2020-2021 Student Support Grantees

Graduate Students Round Eight (first awarded in 2021):
Patricio Grassini, Associate Professor, UNL Agronomy & Horticulture, for the project: Has irrigated corn in Nebraska reached a yield plateau?   
Student: Gonzalo Rizzo Ayphassorho, for a Ph.D. in Agronomy, Minor in Statistics

Erin Haacker, Assistant Professor, UNL Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, for the project: Modeling Nitrate Contamination in Northeastern Nebraska  
Student: Jordan Shields, for a Ph.D. in Earth and Atmospheric Sciences

Javed Iqbal, Assistant Professor, UNL Agronomy & Horticulture, for the project: Optimizing Nitrogen and Water Inputs for Corn Based on Nitrate Leaching  
Student: Arshdeep Singh, for a Ph.D. in Agronomy

Deepak Keshwani, Associate Professor, UNL Biological Systems Engineering, for the project: An integrated framework to account for temporal, spatial, and climate variability in the Corn-Water-Ethanol-Beef (CWEB) nexus system  
Student: Heydi Calderon, for a Ph.D. in Biological Systems Engineering

Xu Li, Professor, Professor, UNL Civil and Environmental Engineering, for the project: Mitigating the Risk of Manure-Borne Antibiotic Resistance to Surface Water  
Student: Qu Wen, for a Ph.D. Civil and Environmental Engineering

Bijesh Maharjan, Assistant Professor & Extension Specialist, UNL Agronomy & Horticulture, for the project: Optimizing Nitrogen Management in Furrow-Irrigated Corn Field to Increase Grain Yield and Ensure Groundwater Quality   Student: Deepak Shimire, for a Ph.D. in Agronomy

Taro Mieno, Assistant Professor, UNL Agricultural Economics, for the project: Incorporating machine learning methods in economic analysis of water use in agriculture  
Student: Sanat Bhandari, Ph.D. Computer Science and Engineering

Larkin Powell, Professor, UNL School of Natural Resources, for the project: Assessing risk and risk perception of tick-borne disease along a climate-induced transition zone in Nebraska  
Student: Dominic Cristiano, M.S., SNR

Amy Schmidt, Associate Professor, UNL Biological Systems Engineering, for the project: Integrated Crop Nutrient Management (ICNM) to Support Crop-Human-Environment Well-Being  
Student: Matthew Chaffee (being recruited) M.S., SNR

Daniel Uden, Assistant Professor, UNL School of Natural Resources and Agronomy & Horticulture, Center for Resilience in Agricultural Working Landscapes, for the project: Remotely sensed early warning of toxic algal blooms in Nebraska lakes  Student: Mercy Kipenda, M.S., SNR

Jessica Fargen Walsh, Assistant Professor, UNL College of Journalism and Mass Communications, for the project: A Thematic Analysis of Local News Coverage of Water Issues in Nebraska  
Student: to be recruited from Fall 2021 Journalism graduate students
Hubbard Fellowships:
Tirthankar Roy, Assistant Professor, UNL Civil and Environmental Engineering, for the project: A comprehensive framework to assess flood risk within the context of public health  Student: to be recruited from Fall 2021 Civil Engineering graduate students

Steven Thomas, Associate Professor, UNL School of Natural Resources, for the project: Comparing human and veterinary antibiotics in Nebraska streams  Student: Justin Caniglia, Ph.D., SNR

Graduate Students Round Seven (first awarded in 2020):
Katie Anania, Assistant Professor, UNL Art, Art History & Design, for the project: Visualizing Food and Water Supplies in the U.S. and Latin America through Artists' Projects   
Student: Tharius LeBeau, for a M.A. in Art, Art History & Design

Shannon Bartelt-Hunt, Professor and Dept. Chair, UNL Civil and Environmental Engineering, for the project: The fate of microplastics in terrestrial systems: understudied sources and citizen science   Student: Nasrin Naderi Beni, for a Ph.D. in Civil Engineering, specialization in Env. Engineering

Andrea Basche, Assistant Professor, and Daren Redfearn, Associate Professor, UNL Agronomy & Horticulture, for the project: Assessing site-specific impacts of cover crops on water cycling using high-resolution imagery and ground based data   Student: Fernanda Souza Krupek, for a Ph.D. in Agronomy

Jessica Corman, Assistant Professor, UNL Agronomy & Horticulture, for the project: Looking to the past to understand the future of freshwater in the Sandhills   Student: Daniel Gschwentner, for a Ph.D. Natural Resource Sciences with specialization in Applied Ecology, SNR

Bruce Dvorak, Professor, UNL Civil Engineering & Biological Systems Engineering, for the project: Environmental sustainability assessment of small Nebraska water resource recovery facilities: water reuse opportunities Student: Matt Thompson, for a Ph.D. in Civil Engineering (Year 2) with specialization in Environmental Engineering 

