March 31, 2011

 

Some of the most eminent hydrology and water resources specialists in the country converged at the University of Arizona's Student Union Ballroom on Wednesday, March 30, to reconnect with faculty advisors and former classmates and to meet a whole new group of young men and women showcasing their research at the 21st Annual El Dia del Agua.

 

Graduate and undergraduate students from the Department of Hydrology and Water Resources and the School of Earth and Environmental Sciences made presentations on a wide variety of topics ranging from Bayesian data-worth analysis, reaction path modeling and hydrochemical processes in alpine catchments, and fate and transport of propellant constituents in soils to ecosystem respiration in drylands, drawdown behavior in well hydraulics, and catchment hyrologic modeling. Dr. Larry Winter, HWR Department Head, welcomed over 100 guests to hear eight oral and twenty poster presentations during the morning and afternoon. 

 

Students, faculty, and guests enjoyed a buffet luncheon highlighted by a presentation by Dr. Gregg Garfin from the UA School of Natural Resources who spoke about "Bridging the Gap: Supporting Decisions Through Discussion and..."  His talk focused on the need for embracing a science-society decision-making process based on dialogue, meaningful communication, and developing trust between scientists and stakeholders.

 

Following all oral and poster presentations, keynote speaker, Dr. Paul Hsieh, Research Hydrologist with the U.S. Geological Survey and HWR alum, enthralled the audience with an in-depth talk about his involvement in advising the Federal Government's science team, led by  Secretary of Energy Dr. Steven Chu, overseeing the  the containment effort of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Paul's discussion of the hour-by-hour, day-by-day events that led to ending the largest off-shore oil spill in U.S. history was nothing less than riveting.  (You can read more about Paul's involvement in this decision-making process in a previous article here.)

 

El Dia del Agua kicked off the week-long School of Earth and Environmental Science's EARTH WEEK 2011 which also included research presentations made by students from the School's Laboratory of Tree Ring Research, the Department of Soil, Water, and Environmental Science, the Department of Atmospheric Sciences (AIR), and the Department of Geosciences (GeoDaze).

 

Mark your calendar for next year, and watch for El Dia del Agua and EARTH WEEK 2012 announcements early next spring!