Is this email not displaying correctly? View it in your browser .               UF Water Institute NewsFlow July 18, 2013 Volume II, Issue 3     Supporting collaboration for a sustainable water future through innovative interdisciplinary research, education, and public outreach programs.   Become a Water Institute Affiliate faculty member Join our ListServs Search Water Institute Faculty Projects Contact Us   A word from the Director: The UF Water Institute is you – a diverse group of over 200 faculty members from 65 Departments and Centers who share a focus on water. An important goal of the Water Institute staff is to provide ways to promote your water-related research and foster collaborative networking. Our comprehensive searchable faculty expertise, research projects and publications databases are designed to highlight the water-related research and education programs being conducted by our affiliate faculty. Please help us keep your information current by updating your personal expertise profile (it’s easy, just click on the link!) and by providing Kathleen McKee (katmckee@ufl.edu) with additional research projects and publications that you would like to feature. Your efforts are greatly appreciated! Wendy Graham, Ph.D. Carl S. Swisher Chair in Water Resources Water Institute Director       Programs Matt Cohen and Rafa Muñoz-Carpena named Water Institute Faculty Fellows     Congratulations to Dr. Matt Cohen (School of Forest Resources and Conservation) and Dr. Rafael Muñoz-Carpena (Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering) who will comprise the inaugural class of Water Institute Faculty Fellows beginning in Fall 2013!   The new Water Institute Faculty Fellows awards program was created to recognize UF faculty who are making outstanding contributions to interdisciplinary water research, extension, or education programs as well was substantial contributions to the goals of the UF Water Institute. Faculty Fellows will receive a salary supplement of $2,000 per year for a duration of three years.   Dr. Cohen and Dr. Muñoz-Carpena will be recognized before the September 25th Water Institute Distinguished Scholar Seminar, and will present seminars on their research programs as a part of the Spring 2014  Distinguished Scholar Seminar Series. Watch for the next call for Water Institute Faculty Fellows in spring 2014!       Research Brazil Dams Working Group Awarded UF Internal Seed Funding     The  UF Brazil Dams Working Group - headed by Water Institute affiliate faculty members Marianne Schmink  (Center for Latin American Studies), Simone Athayde (Center for Latin American Studies) and Stephanie Bohlman (School of Forest Resources and Conservation) was awarded a UF Internal Seed Grant to develop a bi-national research project on the multiple social and environmental effects of dams in the Brazilian Amazon. The goal of the project is to develop a theoretical and methodological framework for integrative research on dams in the Amazon, identifying critical actors and existing knowledge and integrating assessments of land-use and land-cover change with data from socio-economic and political dynamics. The team plans to collect data for 3 dam sites in Brazil, develop a data portal related to impacts of dams and land use change dynamics, develop research proposals, and consolidate collaborators into a research team and community of practice. Collaborators include two Brazilian Universities (Federal University of Rondonia and Federal University of Tocantins) and the Grand Canyon Monitoring and Research Center. Kathleen McKee, Water Institute Research Coordinator, assisted in recruiting Water Institute affiliates to join the team and assisted Dr. Tony Oliver Smith and Dr. Athayade in organizing an international Brazil Dams Symposium in Gainesville last year.  Please contact Dr. Athayde if you are interested in participating with the Brazil Dams Working Group.       Education UF wins First Prize: EPA Campus Rainworks Challenge     In Spring 2013, a group of students, advised by Water Institute affiliate faculty member , Glenn Acomb from the Department of Landscape Architecture, were awarded the Environmental Protection Agency’s inaugural Campus RainWorks Challenge prize for their design of a master plan for water movement throughout the 11-acre Reitz Student Union North Lawn and pedestrian areas. The Challenge is a student competition designed to develop innovative green infrastructure to handle stormwater and support sustainable communities. The UF plan incorporates a number of green infrastructure design elements including: two stormwater collection pools, rain gardens and bioswales, a green wall, green roof, and campus garden. Modeling of the bioswale component of the design plan shows that the bioswales can manage a 1-year and 100-year storm without flooding. The UF team consisted of 12 students who highlighted the relationship between people and water by creating the "journey of water" from UF campus catchment areas to Lake Alice, where a large portion of UF’s stormwater sewers drain. The student team consisted of Emily Sturm (project manager), Hannah Plate, Jayne Branstrom, Tracy Wyman, Jabari Taylor, Gregory Ford, Brenda Lugano, and Joshua Evitt (Department of Landscape Architecture); Tracy Fanara (Environmental Engineering); Natalie Nelson, Angelica Engel, and Wesley Henson (Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering). In January 2013, the team presented the plan to University of Florida architects and facilities staff for consideration as a component of the university's "Reitz Redesign" efforts.       Award Jim Heaney receives Warren A. Hall Medal     Water Institute affiliate and Environmental Engineering professor Jim Heaney received the Universities Council on Water Resources (UCOWR) Warren A. Hall Medal in June recognizing him for his unusual accomplishments and distinction in the water resources field. “I’m humbly honored to be awarded this medal that celebrates the great contributions of Warren Hall to teaching, research, and service to the water resources community. I had the privilege of meeting Warren while I was a graduate student at Northwestern.” said Heaney.       Upcoming Events     September 6, 2013 9am – 10:30am UF Water Institute Distinguished Scholar Seminar Dr. Linda S. Lee, Program Head - Ecological Sciences & Engineering Interdisciplinary Graduate Program “Technology, Stewardship & Quality of Life: Chemicals of Emerging Concern in the Balance (Abstract)” 2nd Floor Auditorium, J. Wayne Reitz Union     September 25, 2013 2pm – 3pm UF Water Institute Distinguished Scholar Seminar Dr. Kala Vairavamoorthy, Dean of the Patel College of Global Sustainability, University of South Florida. 209 Emerson Alumni Hall     February 11-12, 2014 4th UF Water Institute Biennial Symposium, Sustainable Water Resources: Complex Challenges, Integrated Solutions — Water Supply Planning in a Non-Stationary World J. W. Reitz Union       For questions or concerns regarding the newsletter, contact the Newsletter Coordinator Copyright © 2013 UF Water Institute, All rights reserved.