It’s time for requests for travel funds to flood in to the American Water Resources Association (AWRA) Alaska Chapter.
Travel grant applications for students interested in attending the 2012 Alaska Section Annual AWRA Conference in Juneau are due Jan. 20. Students can request up to $600 to cover the cost of airfare to Juneau for the annual meeting, to be held March 5-7.
“It’s such a great opportunity to meet other professions, not just in academia but also the private sector and state and federal government,” said Anna Liljedahl, researcher with the UAF Water & Environmental Research Center (WERC) and conference chair.
Application forms are available on the AWRA website. Eligible students must be the presenter of a research project pertaining to Alaska water resource issues and serve as lead or coauthor of the submitted abstract. Application forms must be submitted to Edmund Parvin via email.
In addition to valuable networking opportunities, Liljedahl noted the professional experience students can garner from participation in a conference like AWRA.
“It’s a good opportunity to present your work, let others know what you’re doing and talk in front of an audience. That’s always great practice,” she said. “Plus you get feedback on your research which is a very important piece (of graduate research experience).”
The 2012 meeting will include a workshop on groundwater modeling sponsored by the U.S. Department of Natural Resources, as well as numerous sessions and panel discussions from a variety of Alaska water resource perspectives. Field trips will also be included in the conference. Liljedahl’s main hopes for the conference involve improved communication and heightened conversation regarding Alaska’s water resources.
“I’d like to strengthen the conversation between decision makers and the research community. I think the decision makers could be more effective if they work more closely with the research community, and vice versa,” she said.
Liljedahl said she’s taken to referring to that first week of March 2021 as “a week-long celebration of Alaska’s water resources.” In addition to the AWRA conference, there is a one-day workshop March 4 on groundwater modeling, and following the conference is a meeting of the Alaska Watershed Coalition (March 8-9), all in Juneau.
“So you could be in Juneau supporting and learning about water resources from Sunday through Friday,” Liljedahl said.
Additional information regarding the 2012 AWRA Alaska Section meeting is available at the AWRA website.
