The Texas Water Resources Institute (TWRI) has named two Texas A&M University professors 2024-2025 Faculty Fellows, awarding $15,000 in federal funding to each faculty member to support their water-related research:
- Wensi Chen, Ph.D., assistant professor, Zachry Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Texas A&M.
- Yinuo “Noah” Yao, Ph.D., assistant professor, Zachry Department of Civil Environmental Engineering at Texas A&M.
The Faculty Fellows program provides unique funding support for faculty researchers seeking further external funding. Upon completion of the year, each fellow will submit a larger proposal to external agencies in pursuit of securing large-scale funding grants to continue and expand their project efforts. In addition, TWRI Faculty Fellows expand their network of collaborators by working with multidisciplinary teams during this process.
Chen’s proposed research aims to address the critical issue of groundwater contamination and recovery in Texas due to microplastics and sorbed per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS).
Yao’s proposed research intends to develop a low-cost, reliable, and easily applicable electrified titanate nanowire membrane for point-of-use PFAS remediation.
The TWRI Faculty Fellows program is in its fourth year, and to date TWRI has awarded 9 Faculty Fellowships to Texas A&M University professors, totaling $134,128 awarded through the U.S. Geological Survey’s Water Resources Research Act program annual base grant funding.
TWRI’s Faculty Fellows Program will begin accepting applications for the Sept. 1, 2025 – Aug. 31, 2026 project period in early 2025, open to all faculty within the Texas A&M University System. Proposals can deal with a range of water resource topics.
Learn more about the Faculty Fellows program. For future application updates, please subscribe to TWRI News.
