Displaying Excellence and Building Community at Fall Showcase

The Water Institute hosted its 2025 Fall Student Showcase on November 13th at the Reitz Union, bringing together over 40 students, faculty, and staff for a full day dedicated to professional development, research communication, and interdisciplinary engagement. The showcase served as a platform for students working in water-related fields across the University of Florida to share their work, strengthen their skills, and contribute to shaping future Water Institute community.

The event opened with an orientation and listening session designed to gather student and faculty perspectives on future Water Institute initiatives. Dr. Paloma Carton de Grammont from the Water Institute presented an overview of existing student support opportunities, including travel grants, research funding, and dissertation awards.

During this session, attendees provided input on the types of professional development opportunities they would find most valuable, the kinds of events that could strengthen cross-departmental networking, and the professionals they would like to see represented at the 2026 Water Institute Symposium Career Panel. The listening session emphasized the Institute’s commitment to supporting student needs and ensuring community voices shape upcoming programming.

From left to right: Lexi Bolger, Dr. Matt Cohen, Dr. Paloma Carton de Grammont, Ivelisse Ruiz, Alexis Jackson, Sarah Marc, and Darlene Velez.

Following the orientation, Jillian from the Career Connections Center led a workshop titled “Creating Your Professional Self: Branding and Communication.” The session elements of developing a professional identity, with a focus on effective communication, networking strategies, and the importance of articulating your research and accomplishments. Jillian also highlighted the value of maintaining meaningful connections—particularly after interacting with peers and professionals at major events such as the Water Institute Symposium.

Jillian Prescott, Manager for Career Pathways at the Career Connection Center, giving a talk about professional branding and communication.

A hosted lunch provided an informal space for students and faculty to interact across departments and disciplines. Conversations centered on research interests, career pathways, collaborative opportunities, and mentoring relationships. The lunch highlighted the showcase’s goal of fostering a supportive and interconnected research community amongst both students and staff.

Networking lunch event with faculty and students sitting at round tables.

A central component of the Showcase was a series of graduate student presentations representing a wide range of water-related disciplines. Each student delivered a 12-minute presentation followed by a three-minute question-and-answer session. The talks highlighted the depth and diversity of water research occurring across the university, with topics ranging from PFAS remediation and hydrological modeling to ecological resilience and emerging contaminants.

Presenters included:

1. Natalia Dambe (Geography): Drought Impact (as a Climate Extreme) on Wind Power Development in the United States
2. Judyson de Matos Oliveira (Horticultural Sciences): Optimizing Site-Specific Irrigation Recommendations with Soil Water Retention Models Based on Particle-Size Distribution
3. Jessica Donaldson (Environmental and Global Health): Transcriptomic Response of Zebrafish Following Dietary Exposure to a Short-Chain PFAS, Perfluorohexanoic Acid (PFHxA)
4. Adam Fuerst (Agricultural and Biological Engineering): The Environmental Consequences and Economic Potential of Left Behind Tomato
5. Neelnayana Kalita (Agricultural and Biological Engineering): Plastic Mulch Effects on Hydrological Processes and Fluxes
6. Emily Kintzele (Environmental and Global Health): Microplastics and Other Emerging Contaminants Detected in the Florida Everglades in Water, Sediment, and Manatee Fecal Samples
7. Mallory Llewellyn (Physiological Sciences): Tracing Contaminants of Emerging Concern in the Huron–Erie Corridor
8. Baylor Lynch (School of Forest, Fisheries, and Geomatics Sciences): The Use of Stable Isotopes to Infer Food Web Dynamics in a Hypereutrophic Subtropical Lake
9. Fabiola Rodríguez Rodríguez (Environmental Engineering Sciences): Sustainable Remediation of PFAS-Contaminated Biosolids Using Mechanochemical Degradation
10. Ana Tricarico Orosco (Architecture): Resilience as Praxis: The Case of Indianhead–Lehigh

The afternoon concluded with a seminar by Dr. Joseph Bisesi, one of the Water Institute’s 2025 Distinguished Faculty Fellow. His talk, titled “How Can We Work for Water and Water Work for Us to Protect Environmental and Public Health?”, explored the intersection of water science and public health, highlighting the wide-ranging implications of environmental contaminants. Dr. Bisesi discussed how his research in toxicology and environmental health informs solutions to emerging water-quality challenges. He also shared a set of advice for students entering water-related careers, which offered guidance on professional development, interdisciplinary collaboration, and staying grounded in service-oriented science.

Dr. Joseph Bisesi presenting his seminar with the ending being advice for students.

This spotlight was created by Water Institute Ambassadors.

December 9, 2025