The Texas Water Resources Institute (TWRI) recently awarded 25 scholarships to Texas A&M University and Texas A&M University-Galveston graduate students who are pursuing research related to water resources. These scholarships will assist graduate students in the 2003-04 academic year.
These grants were awarded through TWRI’s Mills Scholars program, which is an endowed fund that supports research in hydrology and other disciplines focus on water resources issues. Each grant provides a $1,000 award which students can use to pay for tuition or other education-related expenses. TWRI uses the Mills Scholars program to encourage and assist current and prospective graduate students to incorporate water resources studies into their graduate programs at Texas A&M University.
Some of the research projects being studied by this year’s Mills Scholars include how desert termites may affect the ecology of rangelands; factors that influence the survival of amphibians in the Big Bend region; and how freshwater inflows may affect whooping crane populations along the Texas Gulf Coast. Other graduate students in this program are researching methods to better estimate water reserves in aquifers; using DNA studies to improve the drought-tolerance of turfgrasses; and evaluating whether growing turfgrass sod with composted dairy manure may increase the likelihood of nutrient runoff.
Ten of this year’s recipients are enrolled in Ph.D. programs, while the others are pursuing Masters Degrees.
Sixteen grants were awarded to graduate students in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, while five grants were given to graduate students in the College of Geosciences. Two grants were awarded to graduate students in both the College of Engineering and the College of Architecture, while one grant was awarded to a graduate student in the College of Science.
Eight grants were awarded to graduate students in the Wildlife and Fisheries Sciences Department, followed by the Soil and Crop Sciences Department (four grants), the Geology and Geophysics Department (3 grants), the Landscape Architecture and Urban Planning Department (2 grants). One graduate student was funded in each of these academic departments: Agricultural Economics, Agriculture Engineering, Biology, Civil Engineering, Entomology, Geography, and Horticulture.
One grant was awarded to the Geosciences Department at Texas A&M University-Galveston.
Graduate students receiving Mills Scholarships for 2003-04 and their faculty graduate advisors are shown below (listed by academic department):
- Agricultural Economics: Bruce McCarl (graduate advisor)
- Agricultural Engineering: Jeffrey Ullman (student) and Saqib Mukhtar and Scott Senseman (graduate advisors)
- Biology: Marcus Crim (student) and Vincent Cassone (graduate advisor)
- Civil Engineering: Julianna Camacho (student) and Tim Kramer (graduate advisor)
- Entomology: Anne Narayanan (student) and Roger Gold (graduate advisor).
- Geography: Wendy Patzewitsch (student) and Jonathan Smith (graduate advisor)
- Geology & Geophysics: Aaron Adams (student) and Wayne Ahr (graduate advisor); Susan Baez-Cazull (student) and Jennifer McGuire (graduate advisor); Christopher Markley (student) and Bruce Herbert (graduate advisor)
- Horticulture: Carrie Whitcher (student) and David Reed (graduate advisor)
- Landscape Architecture & Urban Planning: Jason Schubert (student) and David Pugh (graduate advisor); and Sara Thornton (student) and Sam Brody (graduate advisor)
- Soil & Crop Sciences: Josh Bynum (student) and Tom Cothren (graduate advisor); Daniel Dewey (student) and Richard White (graduate advisor); Rebecca Hobbs (student) and Rick Weaver (graduate advisor); and Jimmy Kerns (student) and Donald Vietor (graduate advisor)
- Wildlife & Fisheries: Jenny Birnbaum (student) and Kirk Winemiller (graduate advisor); Rachel Butzler (student) and Stephen Davis (graduate advisor); Gage Dayton (student) and Lee Fitzgerald (graduate advisor); Kristin Millenbach (student) and Doug Slack (graduate advisor); Melissa Romigh (student) and Steve Davis (graduate advisor); Virginia Shervette (student) and Frances Gelwick (graduate advisor); David Waidler (student) and Jane Packard (graduate advisor); and Steven Zeug (student) and Kirk Winemiller (graduate advisor)
- Texas A&M Galveston Geosciences Department: Jennifer Haye (student) and Peter Santschi (graduate advisor)
