Six More ILWA Impact Grants Awarded
The Janet Quinney Lawson Institute for Land, Water, and Air is pleased to announce the awarding of additional ILWA Impact Grants, thanks to a collaborative partnership between the Utah Water Research Laboratory and ILWA, with the support of additional Mineral Lease Funds received from the State of Utah. The UWRL is investing in these projects to further advance water research and optimization efforts in the region.
“This is great news,” said Brian Steed, executive director of ILWA. “Even though we were able to fund three more grants that the original one we had planned for, to see even more of these proposals move forward means additional capacity to help fund projects specifically designed to help make a positive difference in the state. We’re grateful to Director David Tarboton and the Water Lab for helping to make this happen.”
The ILWA Impact Grant is a research funding opportunity for USU faculty and researchers who wish to do a project regarding land, water, and/or air that can make a difference on policy within Utah. The research grant is an annual, one-time award of $15,000 from the USU Janet Quinney Lawson Institute for Land, Water, and Air.
The following projects have been awarded grants from the UWRL Mineral Lease Funds:
Wildland Resources
S.J. & Jessie E. Quinney College of Natural Resources
The project utilizes tracer injections and soil water flow models to understand active root distributions and predict the growth responses of grass, forb, and woody plants to climate change in arid and semi-arid areas of Utah and the Western US, with the goal of assisting land managers in anticipating forage production, fire risk, and aquifer recharge.
Calvin Coopmans
Electrical and Computer Engineering
College of Engineering
Alfonso Torres-Rua
Civil and Environmental Engineering
College of Engineering
This project implements software functionality to utilize shortwave infrared (SWIR) data for mapping soil moisture levels from aerial drone surveys, with a specific focus on monitoring conditions in agriculture lands and water infrastructure such as canals, aiming to provide valuable water resources data for improved management and policy decisions.
Man Li
Applied Economics
College of Agriculture and Applied Sciences
This project aims to develop incentive policies for irrigated water conservation by integrating remote sensing and socioeconomic data, addressing the shrinking of the Great Salt Lake and improving evidence-based decision-making for land use and agriculture.
Ryan Dupont
Civil and Environmental Engineering
College of Engineering
Joan McLean
Civil and Environmental Engineering
College of Engineering
This research explores high-temperature composting techniques for reducing emerging contaminants in municipal wastewater biosolids, specifically focusing on PFAS compounds, in order to enable the safe and cost-effective reuse of biosolids as a nutrient and soil conditioner in agricultural settings.
Scott Hotaling
Watershed Sciences
S.J. & Jessie E. Quinney College of Natural Resources
This project will investigate the contribution of rock glaciers to downstream flows and their potential to serve as climate refugia for cold-adapted aquatic species in Utah, aiming to inform water planning and management by assessing the relevance of rock glaciers to water supply and aquatic biodiversity.
Simon Wang
Plants, Soils and Climate
College of Agriculture and Applied Sciences
Aaron Weaver
Climate science undergraduate
This study uses climate model simulations and groundwater data to project the water level of the Great Salt Lake in Utah under different future climate scenarios, aiming to inform decision-making and optimize water management practices while addressing the challenges posed by climate change for long-term sustainability.
These projects involve faculty from three colleges and six departments. Each project will receive funding under the same conditions as proposed in their respective applications, as well as provide a research update for the Mineral Lease funds report.
"We are excited about the opportunity for these projects to contribute to the impact of the institute and the water lab," said David Tarboton, director of the Utah Water Research Laboratory.