As she helps solve some of the most challenging environmental hurdles for transportation infrastructure projects in Southern California, the lessons she learned at Syracuse University are often on the mind of Janea D. Russell ’08. She sees her time as a civil engineering student in the College of Engineering and Computer Science as the reason she has been able to thrive personally and professionally as a principle civil engineering assistant for the County of Los Angeles.

Russell has great memories of her first year in Syracuse and appreciates the guidance she received from civil and environmental engineering Professor Sam Clemence.

“My experiences really helped me to problem solve – to look at the root of an issue and tackle it,” says Russell.

Now Russell works on some of the most important environmental challenges for infrastructure projects in the Los Angeles County area. She is grateful not only for the engineering education she received at Syracuse University but also the connections she made across campus with friends and professors in the other schools and colleges.

“My background has helped me consider engineering challenges from different perspectives,” said Russell. “We look at the effects a project may have on everything around it. From sensitive flora and fauna to broader societal impacts.”

She recommends current students find ways to get involved, take advantage of all the social activities on campus and be a part of the larger Syracuse University community.

“Most of the people I am closest to now, I met at Syracuse,” says Russell.