Project and Water News

Participants in a graduate course supported by CI-WATER and iUTAH are seeing their work being implemented by statewide projects. The course, Hydroinformatics, focuses on the intersection of hydrology, computer science and engineering in the age of big data.

Thirty-three students at three universities—Brigham Young University, the University of Utah and Utah State University—participated in the course, team-taught by faculty at all three institutions. Connected by UEN’s interactive video conferencing system, students and faculty met for inter-campus class sessions with local faculty supervising projects at each institution.

Team projects from the course are designed to aid research into water resources. One project has already been chosen for implementation by iUTAH, an EPSCoR-funded project to help maintain and improve water sustainability in Utah.

Under the guidance of iUTAH postdoctoral researcher Dasch Houdeshel, graduate students Kristianne Sandoval, Lindsay Mink, Nate Moodie and Adam Olsen applied skills learned through the course to improve the flow of data from stormwater drain sensors in the Red Butte Creek watershed to an online data repository for researchers. The project involved setting up hardware and writing computer programs to automate the work path that calls each flow sensor, downloads the data and converts the data from a proprietary format to the appropriate format for the iUTAH data page.

The innovative course, which was piloted in 2012 as the brainchild of USU professor Dr. Jeff Horsburgh, combines the diverse expertise of the team of the professors who teach it: Dr. Horsburgh, Dr. Steve Burian of the UU, and Dr. Dan Ames of BYU.

Proposals to present posters or talks are now being accepted for the Tenth Annual Utah State University (USU) Water Initiative Spring Runoff Conference. The conference, which is slated for April 1–2 at the USU Eccles Conference Center, provides a forum for interdisciplinary sharing and exchange of ideas on water-related issues in Utah and the Intermountain Region extending to all aspects of water science, policy, engineering and management.

The deadline for abstracts is March 3, 2014. Students are strongly encouraged to apply and attend. The conference typically has about 150 participants from regional universities, state and federal agencies and invited national and international speakers. This year’s conference will feature a screening of "Last Call at the Oasis", a documentary about the global water crisis.

The USU Water Initiative is an interdisciplinary collaboration across Utah State University established to foster collegial sharing of water-related research and ideas throughout the campus and community.

CI-WATER wants to help high school students see how to turn big ideas into reality by offering two scholarships to attend the University of Utah Lassonde Entrepreneur Institute Innovation Week on July 14–17, 2014.

During the week, scholarship winners will develop a game or app on a water topic, like water conservation, water in the West, or water sustainability. In September, they will present their projects to water researchers at a meeting in Salt Lake City.

Preference will be given to students from groups that are underrepresented in STEM fields, including rural, female and minority students. Only students who agree to participate in the full week’s activities should apply. The scholarships will cover registration and, if needed, lodging on campus. Students who will need lodging should indicate that in their applications. Additionally, students who will need to travel more than 50 miles to attend the meeting in September can apply for mileage reimbursement.

Applications are due by 5:00 p.m. on March 20, 2014. Parent/guardian permission is required. 

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Registration is open for the 2014 Montana Storm Water Conference, “Curbing the Flow:  Positive Solutions for Storm Water Management”. The three-day conference will be held in Billings, Montana and will feature 40+ storm water experts discussing planning, low impact development, floodplain management and more.