The Robert B. Daugherty Water for Food Global Institute at the University of Nebraska has awarded grants to eleven University of Nebraska–Lincoln faculty to provide assistantships to graduate students doing research that contributes to global water and food security. The projects range from empowering smallholder farmers in Haiti to examining how uranium moves through soil to reach Nebraska’s groundwater.
The grants program, now in its fourth year, supports interdisciplinary faculty research while enriching the education of students who will one day be scientific leaders in the effort to feed the world’s growing population with limited natural resources. The annual grants, totaling $183,000, will support eleven students during the 2017-2018 fiscal year. The grants include matching funds from the faculty, all Daugherty Water for Food Global Institute Faculty Fellows.
“Education and capacity building are essential to the institute’s mission," said Christopher Neale, director of research. “We are pleased to start the fourth year of our student support program and to continue helping Nebraska faculty and their students pursue projects that offer solutions to complex water and food security issues.”
Nebraska Civil Engineering faculty receiving the awards are:
• Xu Li, associate professor, UNL Civil Engineering, for the project: Determination of Setback Distance Requirements for Reducing Contaminants in Agricultural Runoff Following the Land Application of Swine Manure Slurry. Graduate student: Maria Cecilia Hall, UNL Civil Engineering.
• Yusong Li, associate professor, UNL Civil Engineering, for the project: Influence of Climate and Agricultural Clustering on Groundwater Contamination by Trace Organics. Ph.D. student: Chuyang Liu, UNL Civil Engineering.