January 6, 2009

0-for-3. My suggestions to the Obama-Biden transition team have predictably fallen on deaf ears. Peter Gleick (White House Water Advisor), Patricia Mulroy (Commissioner, U.S. Bureau of Reclamation), and Gerald Galloway (Assistant Secretary of the Army, Civil Works) still have not quit their day jobs. Peter and I did learn that his “appointment” was on the agenda at a California water district meeting, although neither one of us could ascertain what was discussed. A colleague of mine vowed to support Mulroy’s appointment but only if she promised to disband the agency. And Gerry told me he’d been down that same road before.

And, along with 300,000 others, I applied for a position (‘Water Czar’) in the Obama-Biden Administration by going to the WWW site.To show how serious the transition team is considering online applications, they added an additional IT person-screener to the original one – a 40-year-old formerly unemployed geek who lives in his parents’ basement in Toledo, OH.

With regard to these appointments and applications, this month’s aphorism is the operative word.
  
Postmodern Hydrologic Cycle. Many of you know Kate Ely, who discharges her duties as Umatilla Basin Hydrologist for the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation with considerable aplomb. What you probably don’t know is that she possesses substantial artistic talent. Last month she sent me a copy of a sketch she made of the hydrologic cycle that’s been on her door for years. I found it so striking that it now graces my office and Todd Jarvis’s as well. I call it the ‘Postmodern Hydrologic Cycle’. She granted me permission to blog it, so you can download a suitable-for-framing version.
 
Statewide Water Roundtables. Yes! We are done with the synthesis report. At this same site you will also find the Oregon Business Plan Water Initiative, introduced at the 7th Annual Leadership Summit, held in Portland on 11 December. There is also a pdf of the PowerPoint presentation.

ASR & AR. There seems to be some Congressional interest in aquifer storage and recovery (ASR) and artificial recharge (AR), so much so that talk of establishing an “institute” is being bandied about. Todd Jarvis and I have responded with a concept for a National Aquifer Recharge and Recovery Management Institute (NARRMI). It has passed the first critical test, that of possessing a decent APE (Acronym-Producing Expression). We can make an excellent case for locating the institute here.

Wells and the Well-Being of Oregon. Our one-day conference in Salem, co-convened with Oregon Sea Grant Extension, went over well with about 80 attendees. Copies of PowerPoints have been posted. The OSGE folks did a facilitation and we’ll post those results as soon as they are available.

James Powell’s ‘Dead Pool’. This new book deals with the drought in the Southwest USA and the prospect that one of the two big Colorado River reservoirs, Lake Powell and Lake Mead, could ‘go dry’ by reaching dead pool, the level of the dam’s outlet works. This prospect was broached by the Barnett-Pierce paper published last year.

Powell faults the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation for not including the following in its Colorado River basin model: 1) lower mean annual flow of the river, based on tree-ring data; and 2) effects of climate change. Powell then uses the CROSS model (Colorado River Open Source Simulator) that is similar to, but simpler, than the Bureau’s, and shows that after 30 years, there is only enough water for Lake Mead or Lake Powell, but not for both. The Bureau’s model shows plenty of water for both reservoirs through the 21st century. 

I am a little puzzled by Powell’s contention that the Bureau is not factoring climate change into its forecasts. At our Snake-Columbia Basin Energy and Water Summit in June 2007 we heard a Bureau engineer describe how they were integrating climate change effects into their reservoir operating rules in the basin.  Perhaps the Bureau engineers down south did not get the word.

