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Two graduate students in Dr. Gonzalez-Pinzon’s team win research grants

July 13, 2020

photo of Jancoba Dorley
Jancoba Dorley

Ph.D. students Jancoba Dorley and Aashish Khandelwal won competitive research grants awarded by the New Mexico Water Resources Research Institute (NM WRRI). These awards support New Mexico’s future water experts training through grants to university students throughout the state.

photo of Aashish Khandelwal
Aashish Khandelwal

Jancoba’s project, “Transport and biogeochemical controls on nutrient retention along stream corridors” seeks to analyze the interactions and limitations of how microorganisms, water quality conditions, geology and physical transport properties (e.g., water discharge, water velocity, etc.) influence the processing and export of nutrients along stream corridors. This study will be conducted at the Catalina-Jemez Critical Zone Observatory and features data collection efforts with nutrient sensors and laboratory analyses.

Aashish’s project, “Development of The Navigator: A smart sensing system to characterize aquatic ecosystems” seeks to develop a technology capable of high-resolution monitoring of water quality parameters (i.e., electrical conductivity, temperature, dissolved oxygen, photosynthetically active radiation, pH, and oxidation-reduction potential sensors) over spatial and temporal scales currently unattainable, i.e., at the sub-minute scale and following natural flow currents. The Navigator can help us answer questions associated with water quality dynamics in near real-time, thus helping us address water management issues and decisions making in a timely manner.

Congratulations, Jancoba and Aashish!