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AUEI News
AUEI Announces Awardees for its Annual Excellence in Environmental Sciences Scholarship
AUEI is pleased to announce five winners for its annual Excellence in Environmental Sciences scholarship program. The scholarships were selected by the Institute’s Scholarship Selection Committee, whose members include representation from Auburn University staff and faculty. Scholarships were awarded based on academic excellence, relevance of applicant’s coursework to the mission of the Institute (see www.auei.auburn.edu), extracurricular environmental activities, and environmental career interests.
Caitlyn Duffy was awarded Guy V. Bullock Excellence in Environmental Sciences Scholarship. Mignon Denton, Sara Geonczy, Ryan McGehee, Hilary Rizk were awarded Emory O. and Jeanne L. Cunningham Excellence in Environmental Sciences Scholarship.
Call for Presentations - 2013 AL Water Resources Conference and AWRA Symposium
The deadline to submit an abstract for all oral presentations and non-student posters is 4:45 p.m., Monday, July 1, 2013.
Abstracts for student poster presentations can be submitted until 4:45 p.m., Monday, August 12, 2013.
New guidelines for the student oral and poster competitions may be reviewed at:
http://auei.auburn.edu/conference/competition.php
Please visit the conference website at http://auei.auburn.edu/conference/ for details and consider submitting abstracts on your current research or area of expertise.
The 27th Annual Alabama Water Resources Conference will be held Thursday & Friday, Sept. 5-6, 2013, at the Perdido Beach Resort Hotel and Convention Center in Orange Beach, Alabama. Immediately preceding on Wednesday, Sept. 4, the Alabama Section of AWRA will host a Water Resources Symposium. These meetings will provide an excellent forum for updates on the status and issues regarding the many multi-disciplinary aspects of current and future water use, management, and conservation issues.
Registration and accommodation information are available at conference website:
http://auei.auburn.edu/conference/
Abstract submitters will be notified no later than Monday, July 23, 2013. Registration fees for the conference are NOT waived for presenters. If selected, you must register for the conference.
Don’t miss this opportunity to present your abstract and network with colleagues along the shores of the beautiful Gulf of Mexico!
Auburn University Watershed Center of Excelence Report (2008-2012)
The Watershed Center of Excellence Report (2008-2010) provides an update of activities related the following specific projects:
- Parkerson MillWatershed Management Plan- 319(h) NPS Grant (page 2)
- Rock Creek Watershed Management Plan- 319(h) NPS Grant (page 5)
- Mill Creek Watershed Management Plan- 319(h) NPS Grant (page 10)
- Saugahatchee Creek Watershed Management Plan- 319(h) NPS Grant (page 13)
- EPA STAR Proposal for Center of Excellence for Nutrient Management Practices (page 17)
- EPA-funded Alabama Wetlands Project (page 21)
- Tallapoosa Nutrient Numerical Criteria for Wadeable Streams Project NPS Grant (page 30)
- Alabama Water Watch (page 36)
- Global Water Watch (page38)
AWRRI Awards FY-2013 AL Water Resources Grants
Alabama Water Resources Research Institute recently announced the award of three FY-2013 AL Water Resources Grants. The object of this program is to facilitate research faculty in the state in making significant advances, and increasing regional and national competitiveness, in the water resources arena. For the purpose of this competition, “water resources arena” is defined in the broadest possible terms. Proposals are invited from all permanent full time tenured, tenure-track and non-tenured faculty from any universities or colleges in Alabama.
Details about the awarded proposals are available at http://awrri.auburn.edu/grants.php
Featured News
EPA researchers are assessing wastewater effluents
Endocrine disruptors can end up in wastewater through a variety of routes. Wastewater can contain natural human hormones, hormones from pharmaceutical products like birth control pills, and potential endocrine distruptors present in detergents, soaps, plastics, food, and personal care products such as fragrances. EPA researchers have documented that chemical mixtures in some wastewater effluents (or outflows) can result in feminization of fish populations downstream of treatment plants. Given such concerns, EPA researchers are assessing wastewater effluents to measure their effects on ecosystems and aquatic animals while also developing innovative solutions to reduce concentrations of potential endocrine disruptors. EPA researchers are deploying a range of techniques to examine effluents from waste water treatment facilities.
