UTSA

Center for Water Research
Science Building 1.03.04

News

April 2008

Weldon W. Hammond, Jr., Amy and V.H. McNutt Endowed Distinguished Professorship in Geology, is a recipient of The University of Texas at San Antonio 2008 President's Distinguished Achievement Award for Excellence in Community Service.

This award is to recognize, encourage, and reward those tenured and tenure-track faculty who are exemplary in their service outside of the University, providing leadership and making significant contributions in external organizations and settings. Serving on boards and committees, and leading critical and valuable community initiatives, are some examples of desirable involvement. This award recognizes the importance of contributions to the external community ranging from local to the national levels.

August 2007

Adria Bodour, Associate Professor of environmental microbiology, and Paul Jurena, UTSA assistant professor of physiology ecology, recently received a $7,000 gift to support the research on microbial and plant ecology of the Texas Hill Country conducted by Drs. Bodour and Jurena and by UTSA students.

July 2007

Adria Bodour, UTSA assistant professor of environmental microbiology, recently received a $14,000 grant from the Edwards Aquifer Authority for a project titled "To Perform Microbial Source Tracking of Fecal Pollution in the Edwards Aquifer." Project Period: 07/02/07 through 06/30/08.

Adria Bodour, UTSA assistant professor of environmental microbiology, and Kyle Murray, UTSA assistant professor of hydrogeology and geographical information systems, recently received a $45,000 grant from the BexarMet Water District for a project titled "Biofouling Evaluation and Maintenance Plan for Staggs Ranch Wells". Bodour is P.I. and Murray is Co-P.I. Project Period: 07/01/07 through 05/31/08.

Kyle Murray, UTSA assistant professor of hydrogeology and geographical information systems, recently received year two of funding ($27,244) from the Water Environment Research Foundation in collaboration with Colorado School of Mines for a project titled "User Guide for Modeling Watershed-Scale Impacts of Onsite Wastewater Systems." Project Period: 05/01/06 through 04/30/08.

June 2007

Kyle Murray, UTSA assistant professor of hydrogeology and geographical information systems, recently received a $25,680 grant from the City of Kenedy for a project titled "Water Suupply Potential of Existing Wells: City of Kenedy, Texas." Project Period: 06/01/07 through 05/31/08.

May 2007

Judy Haschenburger, UTSA assistant professor of fluvial geomorphology, recently received a $21,414 grant from the National Geographic Society for a project titled "A Time-Integrated map of Streambed Stability." Project Period: 05/24/07 through 04/15/08.

February 2007

Alan Dutton, Associate Professor of hydrogeology, aqueous geochemistry, recently received a $25,000 gift to support the research on the hydrogeology of the Texas Hill Country conducted by UTSA hydrogeology faculty and students.

Jurena, Bodour, Bush awarded $350,000 for project

The U.S. Department of Agriculture has awarded $350,000 over three years to Paul Jurena, Adria Bodour, and Janis Bush for their project "Building a Research Based Bridge Between an HIS and a Land-grant University for Graduate Studies in Environmental Sciences." Faculty, graduate students, and undergraduate students from UTSA and Texas A&M University (TAMU) will connect through a joint research project that will enable minority students to acquire important research skills and knowledge through hands-on experiences. It will also introduce UTSA undergraduate and graduate students to potential careers in agricultural and environmental science.

The research theme, "Understanding how species richness alters productivity, establishment, physiology, and nutrient cycling along a grassland to woodland gradient" is based on ecosystem change. The project will clarify plant species composition and soil process diversity, including how plant species and functional group diversity affect nutrient cycling and nutrient conversation. Frequent faculty and student exchanges between the two universities will include seminars, short courses, and field/laboratory experiences.