Monika has been selected as a Community Science Fellow with the Thriving Earth Exchange, an initiative of the American Geophysical Union that connects fellows and scientists with communities across the United States, Mexico, and South America to co-develop projects tailored to local priorities. Over the next 12-18 months, Monika will lead and facilitate a collaborative science project with the community of Portland, PA. As a community fellow, she will work to foster engagement between community leads and scientists, supporting collaboration and overseeing the project’s development to ensure it remains aligned with the community’s needs. She will also play an active role in sharing the team's work and its impact with a broader audience, emphasizing both the results of the project and the collaborative process that brought it to life. 

In Portland, the primary focus of the project is the development of a comprehensive emergency management plan. The community faces recurring threats from frequent flooding and power outages, severely disrupting daily life and critical services. Portland’s residents want to develop a strategy that addresses these challenges, particularly by ensuring clear procedures are in place to respond to power outages during floods and other emergencies. Monika will work closely with the community to develop an emergency plan that provides a detailed blueprint for local businesses and prospective residents to handle such events effectively. The objective is to foster greater preparedness in Portland and help the communities navigate increasing future crises.  

Don Nelson has a new publication out with lead author Sechindra Vallury and Nathan Cook. "Social inequalities shape climate change adaptation among Indian farmers" looks at adoption of groundwater irrigation technologies using a longitudinal survey to explore uptake and continued use of technologies. The findings, which show that marginalized populations are less likely to take up irrigation technologies or sustain their use contributed to the research that will be carried out in their recently awarded HEGS grant. (see post from 7/18/24). You can read the article here. 

The article “Operationalizing equity for integrated water resources management,” was selected to receive the Lanfear Award from the Journal of the American Water Resources Association (JAWRA). The manuscript was led by HECLab member (now alum) Cydney Seigerman. Co-authors include fellow HECLers Raul Basilio, Shelly Biesel (now alum), Bruno Ubiali, Jon Hallemeier (now alum) and Don Nelson. They were joined by USACE colleagues. The award recognizes the best technical paper published in JAWRA during the previous year. Congratulations team! You can read the publication here.