News & Events

Announcements

May 18, 2012

Water Research Symposium

Congratulations to the Hydrophiles student organization on an excellent Water Research Symposium Friday, May 18^th in the Memorial Union.

The day was filled with excellent presentations and opportunities to network, and the poster session from 5 to 6 pm was also well-attended and well-provisioned by the Institute for Water and Watersheds.

We want to recognize the efforts of Hydrophiles officers Kim Ogren, Luke Pangle, Patrick Burns, Racquel Rancier, Kelly Foley, and many others whose efforts made this event such a rewarding way to spend a Friday! It was wonderful to see presentations from Portland State University and the University of Oregon as well as from OSU and from students in the WRGP as well as in other degree programs. The Hydrophiles were also able to obtain event sponsors who donated money for best presentation prizes – look for information on these sponsors from the Hydrophiles!

We also want to recognize our judges for the presentations and posters : Michael Campana, Richard Cuenca, Lynette de Silva, Rebecca Flitcroft, Hannah Gosnell, Jack Istok, Todd Jarvis, George King, Stephen Lancaster, Sarah Lewis, Anne Nolin, Mohammed Safeeq, Mary Santelmann, Court Smith, Kellie Vache, and Aaron Wolf. Without the assistance of the judges we would not be able to offer awards!

Here is the list of award winners at the Water Research Symposium:

Water Research Symposium Best Presentation Overall - Luke Pangle (WRS)
Water Research Symposium Best Poster Overall - Phil Neumann (WRS)
Water Research Symposium Runner-Up Best Poster - Alexey Kalinin (AREC)

Water Resources Graduate Program Best Presentation...

by A PhD Student in Water Resources Engineering - Tracie Jackson
by A Masters Student in Water Resources Engineering - Noa Bruhis
by A PhD Student in Water Resources Science - Jay Frentress
by A Masters Student in Water Resources Science - Pat Burns
by A Masters Student in Water Resources Policy and Management - Maria Lewis
by A Masters Student in Water Resources Policy and Management - Mark Ingman

Water Resources Graduate Program Best Poster - Allison Marshall (WRS)

May 2012

Water Ills Focus of New Documentary (Huffington Post) - Aaron Wolf of Oregon State University (whose study of documented water disputes over the past 50 years showed that of the 1,800 disputes, “two thirds were cooperative” and involved “very little violence and no wars”)

April 2012

Congratulations to the P3 grant team for winning a $90K award at the National Sustainable Design Expo in Washington DC this past weekend for their project, entitled "Developing Sustainable Alternatives to Plastic Mulch". We are so proud of you! See the announcement.

Read more about it in the MOSES Organic newsletter and in the Thomas Net News.

January 2012

We are sad to announce that courtesy faculty member Gail Achterman passed away on Saturday, January 28, 2012. Gail contributed greatly to the OSU community and the public as a whole, and she will be missed. Gail's family has posted information about her upcoming memorial service, and you can read about her lifelong work in water issues and natural resources in the Oregonian.

June 2011

Check out the Water Resources Graduate Program first annual newsletter! We hope that this newsletter will help our students, faculty, and alumni keep up to date on the graduate program, and will give us a chance to reflect on our accomplishments each year. This edition includes highlights about the hydrophiles club, alumni, faculty and program news.

