barstow, C., *Kirby, M., Clasen, T., Thomas, E., “Health, livelihood, and environmental impacts of the distribution of a carbon-credit-financed, large-scale water filter and improved cookstove programme in Rwanda,” Case Report, Lancet Planetary Health, DOI: 10.1016/S2542-5196(18)30116-5, 2018.
  3. *Kirby, M., Nagel, C., Rosa, G., Umupfasoni M., Iyakareyme, L., Thomas, E., Clasen, T., “Use, microbiological effectiveness and health impact of a household water filter intervention in rural Rwanda—A matched cohort study,” International Journal of Hygiene and Environmental Health, 2017.
  4. *Delea, M., Nagel, C., Thomas E., Halder, A., Amin, N., Shoab, A., Freeman, M., Unicomb, L., Clasen, T., “Comparison of respondent-reported and sensor-recorded latrine utilization measures in rural Bangladesh: a cross-sectional study,” Transactions of The Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, 2017.
  5. *Bedell, E., Leslie, M., *Fankhauser, K., Burnett, J., Wing, M., Thomas, E., “Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Based Structure from Motion Biomass Inventory Estimates." Journal of Applied Remote Sensing 11(2), 2017.
  6. Clasen, T., Zambrano, L., Rosa, G., Kirby, M., Barstow, C., Thomas, E., Nagel, C., “Study design of a cluster-randomized controlled trial to evaluate a large-scale distribution of cook stoves and water filters in Western Province, Rwanda,” Contemporary Clinical Trials, (4) http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.conctc.2016.07.003, 2016.
  7. *Barstow, C., Nagel, C., Clasen, T., Thomas, E., “Process Evaluation and Assessment of Use of a Large Scale Water Filter and Cookstove Program in Rwanda,” BMC Public Health BMC Public Health 16:584 DOI 10.1186/s12889-016-3237-0, 2016.
  8. Thomas, E., *Tellez-Sanchez, S., *Wick, C., *Kirby, M., *Zambrano, L., Rosa, G., Clasen, T., Nagel, C., "Behavioral Reactivity Associated with Electronic Monitoring of Environmental Health Interventions - A Cluster Randomized Trial with Water Filters and Cookstoves," Environmental Science and Technology, DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.6b00161, 2016.
  9. *Bohnert, K., Chard, A., Mwaki, A., *Kirby, A., Muga, R., Nagel, C., Thomas, E., Freeman, M., Comparing Sanitation Delivery Modalities in Urban Informal Settlement Schools: A Randomized Trial in Nairobi, Kenya, International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 13(12), 1189; doi:10.3390/ijerph13121189, 2016.
  10. Nagel, C., *Beach, J., Iribagiza, C., Thomas, E., “Evaluating Cellular Instrumentation on Rural Handpumps to Improve Service Delivery – A Longitudinal Cohort Study in Rural Rwanda,” Environmental Science and Technology (49) 24 DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.5b04077, 2015.
  11. *Kipf, A., Brunette, W., *Kellerstrass, J., Podolsky, M., Rosa, J., Sundt, M., Wilson, D., Borriello, G., Brewer, E., Thomas, E., “A Proposed Integrated Data Collection, Analysis and Sharing Platform for Global Development,” Journal of Development Engineering, doi:10.1016/j.deveng.2015.12.002, 2015.
  12. O’Reilly, K., *Louis, E., Thomas, E., Sinha, A., “Combining Remote Monitoring and Ethnography to Estimate Household Latrine Usage in Rural India,” Journal of Water, Sanitation and Hygiene for Development, (5), 3, doi: 10.2166/washdev.2015.155, 2015.
  13. *Barstow, C., Ngabo, F., Rosa, G., *Majorin, F., Boisson, S., Clasen, T., Thomas, E., “Designing and Piloting a Large-Scale Project to Provide Water Filters and Improved Cookstoves in Rwanda,” PLoS One, 2014.
  14. Thomas, E., *Barstow, C., Rosa, G., *Majorin, F., Clasen, T., “Use of Remotely Reporting Electronic Sensors for Assessing Use of Water Filters and Cookstoves in Rwanda,” Environmental Science and Technology, 2013. DOI: 10.1021/es403412x. 
  15. Rosa, G., *Majorin, F., Boisson, S., Barstow, C., Johnson, M., Kirby, M., Ngabo, F., Binagwaho, A., Thomas, E., Clasen, T., “Assessing the Impact of Water Filters and Improved Cookstoves on Drinking Water Quality and Household Air Pollution: A Randomised Controlled Trial in Rwanda,” PLoS One, 2014. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0091011
  16. Thomas, E., Zumr, Z., *Barstow, C., Fleming, M., Spiller, K., Remotely accessible and reconfigurable in-situ instrumentation to improve monitoring of global development interventions, Sustainability, August 2, 2013. 
  17. Gold, M., Thomas, E., Byyny, R., Habanabakize, J., Development and Implementation of the Bring Your Own Water Treatment System in Dense, Rural, and Mountainous Rwandan Communities, Journal of Engineering for Sustainable Development, V2.N1, 2007