Powell then speculates on what the Southwest might look like in the near future, concluding with this chilling (??) vision of Phoenix (pp 239-240):

With both surface [water] and groundwater supplies severely limited and no relief in sight, Phoenix declares a stage-four water emergency, its highest level. The state legislature rescinds the Groundwater Management Act. Voluntary reductions having long since failed to conserve enough water, Phoenix enforces rationing. Watering lawns, washing cars, and splashing in water parks are distant memories. The two hundred golf courses in Phoenix and Scottsdale have been closed for years, their verdant fairways and manicured greens blown away on the hot dry wind. Valves attached to water meters automatically shut off the flow when consumption exceeds the limit. Armed water police with the authority to shut off valves and make arrests patrol neighborhoods. Phoenix doubles the price of water to residences, raises it even more for the heaviest water users, and prohibits new water hook-ups. Home construction shuts down and the once-booming central Arizona real estate market collapses. As tax revenues decline, Phoenix runs short of funds and rating agencies reclassify its bonds as junk.

Following Nevada's example, Phoenix begins to build a desalting plant on the Sea of Cortés. But as the border crisis intensifies, and with its own water supplies at dangerous lows, Mexico nationalizes all American-owned factories in the country, including the desalting plants and the maquiladoras. By the 2020s, with water, the stuff of life at stake, it is every nation for itself

Businesses and families begin to abandon Phoenix, creating a Grapes of Wrath-like exodus in reverse. Long lines of vehicles clog the freeways, heading east towards the Mississippi and north toward Oregon and Washington. Burning hot, parched, and broke, the city that rose from the ashes achieves its apogee and falls back toward the fire.

Sorry to put a damper on the new year with this scenario. Pretty scary, but remember this is speculation. What struck me is the ‘north toward Oregon and Washington’ in the last paragraph. Whether we like it or not, or believe it or not, Oregon and Washington are perceived to have plenty of water and could be destinations for “water refugees”. I don’t intend to be a fearmonger or a Cassandra, but we need to talk about this stuff, unpleasant as it may be.

AAG Presidential Plenary. The Association of American Geographers, at its upcoming March meeting in Las Vegas, will feature a Presidential Plenary on ‘The Future of Water in the American West’. Four speakers will address the issue: the aforementioned James Powell; William E. Rinne of the Southern Nevada Water Authority; Glen MacDonald of UCLA; and Patricia Gober of Arizona State University.

Gober is co-director of ASU’s Decision Center for a Desert City, which is one of the recent winners of the Prince Sultan Bin Abdulaziz International Prize for Water.

Film Series. Our winter film series starts on 7 January 2009. We have an even better lineup than last year’s. We are also expanding the film series to Newport in cooperation with the Hatfield Marine Science Center. A film will be shown 6 - 7:30 PM, every 2nd Monday, January - May, at the HMSC Auditorium. It is free to everyone. See you there!

Washington’s  Loss is Our Gain – Dr. Philip W. Mote Comes to Oregon. Hot off the press – Phil will be directing the Oregon Climate Change Research Institute. A great appointment. Congratulations, and welcome to Oregon, Phil!

Till next month,

Michael

“We don’t want nobody nobody sent.”
– Chicago political boss to a young prospective precinct worker, future Rep. Abner Mikva (D-IL)

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Editorial: Good water news was submerged in report (Corvallis Gazette-Times, 1/6/09) - There was good news about Oregon water issues last week, but you might have missed it because it was easier to focus on the bad news. Both the bad news and the good news came from the same source: A report from Oregon State University’s Institute for Water and Watersheds on a series of roundtable meetings the institute held last year around the state.

Water supply concerns Oregonians (Corvallis Gazette-Times, 1/6/09) - In a state that’s known for abundant water — at least the kind that falls from the sky — a number of Oregon residents nevertheless worry about whether the state has enough water to meet future needs. That pessimistic outlook was one of the findings of a series of water “roundtables” organized around the state by Oregon State University’s Institute for Water and Watersheds.

Water plan film premiers Jan. 7 (The East Oregonian, 1/2/2009) - The documentary film about the Umatilla Basin and the 2050 Water Management Plan, "Water Before Anything," will premier at 4 p.m. Wednesday in Room 208 at the Oregon State University Memorial Union. During the past year, English graduate student Sarah Sheldrick has been filming the documentary, which will run about 40 minutes.

