The Anacostia River and water lilies from Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens on the river. Image courtesy of the National Park Service.

LOWELL, MI (12-23-2005) - Sister Damien Marie Savino will be granted a Doctor of Philosophy in Engineering with a specialty in Environmental Engineering and a component in Theology in January 2006 from The Catholic University of America. Sister Damien Marie successfully defended her dissertation in October. Her dissertation is entitled, "Urban River Restoration: The Confluence Between Restoration of People and Restoration of Place In Light of Holling's Dynamic of Creative Destruction and Bonaventure's Theology of Human Mediation."

Sister Damien Marie's research explores the relationship between science and theology by bringing two paradigms into conversation, one in ecology (C. S. Holling) and one in Franciscan theology (St. Bonaventure). Both relate to how change occurs in human and ecological systems. Eight interdisciplinary principles were generated out of the two paradigms and utilized to assess the progress of the Anacostia River restoration, a major urban river restoration project in Washington, D.C. In the case study the river is viewed both as an object of science and in its spiritual/theological dimensions.

Sister Damien Marie explains the project in this way, "The Anacostia River is one of the most contaminated rivers in the country and one that is being used as a model for restoration in highly developed urban areas. It also flows through some of the most economically deprived areas in the city. The goal of the restoration, it is proposed, is both technical and human - to restore people along with place. The results indicate that in order to accomplish this, there is a need to design the restoration to enhance contemplative experiences of the river. A new paradigm is proposed of the human person, and the engineer in particular, as a contemplative mediator of the river's recovery. Further, it is proposed that this paradigm can contribute to a deeper understanding of authentic development for the contemporary world."

This fall Sister Damien Marie began working as an adjunct professor at Grand Valley State University in Michigan, teaching courses in environmental and soil science, climatology and natural resource management. She received a Master of Science degree in Soil and Plant Science from the University of Connecticut and a Bachelor of Science in Biogeography from McGill University in Montreal. Sister has also worked professionally as an environmental consultant in environmental remediation for contaminated sites for several Connecticut companies including United Technologies Corporation.