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Various speakers at the UF Water Institute Spring Showcase.

Spring Showcase: Building Skills and Connections at the Water Institute 

Professional development, networking, and water-focused scientific presentations were at the heart of the Water Institute Spring Showcase held on April 3. This full-day, multi-part event brought together students from across campus to build skills, foster connections, and highlight ongoing research. 

The day began with a professional development workshop led by Associate Provost and Dean of the Graduate School Dr. Nicole Stedman titled, “Harnessing the Power of Emotion in Decision Making.” The session equipped students with tools to use emotion as a guide for thoughtful, inclusive decision-making and encouraged greater awareness of how emotions influence thinking, collaboration, and the development of people-centered solutions. 

Following the workshop, students, faculty, and Water Institute staff gathered for a networking lunch hosted by the Water Institute Ambassadors. 

In the afternoon, seven recipients of the Water Institute Research and Travel Awards presented interdisciplinary research tackling urgent water-related challenges at local and global scales. Together, their projects demonstrated the innovative contributions of early-career researchers in advancing water sustainability, ecosystem health, and climate resilience.  

Airin Akter from Department of Geography, “Comparing the Spatial Patterns of Rainfall and Atmospheric Moisture for Three Major Tropical Cyclones: A Case Study of Bangladesh” Taryn Chaya from School of Natural Resources/Department of Soil, Water, and Ecosystem Sciences, “Can Existing Mosquito Impoundment Infrastructure Be Leveraged to Treat Eutrophic Estuarine Waters?” Dogil Lee from Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering, “Impacts of Land Use/Land Management Change and Climate Change on Water Availability and Water Quality in the Santa Fe River Basin Using SWAT-MODFLOW” Megan Sanford from Engineering School of Sustainable Infrastructure and Environment, “Classifying the Microbial Community Composition of Swedish Fjord Sediments Across Oxygen Regimes: Implications on Microbial Diversity and the Fate of Organic Carbon” Sanneri Santiago Borres from Engineering School of Sustainable Infrastructure and Environment, “Use of Nitrogen-Doped Magnetic Quantum Carbon Dots (N-MCD) for Photocatalytic Degradation of PFAS” Zoe Spielman from Department of Soil, Water, and Ecosystem Sciences, “Linking Phosphorus Storage Mechanisms with Removal Performance in Everglades Stormwater Treatment Wetlands” Emory Wellman from School of Forest, Fisheries, and Geomatics Sciences, “Examining the Interaction Between Fertilization and Facilitation in North Florida Salt Marshes”.

The event concluded with a keynote address by Dr. Katherine Serafin, Assistant Professor in the Department of Geography and the 2024 Water Institute Early Career Faculty Fellow. Her seminar, held in partnership with the Geography Department’s Colloquium series, was titled “When Forces Collide: Building Resilience to Compound Flooding Hazards.” Dr. Serafin’s research provides critical insights into the interactions between coastal and inland flooding drivers and supports efforts to build resilience to these compound events. Her seminar can be watched here.

The Water Institute extends its gratitude to the community for supporting this showcase. Planning is underway for the next event scheduled for the Fall semester. Stay tuned for more details. 

May 6, 2025