Confidence in Oregon's water supplies evaporates (Capital Press, 12/30/2008) - Despite Oregon's abundant rainfall, Oregonians don't believe the state has enough water to meet its needs - not now and definitely not in the future. A recently released report from five water roundtables held last fall in different parts of the state, shows a majority of 300 participants are wary about the state's ability to meet its current water needs.

Oregonians foresee future water shortages (The Oregonian, 12/30/2008) Oregon may be known for the rain that feeds its rivers, but Oregonians are pessimistic there will be enough water to go around as the state's population grows and climate change possibly makes summers even drier. That was the take-home message from five "Water Roundtables" held throughout the state in September and October as an initial step toward developing a strategy for how the state will meet rising demand on its limited water supplies.

Oregonians Worried About Adequate Water Supply (OSU News and Communication Services, 12/30/2008) – A majority of Oregonians who recently participated in a series of water forums don’t believe the state has enough water to meet all of its basic needs, including those of wildlife. Despite its abundant rainfall, people are pessimistic now and even more wary about where the state will be in 20 years; about two-thirds of respondents in statewide forums said the quantity of water won’t be adequate to meet future needs.

The Man Who Bridges Troubled Waters - Aaron Wolf mediates disputes around the world, bringing entrenched enemies to a common understanding: No one deserves to have the water shut off. (Miller-McCune, 12/22/2008) - In 1991, as Aaron Wolf was finishing his doctoral dissertation, the Madrid Middle East peace process was just getting under way. The two sides decided to tackle five sets of regional issues, including the equitable division of water resources. As a budding expert on the subject — his research focused on the Jordan River and its dual role as "a flashpoint and a vehicle for dialogue" — Wolf agreed to advise the U.S. team designing the talks.

OSU researchers improve wastewater drug test (AP, KTVZ-TV, 12/10/08) - Oregon State University researchers say they have improved a monitoring system for detecting drugs in sewage water. The system announced last year can be useful for determining the extent of illegal drug use in entire communities by testing water at municipal wastewater treatment plants. It also measures the use of pharmaceutical drugs. The technique may be an effective tool for comparing general patterns of drug use in different regions of the United States and the world. The new test eliminates the need for sample preparation, saving time and money and decreasing the risk of contamination. The results of the test are in the Dec. 15 issue of the American Chemical Society journal.

City intern helps map watershed condition through Salem, Engineer and OSU student walk more than five miles in creeks (Statesman Journal, 12/10/08) - The job of an intern is never easy. There's filing, running errands and, of course, walking through miles and miles of streams with a clipboard. Well, that last part is just for environmental engineering interns with the city of Salem. During the summer Ken Roley, a city facilities engineering services manager, and Nate Fulton, an intern from Oregon State University, walked the more than five miles of streams covering the Glenn and Gibson Creeks Watershed.

Harvest of Rain Engineering water systems for Salvadoran coffee farmers reaps unexpected rewards (OSU President's Quarterly Report, 12/2008) - Last year's excursions to the remote hill country of southwestern El Salvador promised to be excellent adventures for Scott Crook and Aparna Shrivastava. The OSU students' mission - to build clean-water systems with coffee farmers living high in a hidden rainforest - would test their engineering skills and slake their thirst for new experiences. They never expected the project to change their lives. "It completely transformed my belief in me," says Shrivastava, a junior in mechanical engineering from Tigard, Oregon. "It changed my perspective about what I can do for the world." The project was partially funded by a $12,000 grant from the Ann Campana Judge Foundation.

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As a PhD student in Environmental Engineering, Danielle Jansik is conducting research on a variety of pore scale hydrologic processes that relate to how contaminants move in natural systems.  Her interests include biofilm formation in porous media, the impact of sediment surface roughness (and chemistry) on fluid sorptivity, and colloid mobilization and transport in unsaturated sediments. 

