You could be a winner next year!
Congratulations to this year’s WALPA scholarship winners: Garret Homer, Nicole Doran, and Madison Schumacher!
Garret is an undergraduate at the University of Idaho and has been granted the $500 undergraduate WALPA scholarship to help fund his research into the effects of wake boats on the resuspension of sediment and associated nutrients in central Idaho’s Payette Lake. Per Garret: “New innovations in lake recreation have altered the disturbance regimes of freshwater ecosystems. My research is focused on quantifying what impacts this change is having on nutrient loading and water clarity by measuring phosphorus trends before, during, and after natural and artificial disturbances.”
Also from the University of Idaho, master’s candidate Madison Schumacher has won a Dave Lamb Memorial Scholarship of $1,000. Madison is studying Idaho lakes to determine whether boater activity and wind patterns lead to the resuspension of nearshore sediments, including nutrients and metals.
University of Washington master’s student Nicole Doran has also won a Dave Lamb Memorial Scholarship for her work studying the preservation effects on stable isotope signatures of sixteen native and invasive freshwater fishes from lakes in the Pacific Northwest. Nicole says, “My thesis work is a mixture of social science and ecological science projects looking at the health of the Lake Sammamish fisheries, specifically the native Kokanee population.”
Come to this year’s conference to meet Madison and Garret, who will be presenting on their research. Nicole will not be at this year’s conference, but intends to present next year. Read upcoming Waterline issues to learn about each of their WALPA-funded research projects in more detail.
Students, faculty, others! Apply or encourage others to apply for these WALPA scholarships next spring! Not only do winners receive funding for their research projects, but their work is featured in Waterline and WALPA covers their fee and two nights’ accommodation for the subsequent annual conference. Make a note to apply next spring!
Learn more at https://www.walpa.org/scholarships_awards/
