Weldon Hammond

UTSA establishes Institute for Water and Natural Resources

(Dec. 2, 2003)--The University of Texas at San Antonio announces the establishment of the Institute for Research in Water and Environmental Resources at the 1604 Campus. The new institute focuses on interdisciplinary research programs in environmental sciences and engineering.

The institute will house the new doctoral degree program in environmental science and engineering and is designed to promote interdisciplinary research by students and faculty in the UTSA colleges of sciences and engineering.

The doctoral program in environmental sciences and engineering focuses the research capabilities of UTSA on the problems in water and environmental resources. The substantial commitment to environmental research is a result of increasing public and governmental awareness of present and potential environmental problems in the region.

"The establishment of the Institute for Research in Water and Environmental Resources is another step forward in UTSA's goal to become a tier-one research institution," said Weldon Hammond, director of the UTSA Center for Water Research. "Our citizens will benefit in many ways from the research emphasis at UTSA on water and environmental resources."

Organized in 1987, the Center for Water Research (CWR) is a research component of the new institute. CWR emphasizes a multidisciplinary approach to solve practical problems related to water as a resource. Major areas of research include hydrogeology, surface water hydrology, geochemistry, geophysics, geographic information systems, water resources engineering, civil engineering and geotechnical engineering.