With the assistance of an IWW research grant, Danielle has investigated the impact of surface roughness and physical chemistry on an engineered capillary barrier system.  Her research uses theory developed by Katherine Hay (a recent OSU graduate) and microscale sediment surface geometry to estimate the rate at which fluid will move over a sediment grain surface.  Danielle’s research will help constrain which types of materials are best suited for use in geologic barrier systems, frequently found in landfills. In collaboration with fellow PhD student Ryan Armstrong, Danielle has also examined biofilm architecture in porous media.  Their work makes use of computed microtomography (CMT), a 3-D imaging technique similar to medical CAT scanning.  The images collected are essential for understanding how biofilm architecture impacts fluid flow velocities, nutrient distribution, and contaminant transport in soils. A manuscript detailing their findings is currently in review with Environmental Science & Technology.

As a Subsurface Biosphere NSF IGERT fellow, a member of the international STAIR research group, and a long time hydrophile, Danielle is dedicated to furthering multidisciplinary research through facilitating communication between traditionally disparate research groups.  Danielle hopes that her work will support greater understanding of the interchange between subsurface hydrologic processes.
For more information please contact Danielle at jansikd@engr.orst.edu.

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Business and Water Do Mix.  Associate Director Todd Jarvis participated in the Oregon Business Summit  along with 1,000 other Oregonians.  Water was one of the initiatives discussed in a breakout session attended by over 30 participants dedicated to brainstorming new approaches to integrating water into the business arena.
The water initative can be reviewed online.

Roundtables Follow Up. Director Michael Campana presented outcomes from the Oregon Statewide Water Roundtables to the Oregon Environmental Quality Commission on 12 December 2008. He also made similar presentations to the Calapooia Watershed Council (10 December) and the Oregon Water Utilities Council 2008 Legislative Symposium (with Terry Buchholz) on 9 December. All these presentations are on the Roundtables WWW site.

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Wednesday, January 7, 4:00-5:30 p.m., MU 208. Water Before Anything. World Premiere of a documentary film made by OSU Graduate Student Sarah Sheldrick and the first film in the IWW 2009 Water Film Series. The film tells the story of the Umatilla County Critical Groundwater Solutions Taskforce, a volunteer group that has been working to enhance and protect groundwater in the Umatilla Basin. The group has just completed a 2050 Plan and needed a way to share their message with their neighbors and the community. View the four-minute trailer at Google Video. Come meet Sarah!

Thursday, January 8, 12:20 p.m. Hydrophiles Field trip to Rickreall Dairy. Julie Gabrielli, water resources engineering student, has organized this trip to see how Oregon agriculture takes care of their waste. Rickreall Dairy has a digester - this turns manure and bedding into methane gas for power generation while also producing fiber for fertilizers. Contact Julie if you'd like to attend. FMI: Julie Gabrielli.

Tuesday, January 13, noon, 208 OSU MU. IGERT Brown Bag organized by the OSU Research Office for teams planning to submit letters of intent for the National Science Foundation (NSF) - Integrative Graduate Education and Research Traineeship (IGERT) Program. The Research Office Letter of Intent submission deadline is Monday, January 26, 2009. For more information call Debbie Delmore at 541-737-8390.

Wednesday, January 14, 5:30-7:30, 338 PSU Smith MU. Secrets of Crater Lake. Leading scientists from Oregon State University and Portland State University will explore the science of this deepest lake in America as well as the role of “Earth’s largest rain gauge” as a possible bellweather of global warming. Sponsored by the Crater Lake National Park Trust and Ecos.

Wednesday, February 25 - Friday, February 27, Bend, Oregon. Oregon AFS Annual Conference. The theme is Sharing our Passion.

Thursday, January 29, 7:00 p.m. Corvallis-Benton County Public Library. State of the Willamette River Panel Discussion. Join panelist Travis Williams, Executive Director of Willamette Riverkeeper as well as the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, US Army Corps of Engineers, and the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality to talk about the current state of the Willamette River. The panel is moderated by Todd Jarvis of the Institute for Water and Watersheds. The event is sponsored by the Corvallis Environmental Center and the Institute for Water and Watersheds.

