Student Researchers Honored at Spring Runoff Conference
USU Water Fellow Noah Schmadel, center, 1st place in student oral presentations at Water@USU's 2009 Spring Runoff Conference, is congratulated by Christopher Neale, right, and research mentor Bethany Neilson.
A USU Water Initiative project, Water@USU fosters interdisciplinary, collaborative water-related research throughout the university.
Utah State University graduate students Noah Schmadel and Rebekah Downard captured top awards at the 2009 Spring Runoff Conference and Intermountain Meteorology Workshop held on campus April 2-3. The two-day gathering, hosted by Water@USU and the USU-based Utah Climate Center, featured a slate of national speakers and more than 80 oral and poster research presentations by academics, professionals and students.
An environmental engineering major, Schmadel placed first in oral presentations with “Reliability of Approaches Used to Characterize Surface Water-Groundwater Exchange.” The master’s student conducts research with faculty mentor Bethany Neilson, assistant professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Utah Water Research Laboratory.
Downard, who is pursuing a master’s degree in human dimensions of ecosystem science and management, placed first in poster presentations with “Keeping Wetlands Wet: Wetland Policies and Politics in the Bear River Basin.” She conducts research with faculty mentors Joanna Endter-Wada, associate professor in the Department of Environment and Society, and Karin Kettenring, assistant professor in the Department of Watershed Sciences.
In oral presentations, USU undergraduate Ben Abbott, a watershed and earth systems major, placed second. The third place award, a three-way tie, went to Kevin Donner and Madeleine Mineau, both biological sciences majors from Idaho State University and USU geology major Skye Cooley.
In a three-way tie, second place poster awards were presented to USU students Jonathan Bingham, Geology; Lindsey DeBoer, Civil and Environmental Engineering; and Adrian Welsh, Environment and Society.
Forty-nine students representing eight universities presented at the conference, which focused on climate change and its future impact on the Intermountain West.
Water@USU, a USU Water Initiative project, is an interdisciplinary collaboration of the university’s Utah Water Research Laboratory, the colleges of Humanities, Arts & Social Sciences, Natural Resources, Science, Engineering, Agriculture and the Huntsman School of Business. Established in 2003, the initiative fosters collegial sharing of water-related research and ideas throughout campus and the community.
Related link:
Water@USU (USU Water Initiative)
Contact: Traci Maughan, (801) 721-6246, traci.maughan@usu.edu
Writer: Mary-Ann Muffoletto, (435) 797-3517, maryann.muffoletto@usu.edu
Writer: Mary-Ann Muffoletto, (435) 797-3517, maryann.muffoletto@usu.edu
