Ben Bowers is the McCartney-Chase Highway Engineering Distinguished Associate Professor in the Samuel Ginn College of Engineering, whose passion for sustainability shows up in pavement.  Ben’s pioneering work is making a significant difference in creating a more sustainable transportation infrastructure.

Ben created a Sustainable Transportation Infrastructure course which is helping to shape the future of civil engineering. Designed for undergraduate and graduate students from various disciplines, the course teaches sustainability as a multifaceted framework, inspiring students to understand and embrace in their design processes the integrated systems conditions of sustainability: Nature, the Economy, Society and individual and collective Wellbeing.

Ben has contributed significantly to the industry by helping to craft the National Asphalt Pavement Association’s climate goals and net-zero emissions strategies for 2050. His collaboration with the U.S. General Services Administration led to the development of the first “environmentally preferable asphalt” specification, furthering sustainable practices in the field.  Dr. Bowers was invited to serve on the Federal Highway Administration’s Sustainable Pavements Technical Working Group.

His leadership has resulted in securing and working on over $9 million in sustainability- and resilience-focused research for the Federal Highway Administration, the Department of Defense, state highway agencies, and industry partners.  He led the team that received the prestigious 2022 Federal Highway Administration Environmental Excellence Award for their groundbreaking research funded by NOAA, which focused on investigating transportation infrastructure resilience to sea level rise.

In addition to his research efforts, Ben has actively engaged in educating others about sustainability. He has delivered numerous guest lectures on sustainable and resilient infrastructure, reaching a wide audience of students, professionals, and industry leaders. His has given more than 50 presentations on sustainability and resilience in technical settings, including invited lectures, conference presentations, and webinars, through which he shares valuable knowledge and insights with the broader community.

Ben’s scholarly output is another testament to his commitment, having published 12 sustainability-related journal papers since joining Auburn University in 2018.