Read about more upcoming events on the IWW's calendar.

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Young Scientists Summer Program at the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis near Vienna, Austria - YSSP offers advanced graduate students from around the world the opportunity to spend a summer working with distinguished scientists on projects related to their own doctoral research in the natural and social sciences. Funding is available for successful applicants. Applicants’ academic interests should coincide with current IIASA research and methodologies, and preference is given to predoctoral candidates who expect to be awarded a PhD or equivalent in the next two years. IIASA conducts policy-oriented scientific research within three core themes: Environment and Natural Resources; Population and Society; and Energy and Technology. Closing date is January 19, 2009.

Association for Women in Science Undergraduate and Predoctoral Fellowships. Awards of $1,000 are to female students enrolled in a behavioral, life, physical, or social science or engineering programs.The award may be used for any aspect of education, including tuition, books, housing, research, travel and meeting registration, or publication costs, for example. Applications due: January 23, 2009 for undergraduates; January 30, 2009 for predocs.

NASA Earth and Space Science Fellowship (NESSF) Program – 2009/2010 Academic Year. Individuals pursuing Masters or Doctoral (Ph.D.) degrees in Earth and space sciences, or related disciplines. Awards are made to the university with the advisor serving as the principal investigator. For the 2009/2010 academic year, NASA expects to award approximately 42 new graduate fellowships in Earth Science, 3 in Heliophysics, 10 in Planetary Science, and 3 in Astrophysics. Topic areas in Earth Science include: climate variability and change, atmospheric composition, carbon cycle and ecosystems, water and energy cycle, weather and earth surface and interior. The maximum award is $30K for three years. Proposals due February 2, 2009.

Mazamas Graduate Student Research Grants - The Mazamas, a 3,000 member Oregon mountaineering organization headquartered in Portland, is soliciting research grant proposals from graduate students.  Their organization supports research projects in keeping with the purposes of the Mazamas, including the investigation of geologic features, biotic communities, and human endeavors pertaining to mountains, forests, rivers, and lakes.  The grants are intended to help cover travel, per diem, supplies, and other costs of conducting master’s thesis or doctoral dissertation research. Grants can be up to $1500. Applications due January 30, 2009 for graduate students with a last name starting with A thru M; applications due February 4, 2009 for graduate students with a last name starting with N thru Z.

The National Academies Research Associateship Program. The Research Associateship awards are open to doctoral level scientists and engineers (U.S and Foreign Nationals) who can apply their special knowledge and talents to research areas that are of interest to them and to the participating host laboratories and centers. Awards are available for Postdoctoral Associates (within 5 years of the doctorate) and Senior Associates (normally 5 years or more beyond the doctorate). Associates conduct research in residence at the participating host laboratory they have chosen. Applications due: February 1, 2009.

Associateships Program, Institute for Water Resources provides postdoctoral and senior scientists and engineers with opportunities to conduct research on projects, largely of their own choice, which are compatible with the research interests of the sponsoring laboratories. Example topic areas include:Climate and Water Resources Management; Collaborative Processes for Water Disputes; Ecosystem Restoration Policy and Science; Environmental Benefits Evaluation Policies and Procedures for Water Resources Investment Decisions; Future Directions for Integrated Water Resources Management. Postdoc stipends begin at $70,000 and moving expenses and travel funding is also provided. Applications due February 1, 2009.

The Dissertation Proposal Development Fellowship - DPDF is a strategic fellowship program designed to help graduate students in the humanities and social sciences formulate doctoral dissertation proposals that are intellectually pointed, amenable to completion in a reasonable time frame, and competitive in fellowship competitions. Student participate in workshops and can receive research funding. Some of the fields students can apply in are: Critical Agrarian Studies and Revitalizing Development Studies. Applications due: January 30, 2009.

