Lisa Rei Courtney
UW Honors Graduates
Lisa Rei Courtney
Civil and Environmental Engineering
Designation: College Honors
Honors Grads 2019/2020
Proudest Moment: Getting through CHEM 142 (despite the awful midterm grade) and the reassurance that yes, I can succeed in engineering prerequisite courses, despite women being underrepresented in the engineering field, and I am capable of graduating with an engineering degree.
I am graduating in Civil and Environmental Engineering with a focus in Water Resources. I pursued an engineering degree (despite having no family members in STEM) because I wanted hands-on skills to help better the world. I studied abroad in Peru after my First-year year, and while working with a local informal urban community, my eyes were opened to how lucky we are here in Seattle to have clean running water. In addition to my interest in water resources, I really want to promote sustainability, as well as encourage women in STEM. Through my activities in the Civil Engineering RSO, Concrete Canoe, I worked to design one of the most environmentally friendly concrete mixes in recent years at UW Concrete Canoe, as well as continue working on setting up the Rainwater Recycling system for the Construction Materials laboratory in More Hall. Another activity I have been so grateful to be a part of, is Phi Sigma Rho Engineering Sorority (Phi Rho). I have received so much support from my sisters in Phi Rho, and I held multiple leadership positions throughout my four years in Phi Rho, in order to give back and continue to grow this amazing community of women pursuing STEM.