Daugherty Water for Food Institute students research ways to reduce water use, increase food production

Thanks to grants from the Robert B. Daugherty Water for Food Institute at the University of Nebraska, eight UNL students are working on projects to contribute to a more water and food secure world.
Thanks to grants from the Robert B. Daugherty Water for Food Institute at the University of Nebraska, eight UNL students are working on projects to contribute to a more water and food secure world.

Thanks to grants from the Robert B. Daugherty Water for Food Institute at the University of Nebraska, eight UNL students are working on projects to contribute to a more water and food secure world. Profiles of the students' research are now available on the institute's website:

http://waterforfood.nebraska.edu/2014-2015-student-and-postdoctoral-grantees/. In total, the institute awarded nine grants to University of Nebraska faculty for student-led projects.

The $310,000 grants program, which is in its first year, supports the interdisciplinary research of the institute's Faculty Fellows while enriching the education and expanding the experience of students who will one day be scientific leaders in the effort to feed the world's growing population with limited natural resources. The funding covers two postdoctoral fellows and nine graduate and undergraduate student research assistantships from July 1, 2014 – June 30, 2015. The projects range from testing the drought tolerance of wheat roots to deploying robots for aerial water sampling.

"Education is an essential part of the institute's mission," said Christopher Neale, director of research. "We are excited to roll out our student support program and help faculty and their students pursue projects that will advance the University of Nebraska's efforts to provide solutions for global water and food security."

UNL students supported by the awards are:

Undergraduates

• Joseph W. Arneson, Water Science, UNL School of Natural Resources; Mariah R. Lundgren, Environmental Studies, UNL School of Natural Resources, for the Platte Basin Time Lapse Project. Faculty Fellow: Michael Farrell, assistant professor of practice, UNL Agricultural Leadership, Education and Communication.

Graduates

• William Avery, UNL School of Natural Resources, for the project: Improving soil moisture monitoring in agricultural systems using hydrogeophysics. Faculty Fellow: Trenton Franz, assistant professor of hydrogeophysics, UNL School of Natural Resources.

• Kate Boone, UNL Agronomy & Horticulture, for the project: Revealing the links between crop production, irrigation and inter-annual changes in groundwater levels in Nebraska. Faculty Fellow: Patricio Grassini, assistant professor, UNL Agronomy & Horticulture.

• Sarah Blecha, UNL Agronomy and Horticulture, for the project: Improving drought tolerance of wheat through more adaptive roots. Faculty Fellow: Harkamal Walia, assistant professor, UNL Agronomy & Horticulture.

• James Higgins, UNL Mechanical and Materials Engineering, for the project: Enabling Sub-Surface Aerial Water Sampling for Water Management and Quality Analysis. Faculty Fellow: Carrick Detweiler, assistant professor, UNL Computer Science and Engineering.

Postdoctoral Fellows

• Lorena Castro García, UNL Biological Systems Engineering, for the project: Software Development for Water and Agriculture-resources Data and Information Access: The Case of the Water for Food Interoperability System (WaFIS). Faculty Fellow: Francisco Muñoz-Arriola, assistant professor in hydroinformatics and integrated hydrology, UNL Biological Systems Engineering and School of Natural Resources.

• Rachindra Mawalagedara, UNL Earth & Atmospheric Sciences, for the project: Leveraging DWFI Resources to Address Water for Agriculture in Latin America under a Changing Climate. Faculty Fellow: Robert Oglesby, professor in climate modeling, climate change and variability, UNL Earth & Atmospheric Sciences. 

More information on the institute’s 2015-2016 student support program will be available in April. To learn more, contact research and outreach coordinator Rachael Herpel at rherpel@nebraska.edu or 402.472.4977. You may also visit the website, http://waterforfood.nebraska.edu/what-we-do/.

The Robert B. Daugherty Water for Food Institute at the University of Nebraska was founded in 2010 to address the global challenge of achieving food security with less stress on water resources through improved water management in agricultural and food systems. We are committed to ensuring a water and food secure world while maintaining the use of water for other human and environmental needs.

The University of Nebraska has invested in four interdisciplinary, University-wide institutes — including the Robert B. Daugherty Water for Food Institute — that leverage talent and research-based expertise from across the University of Nebraska system to focus on complex state, national and global challenges.

Learn more at waterforfood.nebraska.edu/.