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2025 UCOWR Call for Award Nominations

Universities Council on Water Resources (UCOWR) recognizes outstanding professional achievement during all career stages.

Give your student/colleague/mentor the recognition they deserve. Nominations due Friday, November 1, 2024

Award Categories:

  • Warren A. Hall Award
  • Ph.D. Dissertation in Water Policy and SocioEconomics Award
  • Ph.D. Dissertation in Natural Science and Engineering Award
  • Early Career in Applied Research Award
  • Early Career in Extension/Outreach/Engagement Award
  • Mid-Career Award for Applied Research
  • Mid-Career Award for Extension/Outreach/Engagement
  • Education & Public Service Award
  • Friends of UCOWR Award
  • JCWRE Paper of the Year Award

*Candidates for awards must be nominated by a UCOWR delegate. However, several awards are open to non-UCOWR members to receive. See the Awards page of the UCOWR website for specific criteria and guidelines for each award.

A list of UCOWR delegates can be found here.

Submit nominations by November 1, 2024 to ucowr@siu.edu.

Walking Rivers Event – May 11, 2024

Meet at the Bill Chipman Palouse Trail on May 11th at 10:00 am.

Let’s celebrate the rivers of the Palouse! The Rivers, Watersheds, and Communities Club at WSU, in collaboration with the Water Research Center, is hosting our first Walking Rivers event. A day #WalkingRivers is a global event to recognize and celebrate local rivers and is organized by the Centro Ibérico de Restauración Fluvial, Spain. Join us in our walk along Paradise Creek to learn more about Palouse rivers, water quality, and restoration.

All ages are welcome and the Palouse Trail is accessible for strollers and wheelchairs. The goal is to walk 10,000 steps (about 4 miles). You can join for as much or as little of the trip as you’d like.

Optional: Wear blue to identify with the global Walking Rivers community!

Parking: Limited parking is available in the Mint Condition/Quality Inn lot next to the trailhead, and Quality Inn has agreed to allow overflow parking if the designated trailhead parking spaces are full. More parking is available on Latah Street.

Registration: Please register for the event here.

For questions about the event, please contact Hailey at hailey.v.smith@wsu.edu

Follow @wsu.rwc on Instagram for event updates.

For more information about the global event, visit https://cirefluvial.com/walkingrivers/en/

April Seminar: Integrating Agricultural Water Use into Climate Change Impact Assessments

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.

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

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.

February Seminar: Building Tribal-Academic Partnerships to Protect Pacific Salmon from Toxic Urban Stormwater

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
Building Tribal-Academic Partnerships to Protect Pacific Salmon from Toxic Urban Stormwater

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

 

WRC 2024 Spring Seminar Series

Did you miss the live events? You can view the recordings on the Water Research Center YouTube channel.

 

Bring your lunch and learn about water resource issues and research in Washington State. The Water Research Center is hosting a virtual lunchtime seminar series this spring. We’ll hear from the Center’s 2022-23 seed grant recipients and learn how their research is informing some of Washington State’s water-related challenges.

 

Past Webinars:
Thursday, February 22, 2024, 12:00-1:00
Building Tribal-Academic Partnerships to Protect Pacific Salmon from Toxic Urban Stormwater

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.

Learn more here

See the recording here

 

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.

Learn more here

See the recording here

 

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. Dr. Rajagopalan will explain the team’s efforts and how the new assessment capabilities can help regional water resources planning considerations.

Learn more and register here

See the recording here

Call for Topical Sessions for the NIWR/UCOWR/AWRA Joint Conference

AWRA, UCOWR, NIWR 60th Anniversaries Joint Water Resources Conference
Celebrating the Past and Planning for the Future of Water
September 30 – October 2, 2024
St. Louis, MO
Hyatt Regency St. Louis Arch

Universities Council on Water Resources (UCOWR) and National Institutes for Water Resources (NIWR) are joining together with the American Water Resources Association (AWRA) for a joint conference in 2024 to celebrate their 60 year anniversaries.

Submit your Topical Session Proposal by February 25, 2024.

A topical session organizer’s role is to propose a relevant and timely topic, recruit speakers to submit abstracts to the session, and moderate the session during the conference.

Topical sessions can be in the form of a panel discussion, group of 4, 5, or 6 oral presentations on a specific topic, or participatory in nature (e.g., workshop or hands-on training). Multiple session track proposals are welcome. Those interested in organizing and hosting a topical session should provide the information in the online form.

Learn More Here

 

Call for WRC Research Seed Grant Proposals for FY 2024

The State of Washington Water Research Center (WRC) is soliciting research proposals for submission under Section 104(b) of the Water Resources Research Act. The objectives of this program are to sponsor research that fosters (a) exploration of new ideas to address water problems or expand understanding of water-related phenomena, (b) entry, education, and training of future scientists in water resource fields, (c) multidisciplinary research, and (d) dissemination of research results to academic and non-academic audiences.

Any proposal to advance scientific understanding of water resources and/or their management in the State of Washington will be considered, but priority will be given to integrative proposals that initiate new multidisciplinary collaboration or that will have a high likelihood of leading to multidisciplinary research efforts. Preference will be also given to early-career investigators, and proposals that support graduate student thesis and dissertation research. The review panel will be interdisciplinary and it would be beneficial to reflect this in your writing. Evidence of stakeholder support should be provided in the form of letters. Proposals addressing the following priority topics will be given preference:

  1. Climate change effects on water supply, demand, and quality.
  2. Analysis of policy and law relating to water resource management.
  3. Fate and transport of nutrients and emerging contaminants in the environment.
  4. Remote sensing of hydrologic systems and/or water use.
  5. Equity and justice in water resource access and management
  6. Surface-groundwater interactions and conjunctive use management.

We anticipate funding three proposals at up to $30,000 each ($10,000 minimum). Research expectations will be commensurate with funding request. The cost-share requirement is 1:1 ($10,000 and $30,000 depending on funding request) from non­federal sources, which can be satisfied with overhead, faculty time/salary, and cash match. Funding is contingent upon congressional allocation and release of FY2024 program funds. Grant duration will be tentatively September 1, 2024 – August 31, 2025.

Update on grant contract period: Due to the federal legislative delays the current tentative grant period will be October 1 2024 through Sept 30 2025.   

Proposal submission deadline: Friday March 22, 2024, 5:00 p.m. (PST)

Eligibility: 

  1. Eligible: Faculty members or affiliates at institutions of higher education in the State of Washington.
  2. Ineligible: Applications for research on health effects involving human subjects.
  3. Ineligible: Applications for research involving oceanography (estuarine research applications are acceptable).

Updated proposal guidelines and worksheets:

We encourage you to work closely with us from the beginning if you intend to submit a proposal. Please contact Jacqueline McCabe at jacquem@wsu.edu, 509-335-5531 or Jonathan Yoder at yoder@wsu.edu, 509-335-8596 with questions.