NWRI Fellowship Program
The NWRI Fellowship program awards funds to graduate students who are conducting water research in the United States. To be eligible, students must be accepted and enrolled in an US-based graduate program. Fellowships are underwritten by the American Membrane Technology Association, the Southern California Salinity Coalition, and NWRI. To read Fellowship reports, follow the link in each student's profile.
Fellowship Recipients (2018-2019)
NWRI/BioLargo, Inc., Fellowship
This fellowship funds research about developing or enhancing water supplies. Up to four students can be awarded this fellowship, which is underwritten by BioLargo, Inc.
Katherine Dowdell, University of Michigan
Dowdell is a first-year doctoral student working under the supervision of Dr. Lutgarde Raskin, Professor of Environmental Engineering.
Her Fall 2019 report on her research, Bacterial Opportunistic Pathogens in Drinking Water Treatment Systems and the Influence of Disinfectants, is now available. She is working on techniques to decrease preferential selection for opportunistic pathogens during water treatment.
Jian-Feng Zhou, Georgia Institute of Technology
Mr. Zhou is a first-year doctoral student working under the supervision of Dr. Xing Xie, Professor of Civil & Environmental Engineering. His research report focuses on environmental nanotechnology, as described in his report In-Pipe Electroporation Disinfection Cell Enabling High-Efficiency Secondary Disinfection for Drinking Water.
Megyn Rugh, University of California, Los Angeles
Rugh is a first-year doctoral student working under the supervision of Dr. Jennifer A. Jay, Professor of Environmental Engineering. Her report, titled Antibiotic Resistance Genes in Stormwater: Implications for Hotspot Identification, describes how she is testing the idea that biofilters can affect antibiotic-resistant genes in the environment.
Michael Rose, Johns Hopkins University
Rose is a doctoral candidate working under the supervision of Dr. A. Lynn Roberts, Professor of Environmental Health and Engineering. Rose's research examines chemical reactions that incorporate iodine into organic molecules under drinking water treatment conditions to elucidate the formation of iodinated disinfection byproducts. His Spring 2019 is titled Electrophilic Aromatic Iodination in Chloraminated Water: A kinetic investigation of a chemical mechanism relevant to iodinated disinfection byproduct formation.
NWRI/AMTA Fellowship for Membrane Technology
The NWRI/AMTA Fellowship supports research to advance membrane technologies in the water, wastewater, or water reuse industries. Research must be consistent with the American Membrane Technology Association's vision of "Solving water supply and quality issues through the widespread application of membrane technology."
The Fellowship assists two graduate students for two years.
Michael Geitner, Pennsylvania State University
Geitner is a first-year doctoral student working under the supervision of Dr. Manish Kumar, Associate Professor in the Departments of Chemical Engineering and Environmental Engineering. Geitner is researching Bioinspired Hypochlorite-Resistant Reverse Osmosis Membranes, to develop reverse-osmosis membranes that can withstand cleaning with hypochlorite.
Cassandra Porter, Yale University
Ms. Porter is a second-year doctoral student working under the supervision of Dr. Menachem Elimelech, the Roberto C. Goizueta Professor of Chemical and Environmental Engineering at Yale University. Her report, Ion-Rejecting Membranes with Polyelectrolytic Layers Produced through Surface-Initiated Atom Transfer Radical Polymerization, studies the process of producing specialized reverse-osmosis membranes.
NWRI/SCSC Fellowship
The NWRI-Southern California Salinity Coalition (SCSC) Fellowship supports research that addresses the critical need to remove or reduce salts from water supplies and to preserve water resources in Southern California. Such research includes institutional and regulatory issues, economics of reducing salinity, regional and watershed planning solutions, and public education, outreach, and awareness. Visit the SCSC website for more information.
Amninder Singh, University of California, Riverside
Singh is a first-year doctoral student working under the supervision of Dr. Amir Haghverdi, Assistant Professor of Irrigation and Water Management. His report, Using Smart Irrigation Technologies to Optimize Recycled Water Application for Turfgrass Irrigation to Conserve Water, Maintain Turf Quality, and Sustain Soil Health, explores the suitability of smart irrigation controllers to automatically implement irrigation best practices using recycled water in Southern California.