Dr. Lauren Harroff Trondsen ’12

The Clemson Young Alumni Council will present its Roaring10 award to environmental engineer Lauren Harroff Trondsen of Ithaca, N.Y.

The award is given annually to 10 outstanding individuals who received undergraduate or graduate degrees from Clemson University within the past 10 years and who exemplify Clemson’s core values of honesty, integrity and respect. Recipients are recognized for their impact in business, leadership, community, educational and philanthropic endeavors.

Trondsen, a native of Concord, N.C., graduated from Clemson in 2012 with a bachelor’s degree in biosystems engineering. She then earned graduate degrees in biological and environmental engineering from Cornell University, including a Master of Science in 2017 and a Ph.D. in 2019.

A Fulbright Scholar and recipient of two National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowships, she now works for Sanergy, a social enterprise in Nairobi, Kenya, that uses market-based approaches to provide safe sanitation management in Nairobi’s informal settlements. In her role, she works with Sanergy’s advisory arm, partnering with governments, utilities and organizations to expand sanitation coverage in new cities. 

She focuses on improving living conditions in developing countries through delivery of safe, cost-effective and dignified sanitation services while addressing environmental impacts and climate change.

In New York, Trondsen collaborated with the State 4-H Career Explorations program for four years to lead workshops for high school students to introduce them to the field of environmental engineering, including energy recovery from waste, harnessing the power of microbes, and natural resource management.

For Clemson, she serves as a mentor to high-achieving students in the Honors College and the National Scholars Program, especially those interested in Fulbright scholarships. She is an Honors College admissions application reviewer and has served as an interviewer for the National Scholars Program for several years. 

She also currently has two Clemson undergraduate students interning with her at Sanergy for the spring semester.

 

Members of the Clemson family nominate potential Roaring10 honorees, who are then selected by the Clemson Young Alumni Council. The 2021 award presentation will occur during the fall. 

The primary mission of the Clemson Young Alumni Council is to support the goals of the Clemson Alumni Association specifically on matters pertaining to young alumni. The Clemson Alumni Association is an open-membership, nonprofit organization that exists to connect alumni with their alma mater. Through a variety of programs and services, the Alumni Association works with alumni around the world to ensure they have a Clemson Experience every day.