Advancing Student Research with 2026 Water Institute Research Award Recipients
The Water Institute is excited to announce Andrés Pérez Barriga and Madeline Sutherland as the selected recipients of the 2026 Water Institute Research Awards. These awards support graduate students in expanding their research through new components, collaborations, training opportunities, or field and laboratory activities that were not part of their original projects. Recipients are selected through a competitive review process based on the significance of their proposed research enhancements and their ability to successfully implement them.
Andrés Pérez Barriga
Andrés Pérez Barriga is a Ph.D. student in Agricultural and Biological Engineering in Dr. Haimanote Bayabil’s research group. His work focuses on evapotranspiration and agricultural water management, and it addresses the challenge in translating remotely sensed evapotranspiration estimates into reliable information for complex agricultural systems. With the Water Institute Research Award, Andrés will be able to expand his dataset with the purchase of a sonic anemometer and travel to install, maintain, and collect data from a monitoring station. Providing critical field observations, the data will help strengthen the evaluation of remote sensing models and improve the understanding of agricultural water use that could support future water resources research in South Florida.
Madeline Sutherland
Madeline Sutherland is a Ph.D. student in Environmental Engineering Sciences working with Dr. Elise Morrison. Her research explores how microplastics influence aquatic biogeochemistry, and with the Water Institute Research Award, will expand her research to investigate how solar exposure alters microplastics in aquatic environments. Her research will address an important knowledge gap about the role of microplastics in aquatic biogeochemistry. By evaluating the potential of degrading microplastics to contribute dissolved organic matter to natural waters and influence carbon cycling, her work will help advance our understanding of how emerging pollutants affect freshwater ecosystems and biogeochemical processes.
The Water Institute invites its community to join the recognition of Andrés and Madeline at the Water Institute Awards Ceremony, taking place on October 13, 4:30 pm at the Keene Faculty Center, and it extends its gratitude to the affiliate faculty who contributed their time and effort to evaluate the applications.