Charles Bott is a distinguished 1996 graduate of the Virginia Military Institute (VMI) with a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering and a minor in mathematics. In 1997, Dr. Bott received his M.S.E. in environmental engineering from the Johns Hopkins University. He received his Ph.D. in civil and environmental engineering (CEE) from Virginia Tech in 2001.



From 2003 to present, Dr. Bott has been a full time faculty member of the CEE Department at VMI, recently becoming an adjunct professor in the CEE Department at Virginia Tech. He currently teaches environ-mental and water resources engineering courses at VMI and serves as an independent environmental engineering consultant for various utilities, industries, and consulting firms. From 2001 to 2003, Dr. Bott was an envi-ronmental engineer with Parsons Corporation in Fairfax, Va., and during the same period taught graduate courses at the Virginia Tech, Northern Virginia Campus.



Although Dr. Bott had a promising position as an environmental engineer with Parsons Corporation, he chose to accept his current position at VMI because of opportunities to interact with students and encourage optimism, curiosity, and love for learning; in the same way that civil and environmental engineering department faculties at Virginia Tech and VMI impacted him. He enjoys spending time with his students in the classroom, the laboratory, his office, his home, barracks, field trips, and outdoor ac-tivities such as canoeing, hiking, or a simple run.



Dr. Bott is an active participant in several professional associations including the American Society of Civil Engineers, American Society for Engineering Education, Association of Environmental Engineering and Science Professors, International Water Association, Water Environmental Federation, and Water Environment Research Foundation.



In 2007, he was appointed by Governor Kaine to the Virginia Board for Waterworks and Wastewater Works Opera-tions. Dr. Bott was also appointed by Governor Kaine in 2007 to serve as one of two Virginia representatives on the Sci-ence and Technical Advisory Committee to the Chesapeake Bay Program. In 2006, he received the VMI Corps of Cadets Mentor Award, and was the 2007 and 2008 VMI nominee for the Virginia Rising Star Outstanding Faculty Award. In 2005, he was honored with the VMI Thomas Jefferson Teaching Award, based on character and teaching style. Dr. Bott excels in stimulating, encouraging teaching and conducting research with his Virginia Tech graduate students as well as his VMI undergraduate students. He received the VMI Wilbur S. Hinman, Jr. Research Award for the Engineering Divi-sion with his student James O. Shambley (’05 / VMI CEE). With Dr. Nancy G. Love, former Virginia Tech CEE faculty member and his Ph.D. advisor, he received the 2003 Water Environment Federation Harrison Prescott Eddy Medal for outstanding contributions to wastewater principles and processes for Water Environment Research.



Dr. Bott has been the Principal Investigator for external research grants totaling more than $675,000 from August 2003 to December 2007 through the VMI Research Laboratories, Inc., where he supervised 20 research assistants on proj-ects funded by these grants. Several of Dr. Bott’s undergraduate research students have presented their work at state-lev-el and national conferences. He participated as a research investigator on several projects including a grant for Hampton Roads Sanitation and for the District of Columbia Water and Sewer Authority. He was principle investigator on research projects for FMC Corporation, The Conservation Fund, National Science Foundation, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and the Water Environment Research Foundation.



In addition to his teaching and research activities, Dr. Bott participates in numerous community activities. He is cur-rently a member of the Board of Directors of the Rockbridge County Public Service Authority, and is actively involved in regional water and sewer management issues. He regularly provides hands-on programs concerning water treatment and water quality for local middle school students. In the past, he assisted with planning and site work/landscaping activities related to grounds improvement at the Lexington Montessori Center for Children.



Dr. Bott lives in Lexington, Va. with his wife Caroline, and their two young boys, Owen (6) and Connor (4). He is origi-nally from the Eastern Shore of Virginia.