
Rice University
Masters of Science in Environmental Engineering expected 2022
We are pleased to introduce another of our wonderful FY22 Mentoring Coordinators, Raychel Bahnick! Raychel is a second-year graduate student in environmental engineering at Rice University and an active member of SWE-HA (Houston Area SWE). Raychel is from Kentucky and completed her BS in Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Louisville where she has been involved in SWE for several years, serving as Outreach Chair and Vice President during undergrad and attending the SWE Congressional Outreach Day, multiple SWE annual conferences, and participating in SWE Future Leaders (SWEFL) and the Collegiate Leadership Institute.
Raychel has received several SWE-related awards including the Speed School Engineering Diversity Week SWE Member of the Year and the Kentucky Section ASCE Student Award. Additionally, her other awards include the Civil Engineering Co-op of the Year from the Speed School of Engineering, the Society of Military Engineers (SAME) Kentuckiana Post Award, and the TE Connectivity Excellence in Engineering Award. She has also received numerous scholarships such as the Robert & Karen Chatham Engineering Scholarship, the John Lenard Civil Engineering Scholarship, and the Meredith Thoms Memorial Scholarship.
Raychel’s research focus is on hydrology and flood management resiliency and how anthropogenic conditions like urbanization and land subsidence can impact flood risk at a watershed scale. This is achieved through computational flood modeling and is used to inform groundwater pumping policy. After graduation, Raychel hopes to work in water resource engineering in either the private or public sector.
In her free time Raychel enjoys baking, running, reading, and spending time with friends and family.