Congratulations to the 2023 Water Institute Research Award Recipients

The Water Institute is delighted to unveil the recipients of the 2023 Water Institute Research Awards. The competition showcased an extraordinary level of excellence, posing a significant challenge for our selection committee in making their choices from a plethora of outstanding submissions. Consequently, we are pleased to announce that, instead of the initially planned 2 awards, we have decided to present 4 awards upon the following graduate students: Alexis Jackson, Emory Wellman, Mallory Llewellyn, and Sanneri Santiago Borrés.

Alexis Jackson is a Ph. D. student in Environmental Engineering focusing on the structure and function of wetland ecosystems. Her project focuses on the role of hydrology, connectivity, and plant community characteristics on wetland soil carbon storage and hopes to gain insights into how wetland soil carbon responds to changes in climate and land cover changes. These insights can then be applied to wetland management, conservation, and policy decisions that better account for potential future changes in carbon storage.

Emory Wellman is pursuing a Ph.D. in Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences and she is investigating the ability of mussels to promote marsh stability in nutrient over-enriched salt marshes. Her research focuses on anthropogenic stressors to coastal ecosystems incorporating both stable state ecological theory and management applications. Emory collaborates across programs at the University of Florida, including the Nature Coast Biological Station and the Tropical Research and Education Center.

Mallory Llewellyn is a Ph. D. student in Physiological Sciences with a concentration in Toxicology. Her research focuses on contaminants in water that affect human health, specifically per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) and microplastics (MPs). With this award, she will extend her existing PFAS sampling efforts in the Great Lakes to include MP collection and characterization which will provide invaluable environmental data that will directly inform her laboratory MP-PFAS ingestion study.

Sanneri Santiago Borrés is earning her Ph. D. in Environmental Engineering. Her research focuses on the potential use of urea-iron modified quantum carbon dots (QCD) as photocatalysts in breaking down per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in contaminated waters. Her research aims to contribute to reducing PFAS loading in contaminated waters, thereby mitigating exposure risks to both wildlife and humans.

Join us in celebrating the achievements of these graduate students and witness the presentation of their awards at the 2023 Water Institute Awards Ceremony on November 15, 2023, at 4:30PM at the Keene Faculty Center.

November 14, 2023