Since it was initiated in 2014, the Daugherty Water for Food Global Institute's student support program has made more than 96 awards to DWFI Faculty Fellows supporting postdoctoral, graduate and undergraduate students on all four University of Nebraska campuses and invested $3.6 million, of which $3 million has been matched one-to-one by faculty. The awards provide stipends to students working on projects that contribute to the institute's mission to have a lasting impact on achieving more food security with less pressure on scarce water resources.
Congratulations to the newest round of student support grantees who began their work in Fall 2022:
Graduate Student Awards:
- Trenton Franz, Associate Professor, UNL School of Natural Resources, for the project: Investigating proximal gamma-ray sensor for soil moisture monitoring Student: Sophia Becker, Ph.D., Hydrological Sciences
- Mary Harner, Research Professor, UNK Communication and Biology, for the project: Connecting students to natural history and water resource science Student: Jamila Bajelan, M.S., Public Communication
- Michael Hayes, Professor, UNL School of Natural Resources, for the project: The Effects of Economic, Bio-Physical, and Situational Impacts on the Selection of Socio-Hydrological Policy Proposals by Undergraduate Students Student: Lindsay Johnson, Ph.D., UNL SNR
- Aaron Mittelstet, Assistant Professor, UNL Biological Systems Engineering, for the project: Vadose Zone Nitrate Accumulation Lower Loup Natural Resources District Area 30, Relation to Manure Application, Fertilizer Management and Groundwater Nitrate Concentrations Student: tbd
- Karina Schoengold, Associate Professor, UNL Agricultural Economics, for the project: Assessing Producer Preferences for Conservation Program Participation and Ecosystem Service Provision Student: Kaouter Essakkat, Ph.D., Agricultural Economics
- Harkamal Walia, Professor, UNL Agronomy & Horticulture, for the project: Physiological and molecular analysis of combined heat and drought-stress traits in wheat Student: Shohei Oguro, M.S., Agronomy, Plant Breeding and Genetics
- Karrie Weber, Associate Professor, UNL School of Biological Sciences and Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, for the project: Nitrate-stimulated uranium biogeochemical cycling in soils and sediments Student: Taylor Rosso, Ph.D., Biological Sciences
Hubbard Fellowship:
- Tsegaye Tadesse, Research Professor, UNL School of Natural Resources and National Drought Mitigation Center, for the project: Investigating Complex Drought Impacts on Society and Public Health using Machine Learning Student: Beichen Zhang, Ph.D. Candidate in Natural Resource Sciences/Climate Assessment and Impacts
Research Awards:
- Osler Ortez, Assistant Professor, The Ohio State University Horticulture and Crop Science, for the project: Addressing corn production issues to enhance productivity and close yield gaps Postdoctoral Fellow: Izaias Pinheiro Lisboa
- Martha Rhoades, Research Manager, Xenobiotics Laboratory, UNL School of Natural Resources, for the project: DWFI Continued Support of Birth Outcomes and Water (BOW) Study, in collaboration with Kent Eskridge, Professor, UNL Statistics and Troy Gilmore, Associate Professor, UNL School of Natural Resources Student: tbd