EcoInformatics Summer Institute (EISI) for undergraduate and early graduate students - The program will be held at the HJ Andrews Experimental Forest in the Oregon Cascades from June 15 - August 21, 2009. Students receive a stipend, course credit, and hand-on experience in ecoinformatics - the integration of mathematics, computer science, statistics, and engineering with the study and management of ecosystems. The program is led by OSU faculty and sponsored by NSF and NIH. Applications due: February 16, 2009.

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(listed by due date)

 

Preproposal due: 16 January 2009. USDA CSREES AFRI - Soil Processes (Full Proposal due: 17 March 2009).

Description: FY 2009 Priorities for Research Projects: 1. Interdisciplinary studies involving the interrelationships among soil physical, chemical, and biological characteristics and processes related to soil quality and sustainability, especially regarding water and nutrients in relation to agricultural quality, productivity, and environmental health. 2. Multi-scale research that can help bridge the gap between molecular and microscopic site process studies and field landscape and/or watershed-scale studies relating to soil quality. 3. Development and/or application of new or improved technologies, methodologies, tools, or strategies to enhance our understanding of biological, biogeochemical, and physical processes. In addition, these methods or tools should be used to enhance our understanding of dynamic properties in soils related to agricultural production, as well as soil and environmental health, focusing specifically on water, carbon, and nutrient cycles at multiple scales where appropriate. FY 2009 Priority for Education Projects: 1. Development of innovative activities, courses or programs for either graduate and/or undergraduate students to incorporate climate change issues into soil science programs or integrate soil science curricula into climate change related courses, majors, or programs. Since soil science encompasses many sub-disciplines, activities should be interdisciplinary in nature. Integration of advanced and emerging research techniques such as advanced modeling methods, synchrotron radiation based techniques, visualizations, nanotechnology, genomics, and remote sensing is strongly encouraged.
Funding Details: Research projects: up to $450,000 for multi-institution proposals, or $350,000 for single institution projects for 2-4 years. Education projects: up to $150,000 for 2-3 years.

23 January 2009. Mazamas Standard Research Grant.

Description: The Mazamas is a 3,000 member Oregon mountaineering organization headquartered in Portland. Their organization supports research projects in keeping with the purposes of the Mazamas, including the investigation of geologic features, biotic communities, and human endeavors pertaining to mountains, forests, rivers, and lakes.
Funding Details: Up to $3000, They also offer $1500 graduate student awards.

Preproposal due: 26 January 2009 to the OSU Research Office. NSF Integrative Graduate Education and Research Traineeship (NSF-IGERT) Program (Preproposal due to NSF: 13 March 2009; Full Proposal due to NSF: 14 September 2009).

Description: The program is intended to catalyze a cultural change in graduate education, for students, faculty, and institutions, by establishing innovative new models for graduate education and training in a fertile environment for collaborative research that transcends traditional disciplinary boundaries. It is also intended to facilitate diversity in student participation and preparation, and to contribute to a world-class, broadly inclusive, and globally engaged science and engineering workforce. This is a limited submission competition and the OSU Research Office will select entries from OSU - see their Web site for more details.
Funding Details: Up to $3.0M per award over 5 years.

Preproposal due: 30 January 2009. Agricultural Research Foundation 75th Anniversary Interdisciplinary Grants (Full Proposal due: 1 March 2009).

Description: To observe their 75th Anniversary, the Agricultural Research Foundation is inviting proposals for two special grants. These are separate from the normal $12,500 grants that will be announced later in the spring. They must be interdisciplinary in nature, and they must include principal investigators from at least two different departments or colleges. Send a 1 to 1.5 page pre-proposal including a comment on the importance of the research to Oregon agriculture and natural resources, and a summary of the intended research. Preference will be given to proposals that may lead to practical products or practices, including projects investigating agricultural environmental impact. Submit one hard copy to Agricultural Research Foundation, Strand Agricultural Hall, Ste. 100, Oregon State University, OR., 97331.
Funding Details: Two awards for $50,000/ year for two years.

