Texas Water Resources Institute

School might be out for students for the holidays, but water education never stops! Research Specialist Ed Rhodes brought his daughter to work on Friday and with student technician Janelle Wright, showed her how the water team uses the M9 Doppler Boat to collect measurements. #water #txwater #texaswater

We wrapped up the year coming together in College Station for our annual retreat! Over three days, we heard from Texas A&M AgriLife's Angela Burkham, Ph.D., and Cliff Lamb,Ph.D., with agency updates; Donald Bruns, Survey Institute, for a Change Management Training; Kelly Essler, Tearney Woodruff, Ph.D., and Caitlyn Calvert for AgriLife Employee Program updates; and Todd B. Cottrell for a Time Management Workshop. Thank you to all of these guests for attending!

We are two days into our three-day Texas Water Resources Institute 2024 Retreat, and I am immensely grateful to be able to gather this talented team together for a few days focused on our vision, professional development, collaboration, and plans for 2025.   A special thank you to Texas A&M AgriLife's Dr. Angela Burkham and Dr. Cliff Lamb for providing us with agency updates; Donald Bruns, Survey Institute, for a stellar Change Management Training; Kelly Essler, Dr. Tearney Woodruff, and Caitlyn Calvert for AgriLife Employee Program updates; and Todd B. Cottrell, for an excellent Time Management Workshop.   I strongly believe in professional and personal development and look forward to the dynamic growth ahead for TWRI in 2025.

Meet Dallas Williams, a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Soil and Crop Sciences at Texas A&M University. Dallas was a 2022 recipient of TWRI's Mills Scholarship to help fund her research evaluating the environmental impacts of alternative materials for rain garden design. Using materials like crushed oyster shell, glass or other materials, Williams wanted to find the most sustainable and effective fill mix to replace the normally used sand, a resource that is expected to have limited availability in the future. Read about her findings and the next step for the project: https://bit.ly/4fexcNU (The first photo is courtesy of the Texas A&M University Department of Soil and Crop Sciences, Texas A&M College of Agriculture and Life Sciences)

Fall colors are in full swing and the water team is getting a front-row seat while monitoring! Research specialist Amanda Tague and graduate research assistants Elena Lundeen and Anya Allen collected samples and measurements today at Town Creek.

When we say we'll monitor in all conditions, we mean it (when it's safe of course)! Our water team members, Tina Hendon, Shaylynn Postma and Anna Eismont braved the rain and cold on Wednesday to collect water samples at Brushy Creek. #water #txwater #texaswater #sample #monitoring #watermonitoring

While he didn't originally start his scientific career in optical science, once Pao Tai Lin, Ph.D., found the field his interest was sparked. Now an associate professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering and the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at Texas A&M University, Lin's lab studies mid-infrared integrated photonics and remote Sensing, and applications of those technologies in environmental and health fields. As a 2023 TWRI Faculty Fellow, Lin and his lab hope to create a chip-scale optical sensor for in-field detection in water monitoring. Learn about his research: https://bit.ly/3VPRF4X #water #txwater #texaswater #research #facultyfellow #lab #sensor #opticalscience

Research Roundup! Check out some of the latest water-related research from Texas A&M and other universities around the state. This month includes cover crop adoption, water quality estimates using machine learning, the consequences of modifying coastal river systems and more! Read about the research: https://bit.ly/4eLwabP #water #txwater #texaswater #research

We're thankful for our employees and all the hard work they do year-round, this Thanksgiving though, we want to highlight and congratulate TWRI Research Specialist Ed Rhode for receiving the technical publication award at the annual Texas Section for Range Management! The award-winning publication, "The Declining Ogallala Aquifer and the Future Role of Rangeland Science on the North American High Plains," was co-authored by Rhodes and other researchers. “Rangeland management can provide continuity in the ability of the Ogallala region to continue to provide food, fiber, and other ecosystem services both locally and globally," Rhodes said. For more about the award and publication: https://bit.ly/49raKA1 #water #txwater #texaswater #rangeland #research #pulication #award #ogallala #aquifer

We had a hog of a time hosting a feral hog workshop in Rosebud this week! Working with Texas A&M Natural Resources Institute, attendees learned more about feral hogs and best management strategies to mitigate the damage they can cause to land. This workshop was hosted in support of our Big Elm Creek and Pond Creek watershed protection plan implementation activities and characterization. Texas State Soil and Water Conservation Board Texas Commission on Environmental Quality #water #txwater #texaswater #hog #feralhog