Supporting Student Research
The Texas Water Resources Institute (TWRI) will fund 10 graduate student research projects for 2005-06 conducted by graduate students and researchers at Texas A&M University, Rice University, Texas A&M University Kingsville, Baylor, and the University of Texas at Austin.
Funded by TWRI through the U.S. Geological Survey as part of the National Institutes for Water Research annual research program, TWRI will publish articles and reports about the progress of these studies.
Grants began March 1, 2005, and will run through February 28, 2006. Awarded up to $5,000 to begin, expand, or extend research projects, each applicant had to also provide evidence of $10,000 in matching funds. TWRI received over 70 submissions in response to this year’s request for proposals.
The following projects were funded:
- “Evaluation of Standards for Compost Blankets in Stormwater Control,” Lindsay Birt, Department of Biological and Agricultural Engineering at Texas A&M University; Russell Persyn, research advisor.
- “Evolution of Irrigation Scheduling Using the Biotic Model,” Josh Bynum, Department of Soil and Crop Sciences at Texas A&M University; J. Tom Cothren, research advisor.
- “Enhancing a Distributed Hydrologic Model for Storm Water Analysis within GIS Framework in an Urban Area,” Zheng Fang, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Rice University; Philip Bedient, research advisor.
- “Assessing the Potential of Zerovalent Iron to Reduce Nitrate Mobility,” Omar Harvey, Department of Soil and Crop Sciences at Texas A&M University; Cristine Morgan, research advisor.
- “Determining the Efficacy of Biological Control of Saltcedar on the Colorado River of Texas,” Jeremy Hudgeons, Department of Entomology at Texas A&M University; Allen Knutson, research advisor.
- “A Decision Support System to Develop Sustainable Groundwater Management Policies for a Multi-County Single Aquifer System,” Muthukumar Kuchanur, Department of Environmental and Civil Engineering at Texas A&M University - Kingsville; Venkatesh Uddameri, research advisor.
- “Watershed Development and Climate Change Effects on Environmental Flows and Estuarine Function,”Marc Russell, Department of Natural Sciences at the University of Texas at Austin; Paul Montagna, research advisor.
- “Spatial Patterns in Wetland Nutrient Biogeochemistry: Implications for Ecosystem Functions,” Thad Scott, Department of Biology at Baylor University; Robert Doyle, research advisor.
- “Carbon Aerogel Electrodes: Absorption-Desorption and Regeneration Study for Purification of Water,” Sanjay Tewari, Department of Civil Engineering at Texas A&M University; Timothy Kramer, research advisor.
- “Evaluation of Spatial Hetergeneity of Watershed through HRU Concept Using SWAT,” Xueson Zhang, Department of Forest Science; Raghavan Srinivasan, research advisor.
For more information on these research projects visit our USGS Research Grants page.