The North Dakota Water Resources Research Institute has announced its Graduate Research Fellowship recipients for 2021-2022. The fellowships, ranging from $4,990 to $13,910, were awarded to 14 graduate students, including 12 doctoral and two master’s degree students. They will conduct water resources research at NDSU and the University of North Dakota.
Fellows, their academic programs, university, faculty advisers and research projects are:
• Ali Alinezhad, civil engineering, UND, Feng “Frank” Xiao, “Remediation of PFAS-contaminated Soils to Protect Groundwater”
• Berkay Koyuncu, environmental and conservation sciences/civil and environmental engineering, NDSU, Trung Bao Le, “Dynamics of flows under ice-coverage in the Red River”
• Christine Cornish, environmental and conservation sciences/biological sciences, NDSU, Jon Sweetman, “Does wetland restoration affect the accumulation of glyphosate?”
• David Khani, civil engineering, UND, Yeo Howe Lim, “A novel numerical model for transient mixed flow analysis in sewer pipes”
• Franklin Odili, environmental and conservation sciences/agricultural and biosystems engineering, NDSU, Halis Simsek, “Impact of groundwater tables on the water use, yield, root growth distribution and quality of spring wheat (Triticum aestivum)”
• James Sullivan, civil engineering, UND, Yeo Howe Lim, “Use of LIDAR and synthetic bathymetry to develop stream cross sections for alternative modeling of streamflow in North Dakota using HEC-RAS: A case study on the Tongue River”
• Justin Waraniak, environmental and conservation sciences/biological sciences, NDSU, Craig Stockwell, “Assessment of agricultural impact on biotic components of North Dakota wetland resources using habitat suitability landscape genomics of amphibians”
• Kui Hu, environmental and conservation sciences/biological sciences, NDSU, Jon Sweetman, “Understanding the impacts of hydrology on seasonal and spatial water chemistry changes in two adjacent prairie potholes in North Dakota using stable isotopes”
• Mansurat Golden Abdulmalik Ali, civil engineering, UND, Feng “Frank” Xiao, “Fate and transport of microplastics in the natural environment”
• Mohammad Hadi Bazrkar, civil and environmental engineering, NDSU, Xuefeng Chu, “Drought identification, categorization, and prediction in cold climate regions”
• Pavankumar Challa Sasi, civil engineering, UND, Feng “Frank” Xiao, “Thermal stability of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances and the impact on the aquatic environment”
• Shashi Bhushan, agricultural and biosystems engineering, NDSU, Halis Simsek, “Fabrication of a tailor-made surface for microalgal biofilm mediated nutrient removal from municipal wastewater”
• Uday Bhanu Prakash Vaddevolu, agricultural and biosystems engineering, NDSU, Xinhua Jia, “Simulation of soil water dynamics for drip-mulch fields using HYDRUS-2D”
• Vida Atashi, civil engineering, UND, Yeo Howe Lim, “Hydraulic and hydrologic routing parameters in natural channels in North Dakota under snowmelt-induced flooding conditions”
A panel of state water resource professionals reviewed the applications and selected the fellows and award amounts. The proposals were prepared by the students with the guidance of their advisors. The general criteria used for proposal evaluation include scientific merit, originality of research, research related to the state water resources issues and extent of state or local collaboration or co-funding.
Funding for the fellowship program comes primarily from the annual 104(B) base grant provided to the institute by the U.S. Geological Survey and an additional support of 20 percent of the annual base grant comes from the North Dakota State Water Commission. The North Dakota institute is one of 54 institutes, each located in a land-grant institution of each state and territory under the umbrella organization of National Institutes for Water Resources.