Scientists Develop Microarray-based Assay to Detect Waterborne Pathogens
EPA researchers recently published a study in which they successfully developed and tested a microarray-based assay that can detect fecalindicator bacteria and human pathogens in tap water. This tool can simultaneously detect multiple organisms in a single sample as well as provide information on how often these organisms occur. This information may be used to assess potential exposure risks to waterborne pathogens.
Methods for Primary Concentration of Viruses from Water Samples: A Review and Meta-Analysis of Recent Studies
This paper, authored by EPA scientists, compared current methods and technologies for collecting, isolating, and detecting pathogenic viruses in drinking and recreational waters. The paper was recently published in the Journal of Applied Microbiology. The meta-analysis showed that electronegative filters, electropositive filters and ultrafilters are comparable in performance. Any differences in recovery are due to virus type rather than filter type, water matrix or sample volume. You can read the paper here.
Analysis of Wastewater and Water System Renewal Decision-Making
As part of the U.S. EPA Aging Water Infrastructure (AWI) Research program, a key area of research was a study of current approaches available for making rehabilitation versus replacement decisions. EPA scientist Ariamalar Selvakumar, PhD co-authored an analysis of wastewater and water system renewal decision-making tools and approaches that was published by the Journal of Pipeline System and Engineering Practice. This paper provides a review of decision support systems and methods used over the last 15 years and summarizes the findings from visits with eight large utilities in the U.S. to discuss how each makes rehabilitation versus replacement decisions of their water infrastructure systems.
Evaluation of Green Roof Plants and Materials for Semi-Arid Climates
Green roofs are vegetated roofs that provide several benefits to urban environments, including reduction of stormwater runoff volume and intensity, filtration of stormwater discharge, and reduction of the urban heat island effect, among others. In order to provide these benefits, the green roofs must receive sufficient amounts of water and nutrients to keep the plants alive. Because of the risk of plant failure from incorrectly selected species, the lack of information on green roofs in a high elevation, semi-arid region, and the large potential for environmental benefits, studies were conducted on various performance parameters on the green roof of the building that houses the EPA Region 8 in Denver, Colorado.
Stormwater Calculator Will Be Released on June 6
The Stormwater Calculator is an easy-to-use desktop application that estimates the annual amount of rainwater and frequency of runoff from a specific site – any address in the United States – based on local soil conditions, land cover and historic rainfall records. The calculator assesses several national databases to provide local soil and weather conditions for the chosen site. The user supplies information about the site’s land cover as well as what type of green infrastructure they would like to use. Green infrastructure can include low impact controls such as rain gardens, cisterns and porous pavement that retain rainfall on site until it eventually evaporates into the air, infiltrates the ground, or is otherwise consumed. The calculator will be available here:
http://www.epa.gov/nrmrl/wswrd/wq/models/swc/
Preparing for Climate Change and Urban Water Infrastructure
Drinking water shortages have increasingly become a problem in recent years and climate change will only increase shortages. EPA scientist Jeffrey Yang, PhD recently co-authored a paper detailing how urban water infrastructure managers can plan for water shortages through innovative system planning and decision analysis. The authors believe that you can balance the carbon footprint of a system and still ensure that it is cost effective.
Climate Change and Watersheds
EPA researchers are using climate models and watershed simulations to better understand how climate change will affect streams and rivers.
A warming climate threatens hotter summers and more extreme storms. We know we may need to upgrade our air conditioning systems and make emergency preparedness kits, but aside from temperatures and storms, what are other ways we will be affected by climate change?
Last Updated: Mar 18, 2013