May 2011

On May 17 the Water Resources Graduate Program held its first annual OSU Water Day to celebrate student research and accomplishments of the OSU water community. Twenty one students gave presentations about their research and the program held its annual awards luncheon. Thanks go out to Mousa Diabat, Cally Whitman, and Elena Maus for the superb planning and execution of the event!
At the awards luncheon, Mary Santelmann announced and congratulated the 2011 Water Resources Program Awards winners:
- Hydrophiles Vice President, Racquel Rancier (MS WRPM) received the Alumni Award, which in addition to a certificate and the honor of being the award recipient, provides the recipient with a $250 scholarship.
- Eric Foster-Moore (MS WRPM) received The Faculty Excellence Award, which in addition to a certificate and the honor of being the award recipient, provides the recipient with a $500 scholarship.
- Cody Hale (PhD WRS) is the 2011 recipient of the Williamson Water Prize, which in addition to a certificate and the honor of being the award recipient, provides the recipient with a $500 scholarship.
In addition to the honors that are awarded to our students by the WRGP, we recognized the following awards and honors achieved by our faculty and students in 2011:
- Professors:
  - Jeffrey McDonnell: 2010-2011 Darcy Lecturer
  - Roy Haggerty: Inaugural Hollis Dole Professor 2010-2011
- Faculty achieving the Rank of Associate Professor:
  - Mary Santelmann
  - Hannah Gosnell (with indefinite tenure)
  - Bryan Tilt (with indefinite tenure)
  - Peter Ruggiero
  - Desiree Tullos
- Students receiving other awards:
  - Ricardo Gonzalez-Pinzon - Pathfinder Award, H.J. Andrews Student Research Award
  - Cody Hale - Pathfinder Award, Horton Award
  - Scott Allen - H.J. Andrews Student Research Award
  - Racquel Rancier - Graduate Legislative Intern
  - Harmony Paulsen - OR Lottery Fellowship
  - Rachel Lovellford - OR Lottery Fellowship
  - Imtiaz-Ali Kalyan - OR Lottery Fellowship
  - Jay Zarnetske - received the 2011-2013 Gaylord Donnelley Environmental Postdoctoral Fellowship at Yale University

October 2010

Another successful start to the water year was celebrated through activities sponsored by the Hydrophiles Club, including a float trip down the Willametter River and our annual kick-off barbecue on October 6. If you missed the barbecue, you can still join the Hydrophiles by sending your membership dues to the treasurer. See the Hydrophiles web site for details.

September 2010

The theme for the Fall 2010 Water Resources Seminar Series is Water Policy and Law in an Era of Change The seminars are held weekly on Wednesdays from 4:00-5:15 pm in Owen Hall Room 106. Seminars are open to the public and students can enroll for one credit in WRP 507.
The Water Resources Graduate Program welcomes its largest ever incoming class! Our fall orientation was held on September 15th. Our 21 new students and two transfer students (11 WR Science, 7 WR Engineering, and 5 WR Policy and Management) were introduced to the program and to one another.

May 2010

Our annual awards day was held on May 26 to honor recipients of numerous awards from professional societies, as well as OSU Water Resources Graduate Program scholarship award recipients on the Institute for Water and Watersheds website.

September 2009

Watching the snow: monitoring Oregon's water supply (Powered by Orange, 9/18/09) - Video and question and answer where Travis Roth, a PhD student in water resource engineering describes his research in groundwater movement and snowmelt, and how future climate change may affect both.
The theme for the Fall 2010 Water Resources Seminar Series is Corruption and Ethics Issues in Water Resources. The seminars are held weekly on Wednesdays from 4:00-5:00 pm in Owen Hall Room 102. Seminars are open to the public and students can enroll for credit. Link to the seminar schedule (PDF).

May 2009

Our 2009 Awards were presented on May 28. Read a summary of the award winners in the June H₂OSU campus water newsletter.

January 2009

The 2009 Water Resources Graduate Program Open House will be held from 9 am to 4:30 pm on Wednesday, January 28^th . There will be a staffed information table and posters in the OSU Memorial Union, Room 109, from 9 am to 3:30 pm, and presentations by students and faculty in the morning from 9 am to noon. Coffee, tea, and informal conversation will be available in MU 109 all morning, followed by a poster session including refreshments in the afternoon from 1:30-3:30 pm. Our $100 Best Poster award will be presented at 3:15 pm.

Download the open house schedule -- WRGPOpenHouseSchedule2009.pdf.

Faculty Spotlight

Dr. Roy Haggerty in Salem, Oregon

Faculty member of the month:
Dr. Roy Haggerty, Department of Geosciences.

Dr. Roy Haggerty came to Oregon State University in 1996 after receiving his PhD from Stanford University. When he's not in the classroom teaching hydrogeology, or in his office advising students, you might find him out in a streambed in chest-waders; teaching a laboratory section of Geology students to measure stream velocity and calculate discharge. Or, he could be conducting tracer tests to study the exchange of water and solutes between the surface and sub-surface zones of streams, or even helping his graduate students to install wells at the H.J. Andrews Long Term Ecological Research site.

