News

Thursday, April 18, 2024, 12:00-1:00

Integrating Agricultural Water Use into Climate Change Impact Assessments

Kirti Rajagopalan, Ph.D., Assistant Professor

Dr. Rajagopalan and her research team worked to advance the climate change impacts assessment model, CropSyst, by integrating agricultural water use associated with managing extreme weather events (e.g., watering to control sunburn in apples) into modeling.  The work helps provide a more accurate picture of water demand during extreme temperatures and increases understanding of how projected changes in these demands might impact instream flows. Dr. Rajagopalan will explain the team’s efforts and how the new assessment capabilities can help regional water resources planning considerations.

Dr. Rajagopalan is a faculty member in the Department of Biological Systems Engineering at Washington State University.  She works in the Agricultural, Natural and Human Systems Modeling Lab to develop and utilize a variety of modeling approaches to better understand and manage water and agricultural resources.

Register Here

Please note: You must be logged into a Zoom account to access the webinar on the day of the presentation.

Please join the Water Research Center in the second presentation of the spring seminar series.  Attendance is free but registration is required.

Thursday, March 21, 2024, 12:00-1:00

Using Drone-based Technologies to Map Stream Characteristics and Salmon Spawning Habitat

Alex Fremier, Ph.D., Associate Professor

Dr. Fremier and Co-PI Daniel Auerbach developed drone-based technologies to measure stream velocity, temperature, and morphology.  These measurements help identify and quantify salmon spawning habitat and offer new methodologies for environmental monitoring.  Dr. Fremier will share the details of their study and work with the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife in the Wenatchee River.

Dr. Fremier is an Associate Professor in the School of the Environment at Washington State University.  His research explores how abiotic processes structure ecosystems, how organisms alter the abiotic process, and how the linked systems alter landscape trajectories – from immediate to geological timescales.  He specializes in river-floodplain systems.

Dr. Auerbach earned his Ph.D. from Washington State University in Environmental and Natural Resource Sciences.  His research focuses on the use of remotely piloted vehicles (RPVs, drones) at the meso-scale.  His specific area of focus is on the integration of RPVs in fisheries science, revolving around the riverine setting and salmonids

Register Here

Please note: You must be logged into a Zoom account to access the webinar on the day of the presentation.

Please join the Water Research Center in the first presentation of the spring seminar series.  Attendance is free but registration is required.

Thursday, February 22, 2024, 12:00-1:00

Stephanie Blair, Ph.D. Candidate

Stephanie Blair and her Advisor, Dr. Jenifer McIntyre, have been investigating the toxicity of urban stormwater, particularly the tire chemical 6PPD-Quinone, to Pacific Salmon. Stephanie will discuss how this chemical affects Coho and Chinook salmon. She will also touch on her collaborative work on the issue.

Stephanie Blair is a Ph.D. Candidate in WSU’s School of the Environment. She is studying the toxic effects of urban stormwater runoff on Pacific salmon. Stephanie is an enrolled member of Sault Sainte Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians in Michigan and Nome Eskimo Community in Alaska. She is an affiliate of WSU’s Center for Native American Research and Collaboration (CNRC). Through her work, Stephanie aims to center tribal sovereignty, cultural resilience and building tribal-academic partnerships in stormwater toxicology.

See the recording here