Congratulations to our Spring 2025 Water Institute Travel Awardees

Congratulations to the recipients of the Spring 2025 Water Institute Travel Awards: Seyed Mostafa Biazar Seighalani, Shuo Chen, Natalia Dambe, Neelnayana Kalita, Emily Kintzele, Baylor Lynch, and Ana Tricarico Orosco. In the coming months, they will travel across the United States or internationally to present their water-related research at a national or international conference. The Water Institute Travel Award provides financial support for travel expenses , specifically for research focusing on terrestrial water systems and their interactions with human, coastal, or atmospheric systems.

See below to learn more about these gators , the conferences they will be presenting at, and their research. Additionally, the Water Institute will be hosting an event to showcase their research, so stay tuned for more information!

Seyed Mostafa Biazar Seighalani
Department of Soil, Water, and Ecosystem Sciences
Conference: CSBE | ASABE 2025 Annual International Meeting
Presentation Title: Enhancing Flood Sustainability in Florida through Explainable AI-Based Susceptibility Mapping

Shuo Chen
Department of Soil, Water, and Ecosystem Sciences
Conference: Society for Freshwater Science 2025 Annual Meeting
Presentation Title: Shifts in dissolved organic matter and nutrients dynamics of stormwater ponds in different master-planned communities in Florida, USA

Natalia Dambe
Department of Geography
Conference: 2025 American Association of Geographers (AAG) Annual Meeting
Presentation Title: The Impact of Climate Extremes on Wind Power Development in the United States

Neelnayana Kalita
Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering
Conference: CSBE | ASABE 2025 Annual International Meeting
Presentation Title: Plastic Mulch Effects on Hydrological Processes and Fluxes

Emily Kintzele
Department of Environmental and Global Health
Conference: The Greater Everglades Ecosystem Restoration Conference (GEER)
Presentation Title: Fecal Microplastic Accumulation and Associated Changes in Gut Microbiome in Florida Manatees (Trichechus manatus latirostris) 

Baylor Lynch
School of Forest, Fisheries, and Geomatics Sciences
Conference: Society for Freshwater Science
Presentation Title: Isotopic Insights: Unraveling Food Web Dynamics in a Hypereutrophic Subtropical Lake 

Ana Tricarico Orosco
School of Architecture
Conference: EDRA 56
Presentation Title: The Climate Burden Next-Door: Designing a Collaborative Methodology for Multi-Scalar Research

March 12, 2025