11 February 2009. NSF Earth Sciences: Instrumentation and Facilities (EAR/IF).

Description: Supports meritorious requests within and across Earth science disciplines. EAR/IF will consider proposals for: 1) Acquisition or Upgrade of Research Equipment; 2) Development of New Instrumentation, Analytical Techniques or Software ; 3) Support of National or Regional Multi-User Facilities; 4) Support of Research Technicians; (5) Development of Cyberinfrastructure for the Earth Sciences (Geoinformatics). Planned research uses of requested instruments must include basic research on solid-Earth and surface-Earth processes.
Funding Details: Contact NSF if more than $500K.

 

Preproposal due: 20 February 2009. USGS/NIWR Water Resources Research National Competitive Grants Program (Full proposal due: 6 March 2009).

Description: This program supports research on water problems and issues of a regional or interstate nature beyond those of concern only to a single state and which relate to specific program priorities identified jointly by the USGS and the institutes. Proposals involving substantial collaboration between the USGS and university scientists are encouraged. Successful applicants must match each dollar of the federal grant with one dollar from nonfederal sources. Preproposals have to submitted online to the OSU Institute for Water and Watersheds and then IWW submits full proposals by March 6. Contact Todd Jarvis, todd.jarvis@oregonstate.edu for details. Note that the FY2009 funds have not yet been appropriated for this program.
Funding Details: Up to $250K of federal funds. 1:1 non-federal match required.

2 March 2009. NSF Chemical, Bioengineering, Environmental, and Transport Systems (CBET) - Environmental Engineering.

Description: This cluster focuses on research on innovative biological, chemical, and physical processes used alone or as components of engineered systems to restore the usefulness of polluted land, water, and air resources. Major areas of interest and activity in the program include: developing innovative biological, chemical, and physical treatment processes to remove and degrade pollutants from water and air; measuring, modeling and predicting the movement and fate of pollutants in the environment; and developing and evaluating techniques to clean up polluted sites, such as landfills and contaminated aquifers, restore the quality of polluted water, air, and land resources and rehabilitate degraded ecosystems.

2 March 2009. NSF Chemical, Bioengineering, Environmental, and Transport Systems (CBET) - Environmental Sustainability.

Description: This program supports engineering research that seeks to balance society's need to provide ecological protection and maintain stable economic conditions. Research is encouraged to advance the next generation of water and wastewater treatment that will decrease material and energy use, consider new paradigms for delivery of services, and promote longer life for engineered systems. Other activities of interest include: Advancing engineering methods to promote smart growth strategies, Integrating economic development and protection of natural resources, Regenerating ecological functions of degraded environments, Understanding how large complex environmental systems behave, and Developing effective principles for adaptive management of such systems.

2 March 2009. NSF Chemical, Bioengineering, Environmental, and Transport Systems (CBET) - Fluid Dynamics.

Description: Topics include: hydrodynamic stability; transitional flows and turbulence; Newtonian and non-Newtonian fluid mechanics; sediment transport, waves and coastal engineering; multi-scale, multi-phenomena models and computations; bio-fluid mechanics, micro and nanoscale flow phenomena, and microfluidics. Proposed research should contribute to the basic understanding of fluid dynamics, thus enabling the better design, predictability, efficiency and control of systems that involve fluids. Proposals addressing innovative uses of fluids in materials development, manufacturing, biotechnology, nanotechnology, clinical diagnostics and drug delivery, sensors development and integration, energy and the environment, are encouraged.

A list of additional water-related external funding opportunities is available on the IWW Web site.

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H₂OSU is a periodic e-mail news briefing provided by the Institute for Water and Watersheds. It is distributed through the OSU Hydro Email lists and the Oregon Water List (http://water.oregonstate.edu/news/email_lists.htm) and the Web. Questions, comments and ideas for news briefs may be sent to the IWW at iww@oregonstate.edu. Past newsletters can be viewed at: http://water.oregonstate.edu/newsletter/index.htm.