Dr. Haggerty is an Associate Professor in the Department of Geosciences, and served as the first Associate Director for the Water Resources Science degree program in the Water Resources Graduate Program. He and his students have studied the exchange of water between streams and the shallow subsurface (the hyporheic zone), nitrate transport through sediments below agricultural lands in Oregon, groundwater flow modeling, and the physics of solute transport in highly heterogeneous materials. Student research projects have included studying the role of groundwater in geologic processes, nuclear waste disposal, mathematical modeling of solute transport, and stream turbidity. Recent funding for research has come from the USGS, Dept. of Energy, National Science Foundation, Sandia National Laboratories, and state agencies in Oregon.

Dr. Roy Haggerty putting in a well

"Roy is a quiet but effective leader in water-related research and education." said Dr. Mary Santelmann, Director of the Water Resources Graduate Program. "His experience and guidance as Associate Director for the Water Resources Science degree program has been invaluable in establishing a strong program that meets the needs of the students."

Roy is also an active advocate for OSU and for water-related research within and beyond the halls of the University. Haggerty and colleagues Denise Lach, Stan Gregory, and John Bolte recently led a team of about 40 OSU faculty members in the successful development of the Water and Watersheds Initiative that established the new Institute for Water and Watersheds, and brought Michael Campana to Oregon State University as its first Director.

In 2006-2007, Roy Haggerty will be on sabbatical in Spain. We expect that he'll return with a great tan and his characteristic enthusiasm in fall of 2007.

News & Events

Read about current activities of the OSU water resources community in H₂OSU, the newsletter of the Institute for Water and Watersheds.

News Archive

The first annual Water Resources Graduate Program Awards Lunch was held on May 31, 2006. We had delicious pizza and a chance to connect and celebrate the achievements of our program, our students, and alumni.

Todd Jarvis with The Kenneth J. Williamson Water Prize

The Kenneth J. Williamson Water Prize was awarded to Todd Jarvis. This is an award for academic excellence, our most prestigious award, given to a student whose major or minor field is one of the fields of the Water Resources Graduate Program, and whom our program expects to become a leader in one of the water resources fields.

This year's Williamson Water Prize winner, Todd Jarvis, will be defending his PhD dissertation in June. He comes to OSU with over a decade of experience as a professional engineer, as well as experience in groundwater management, and a desire to learn about water conflict and conflict management with his major advisor, Aaron Wolf. He has a major in Geography and a minor in Water Resources Policy and Management as well as an integrated minor in Water Conflict Resolution, Policy and Education.

The Water Resources Faculty Award was presented to two students in 2006; Glenn Mutti and Mark Porter. This is an award for excellence in representing OSU through publication of a paper, giving an oral presentation, or presenting a poster that helps to showcase the leadership of the OSU Water Resources Graduate Program through the professionalism and excellence of its graduate students.

Glenn Mutti completed his MS degree with a double major in Water Resources Science and Geology, working with advisor Roy Haggerty. His work has been presented numerous places, including our WRGP Open House, the Southern Willamette Valley Groundwater Management Association. Glenn also served as the first graduate student member of our External Advisory Board, which met for the first time at our Open House in February.

Mark Porter, a student in the Water Resources Engineering program, has represented Oregon State University through poster presentations of his research at Geologic Society of America and at the WRGP Open House. He will be presenting a paper on his research in Copenhagen, Denmark in June. He is working on his PhD in Water Resources Engineering with Dorthe Wildenschild as his major advisor.

The Water Resources Alumni Scholarship Award was conferred upon Erika Kraft. This award is intended for bright, energetic students in the WRGP who excel at leadership and service to the water resources community as well as in their field of study. This $250 award is supported through donations from OSU alumni to the Water Resources Graduate Program Alumni Scholarship fund.

Erika Kraft is President of the Hydrophiles student organization, and is a doctoral student majoring in Water Resources Engineering, with John Selker as her major advisor. Her leadership has been evident in many of the successful activities sponsored by the Hydrophiles this past year, in seminar series as well as the usual social events.

The Distinguished Alumnus Award was presented to Dr. Scott Waichler, who has been a leader in supporting and promoting the Oregon State University Water Resources Graduate Program. Dr. Waichler, who received his PhD in 2000 from the Bioengineering Department, was one of several distinguished speakers in the Hydrophiles winter seminar series for 2006. His leadership and donations established the Water Resources Graduate Program Alumni Scholarship Fund.