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WRC Director Information Sessions

WSU water faculty and staff,

After 12 years as Director of the State of Washington Water Research Center (WRC), Dr. Jonathan Yoder stepping down June 30 of this year, and we are in the process of identifying a new director. WSU has a very deep and broad network of excellent water-focused researchers and educators who could lead the WRC very effectively into the future, so we are pursuing a WSU-internal search.

As part of this process, Dr. Yoder will be holding three Zoom meetings to provide a description of the WRC, what it has done over the last dozen years,  summarize basic director responsibilities, and discuss any topic anyone wants to discuss.

Meeting times are listed below with a zoom link are below.

Wed March 11 2-3 pm               (Zoom link)
Thurs March 26 11:30-12:30    (Zoom link)
Monday March 30 3-4 pm         (Zoom link)

In the near future we will be eliciting statements of interest for the Director Position. The process is still in development, but a general timeline includes a call for statements of interest publicized in late March, a deadline for that call in April, and a selection process in May/June.  This is subject to change.

The information sessions will target people who might consider becoming the Director of the WRC, but feel free to attend even if you just want to learn more about the WRC, what it does, and it’s future prospects.  And feel free to attend more than one!

Please contact Director Yoder at yoder@wsu.edu if you have any questions.

Call for WRC Research Seed Grant Proposals for FY 2026

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 FY2025 program funds. Grant duration will be tentatively September 1, 2026 – August 31, 2027.

Proposal submission deadline: Friday April 10, 2026, 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.

 

USGS/NIWR National Competitive Grants RFPs

Washington State water research community,

USGS in cooperation with the National Institutes of Water Resources (NIWR) has released their annual request for water research proposals under its National Competitive Grants Program.  These programs include a call for general water research proposals, under the WRRA 104g program, a program specifically for research on Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), and a program on Aquatic Invasive Species (AIS, though this third program focuses on the Mississippi basin). You can read more here: https://water.usgs.gov/wrri/how-to-apply-for-grants-internships.php.

Any investigator at an institution of higher learning is eligible to apply for these grants with research that focuses on priorities of regional and national importance. If you are working through an institution in Washington State, you must submit your proposal for these programs through the State of Washington Water Research Center (WRC, wrc.wsu.edu).

For more information about the funding opportunities see https://water.usgs.gov/wrri/how-to-apply-for-grants-internships.php or contact your state institute.

The WRC Director Jonathan Yoder met with Washington State federal legislators this February, and nearly all legislative offices he visited independently brought up PFAS concerns, so there is a great deal of interest in this water problem in the State of Washington.  I strongly encourage researchers interested in developing proposals for PFAS-related projects to contact me early.  This program is relatively new and has received relatively few proposals in previous years, so the chances of success are higher than for the WRRA 104g grants.

Please contact us at watercenter@wsu.edu  if you have questions or interest in submitting a proposal.

 

 

Call for application: Water-Energy-Food Nexus School 2023

The Center of Excellence for Water (CoE) has the pleasure to launch the call for application for the “Third Water Energy Food Nexus School” that will take place at the AUC and online from 5 August to 2 September 2023.

Deadline for application: Sunday 2 July at 11:55 PM
Number of participants: 30.

More details about the program and the outcomes are available in the attached call.
Application form: https://bit.ly/3CUFxnV

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USGS Grant Opportunities: 104g General, and PFAS

The following grant opportunities are available with proposal submission through the WRC.

WRRA National Competitive Grant Program FY2023 (104g) General:
https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/view-opportunity.html?oppId=346333
Applications due April 19, 2023 please submit an email of intent two weeks prior, April 5, 2023 to watercenter@wsu.edu.  Max award $310K.  Priorities this year include research on (a) legacy nutrients, (b) integrated water processes, and (c) water conflict.