Yi Qi, Assistant Professor, UNL School of Natural Resources, for the project: Develop scalable methods for identifying Water Use Gap of Farmlands in Midwestern States

Student: Wenqi Ou, for a Ph.D. Natural Resource Sciences, SNR (Year 2)
Daran Rudnick, Assistant Professor, and Derek Heeren, Associate Professor, UNL Biological Systems Engineering, (co-major advisors) for the project: Development of Research and Demonstration Sites in the BGMA for Groundwater Nitrate Reduction   Student: Jiaming (Jamie) Duan, Ph.D. student in the UNL Biological Systems Engineering Department

Zhenghong Tang, Professor, UNL College of Architecture, for the project: Using small Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) to promote precision conservation and sustainable agricultural practices in the Rainwater Basin, Nebraska  Student: Qiao Hu, for a Ph.D. Natural Resource Sciences, SNR 

Elizabeth Van Wormer, Assistant Professor, UNL School of Natural Resources, for the project: Linking child stunting, microbiome, livestock health and water quality: a One Health study in Rwanda   
Student: Ben Ndayambaje, for a Ph.D. Natural Resource Sciences, SNR 
Haishun Yang, Associate Professor, UNL Agronomy & Horticulture, for the project: WaterSmart: A cyberinfrastructure-based integrated agro-geoinformatic decision-support web service system to facilitate informed irrigation decision-making   Student: Anthony Amori, for a Ph.D. in Agronomy

Graduate Students Round Six (first awarded in 2019):
Jesse Bell, Professor, UNMC College of Public Health, for the project: Improving the Knowledge of Drought and Health in the United States   
Student: Jagadeesh Puvvula, for a Ph.D. in Environmental Health

Carrick Detweiler, Assistant Professor, UNL Computer Science and Engineering, and Francisco Munoz-Arriola, Associate Professor, UNL Biological Systems Engineering, for the project: Expansion of Long-term Persistent Monitoring Applications of Tethered UASs    Student: Daniel Anthony Rico, for a Ph.D. in Computer Science and Engineering with a specialization in Computer Engineering 

Troy Gilmore, Assistant Professor of Groundwater Hydrology, UNL School of Natural Resources, for the project: Influence of recharge patterns on the sustenance of groundwater-fed streams 
Student: Caner Zeyrek, for a Ph.D. in Natural Resource Sciences, SNR

Jesse Korus, Assistant Professor, UNL School of Natural Resources, for the project: Integrating Hydrologic Modeling and Geophysical Characterization to Improve Water Management Tools  Student: Nafyad Kawo, for a Ph.D. in Natural Resource Sciences, Specialization: Hydrological Sciences 

Tiffany Messer, Adjunct Assistant Professor, UNL School of Natural Resources, and Daniel Snow, Research Professor, Nebraska Water Center, for the project: Treating Non-Point Source Cocktails: Pesticide Removal Utilizing In-stream Best Management Practices   Student: Josephus Borsuah, for a Ph.D. in Natural Resource Sciences, SNR 

Francisco Munoz-Arriola, Associate Professor, UNL Biological Systems Engineering, for the project: Precision Water Resources Management in Omaha Nation, Nebraska    Student: Armando Zarco, M.S. in Biological Systems Engineering

Eleanor Rogan, Professor, UNMC College of Public Health Department of Environmental, Agricultural & Occupational Health, for the project:  Possible Effects of Nitrate Contaminants in Nebraska Waterways on Human Health  Student: Balkissa Ouattara, for a Ph.D. in Public Health

Harkamal Walia, Associate Professor, UNL Agronomy & Horticulture, for the project: Physiological and Molecular Characterization of Nitrogen and Water Stress Responses in Maize Student: Henry Doku, for a Ph.D. in Agronomy & Horticulture, Specialization: Plant Breeding & Genetics

Graduate Students Round Four (first awarded in 2017):
Yusong Li, Associate Professor, UNL Civil Engineering, for the project: Influence of Climate and Agricultural Clustering on Groundwater Contamination by Trace Organics 
Student: Chuyang Liu, for a Ph.D. in Civil Engineering
Undergraduate (annual awards):

Joe Luck, Associate Professor, UNL Biological Systems Engineering, for the project: The Analysis of Nitrogen efficiency in non-irrigated corn systems with an in-season sensor-based approach   
Student: Katie Bathke, UNL Plant Biology

Platte Basin Timelapse Project:  Teagan Gaul, Kara Kielty, Emma Krab, Lena Nelson, Favian Mendez Rodriguez, Maddie Schiltmeyer, advised by Michael Forsberg, Research Assistant Professor, UNL School of Natural Resources and Producer/Project Manager, Mariah Lundgren, UNL School of Natural Resources. While DWFI funds support three interns, the PBT project is leveraging this support in FY22 to support several interns throughout the year. Now retired, Michael Farrell continues to advise and teach students as a Coordinator within UNL SNR.