Undergraduates to focus on water-related research

Water is a hot topic in Delaware. Water sources; water quality in the state's bays, rivers, ponds and groundwater; pollution, contamination and runoff; and droughts and floods–all are frequently in the news.

The Delaware Water Resources Center (DWRC), directed by Tom Sims, plant and soil sciences, and located in the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources, is at the hub of the state's water issues. The center focuses on providing solutions to Delaware's water problems; serving as a resource of information on water issues; and promoting the training and education of future water scientists, engineers and others involved in water management and policy through undergraduate internships and graduate fellowships.

This year, nine undergraduates have been named DWRC interns. They will work on water-resource-related issues of critical importance to Delaware and the region. According to Sims, these students, are the "future leaders in water science, policy and management."

DWRC is giving the interns an "opportunity to have a complete research experience," he said, "from designing a project with an adviser to conducting the research and then presenting their work at the annual DWRC conference in February."

The nine interns represent seven departments within three different colleges. The students, their advisers and projects include:

• Emily Gonce, a senior majoring in leadership and consumer economics, who is working with adviser, James Morrison, consumer studies, on a survey to learn what factors influence people to purchase bottled water;
  
  
• Jennifer Campagnini, a senior majoring in natural resources management, who is working with adviser Gerald Kauffman, UD Water Resources Agency, on evaluating an experimental watershed from Clayton Hall to the University Farm, encompassing several small tributaries to the White Clay Creek;
  
  
• Maeve Desmond, a senior majoring in plant science with a minor in soil science, who is working with adviser Bruce Vasilas, plant and soil sciences, and others in collecting, organizing and analyzing data from specific wetlands in Delaware and Maryland, to develop a wetlands model;
• Anna Palermo, a senior majoring in environmental soil science, who is working with Vasilas to evaluate the potential of ectomycorrhize (a symbiosis between fungi and plant roots) as a hydrology indicator in wetlands;
  
  
• Melissa Weitz, a senior majoring in animal science with a double minor in chemistry and geography, who is working with adviser Mark Radosevich, plant and soil sciences, on a project to better understand how s-triazines, widely used pesticides globally, affect the molecular ecology of microbial communities, which degrade the pesticides in the field;
  
  
• Jason Hetrick, a junior majoring in environmental engineering, with adviser Anastasia Chirnside, bioresouces engineering, who is studying the feasibility of the use of fungal bioreactors to treat industrial wastewater with high concentrations of nitrogen and organic compounds;
  
  
• Robert Ehemann, a senior majoring natural resources management, with adviser, Joshua Duke, food and resource economics, who is studying whether the cost of water is an efficient and fair method for allocating water in times of scarcity and whether conservation measures, including increased cost, will eliminate the need to expand water supplies in New Castle County;
  
  
• Leigh Johnson, a junior majoring in environmental engineering with minors in chemistry and history, with adviser William Ritter, bioresources engineering, who is studying the feasibility of composting poultry litter and food waste for use as a soil amendment or potting medium; and
  
  
• Gregory Buckmaster, a sophomore majoring in biochemistry, with adviser Jeff Fuhrmann, plant and soil sciences, who is studying the effect of alum as a poultry litter amendment on pathogens and microorganisms.

Each adviser is provided with a $5,000 mini grant to support the internship.

–Sue Moncure

Environmental study programs and
matching grants available

Water resources research

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), in cooperation with the National Institutes for Water Resources, is offering $1 million in matching grants to support research on nonpoint source pollution and water use. At least $500,000 of the amount is to be spent on nonpoint source pollution.

Any investigator at an institution of higher learning in the U.S. may apply for a grant through a water research institute or center, established under the Water Resources Research Act. Proposals involving collaboration between USGS and university scientists are encouraged.

Proposals may be for projects of one to three years and up to $250,000 in federal funds. The deadline for proposals to be filed on the Internet at [http://www. niwr.org/] is March 19.

Environmental management

Research fellowships are available for undergraduate or graduate students with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA). Designed to provide practical research experiences in environmental issues of current public interest, the research fellowships are available in environmental policy, regulation and law; environmental management and administration; environmental science; public relations and communication; and computer programming and development. For information, visit [www.epa.gov/enviroed]. Application deadline is Jan. 15.

For more information about these programs, contact Tom Sims, Delaware Water Resources Center, at 831-1392 or send e-mail to [jtsims@udel.edu].