WRRA National Competitive Grant Program FY2023 for Per-and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS):
https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/view-opportunity.html?oppId=346326
Applications due April 19, 2023 please submit an email of intent two weeks prior, April 5, 2023 to watercenter@wsu.edu.   Max award $279K.

expanded WRC logo

Vacancies are currently open for interdisciplinary scientists and (or) physical scientists with the USGS HQ Water Mission Area

Water Mission Area  Interdisciplinary -GS-0401/1301/1529-11/12, Interdisciplinary -GS-0401/1301/1529-12/13,  Physical Scientist GS-1301-11/12  and Physical Scientist GS-1301-12/13 announcements has been set to open on Tuesday, February 28th , 2023

The announcement numbers are USGS-SAC-23-1185431-DHA-SR, USGS-SAC-23-11850397-DHA-SR, USGS-SAC-23-11850442-DHA-SR and USGS-SAC-23-11850405-DHA-SR  , or you may access the job announcement through the following links:

NOTE – The announcement will be open to:  Tuesday, March 14th, 2023***

Here are a few reminders for any interested applicants:

  • Resumes should also include a month/year and hours per week worked, along with their relevant work experience underneath each period of employment.  Their resume should contain enough details regarding their work experience for us to determine whether they have the specialized experience or not.
  • If they have current or prior federal service, they should list the grade levels. If this is left out, it won’t necessarily get them rated out, but it may help them get rated in easier. Submitting copies of their SF-50’s showing their current grade and series is also helpful OR if they were previously in the series, they should submit those SF-50’s too.
  • They MUST submit ALL required documentation prior to the announcement closing. All documents must be legible. They can always e-mail the contact person in the announcement to confirm that their documents have all been uploaded correctly. Sometimes the documents submitted are blurry and really hard to read, or the file is corrupt, and we can’t access their documents. We do NOT accept late documents.
  • If they receive an email to complete a secondary assessment (USA Hire Competency Based Assessment), they must complete the assessment within the timelines identified by the email, or they will not be considered.  Note, they should set aside at least 3 hours to take these assessments; however, most applicants complete the assessments in less time.
  • Please Note: The ABOVE information and much more can be found on the HELP section of the USAjobs site. It goes more into detail regarding the federal hiring process, proper resume format and covers some of what I’ve listed above in more detail.    https://www.usajobs.gov/Help/

 

Register for the Washington Water Data Roundtable Discussion! 3/28

Forwarding from: Boise State University

As many of you know we have been working on a project to compile metadata about streamflow data across the Pacific Northwest. We would like to bring together data providers and managers together from each state to continue our conversations about the future of streamflow data in the region.

It would be great to have at least one representative from each major data provider, please register here and pass on to colleagues that would contribute to the conversation!

Roundtable Discussion Goals:
1) Identify uses and requirements for streamflow data,
2) identify challenges and opportunities,
3) Obtain feedback on Streamflow Data Catalog Visualization
4) Strengthen relationships in the streamflow measurement community.

Time: 9am – 3pm
March 28th: Tacoma, Washington
April 1st: Boise, Idaho

May: Oregon, tbd
July: Region-wide online meeting

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Water-Energy-Food Nexus and its connectivity to SDGs

Tuesday, March 1st, 2022 at 6PM Cairo Local Time (CLT)

This webinar will focus on:

  • Development of an Integrated water – Energy – Food (WEF) nexus system
  • Developed Solar – agriculture greenhouse system that grows its own energy and irrigating water.
  • Novel and green solution for food and water crisis in arid areas
  • Importance of WEF Nexus
  • Nexus Elements Integration and tools.

WEF and its impact on SDGS

Speakers:
Prof. Brent Haddad: Brent Haddad, MBA, Ph.D. is a Professor of Environmental Studies at the University of California, Santa Cruz.  He is the founding director of UCSC’s Center for Integrated Water Management.
Prof. Negm M.Abdelazim: A Professor of Hydraulics and (Water Resources) at Zagazig University and is very interested in sustainable water resources management and sustainability studies
Prof. Hassan Fath: A well-known MENA-GCC regional expert in Desalination and Energy Systems (DES) including Water-Food-Energy-Environment (WFEE) applications.

To Register: https://bit.ly/3GLnUYj

 

Seminar: “Evapotranspiration of irrigated crops under warming and elevated atmospheric CO2: What is the direction of change?” Dr. Fabio Scarpare

The State of Washington Water Research Center and the Egypt Center for Excellence (COE) in Water are co-sponsoring the February COE webinar series on Feb 2nd at 8am PDT.

The talk will be given by WSU’s Dr. Fabio Scarpare and is entitled “Evapotranspiration of irrigated crops under warming and elevated atmospheric CO2: What is the direction of change?”

To see the talk abstract, please see the attached invitation.  To register, please use this link: https://bit.ly/3fAHE63

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