CUTV News Radio Spotlights Texas A&M Professor Emeritus Dr. Roy Hann

Gause, TX – Dr. Roy Hann was a civil engineer at Texas A&M studying the Houston Ship Channel, one of the most polluted bodies of water in the country, when he received a call from CBS News. CBS interviewed Dr. Hann on a boat for the very first Earth Day as he explained the truth about our environment and our need to be good stewards of our planet.

This was a key moment in Dr. Hann’s life. It gave him national exposure, which led to considerable environmental projects.

“The core of my career was individual projects, research activities, training activities, all things you do in major university programs,” says Dr. Hann. “I taught some graduate classes, but most of my work was focused on identifying research projects and finding funding for them.”

Today, Dr. Hann is Professor Emeritus of Environmental Engineering Texas A&M, capping nearly 50 years of dedication to protecting the environment, specifically the waste assimilation capacity of rivers and estuaries.

“Agricultural waste discharge must be biologically treated the at a wastewater treatment plant before it can be released,” explains Dr. Hann. “Different levels of that treatment has been required over the years. With the models I created, you could see how much waste the river could assimilate without damaging the fish life and aesthetics.”

Dr. Hann was also heavily involved in the control of oil and hazardous materials spills. In 1974, the Metula Oil Spill took place in the Strait of Magellan. As result of prior work he had done for the US Coast Guard, Dr. Hann visited the Strait of Magellan spill to determine its environmental impact. It turned out to be the second largest oil spill to ever take place.

In 2010, Dr. Hann retired from Texas A&M to operate Hann Family Spring Valley Ranches and to pursue environmental engineering consulting.