Student Poster Competitions

Each year, the NCWRA cosponsors a student poster presentation competition with the NC Water Resources Research Institute (WRRI) at their annual conference.  Both graduate and undergraduate students are encouraged to enter the competition.  Cash awards go to 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place poster winners as well as to honorable mentions.

2019 Student Poster Competition Winners

FIRST PLACE: Kirsten Studer, University of North Carolina, Troubled waters: How can wastewater impact drinking water quality?

SECOND PLACE: Lori Farley, East Carolina University, Green stormwater infrastructure in urban coastal plain watersheds: ECU campus as an outdoor field laboratory 

THIRD PLACE: Brock Kamrath, North Carolina State University, Evaluating nitrogen removal performance and potential improvements for a tertiary treatment constructed wetland in North Carolina

HONORABLE MENTION:  Erica Wood, University of North Carolina, Mental models risk communication to promote private well testing in underserved minority communities: Communication design

Past Winners

2018

FIRST PLACE: Guy Iverson, East Carolina University, Evaluation of a Bioreactor to Remediate Nutrients in a Septic-dominated Watershed in the North Carolina Piedmont 

SECOND PLACE: Christa Sanderford, East Carolina University, Comparison of Stream E. coli and Enterococci Concentrations in Watersheds Served by Different Wastewater Treatment Technologies 

THIRD PLACE: Samuel Blackman, North Carolina State University, Characterizing Timescales of Estuarine Water Quality Covariates Across Brackish Habitats to Aid the Development of Aquaculture Initiatives

HONORABLE MENTION: Lindsay Wickersham, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, Comparison of multidrug-resistant Staphylococcus aureus in surface waters with and without commercial swine production            

2017

FIRST PLACE: Qiwen Cheng, NC State University, Influence of Electrically Conductive Particles on Methane Generation in Swine Wastewater Fed Anaerobic Digesters 

SECOND PLACE: Emily Bailey, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, Microbial Survival of Indicator Organisms in Blended Waters Proposed for Potable Reuse in North Carolina 

THIRD PLACE: Frank Stillo, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, Racial Disparities in Access to Municipal Water Supplies in the American South:  Impacts on Children’s Health

HONORABLE MENTIONS: 

Christa Sanderford, East Carolina University, Fecal Indicator Bacteria Concentrations in Piedmont Streams Draining Watersheds with Varying Densities of Onsite Wastewater Systems            

Alexandre Mangot, NC State University, Testing of a Novel Laboratory-based Reactor to Explore the Effects of Mixing on Cyanobacteria Suppression

2016

FIRST PLACE:   Robert Mahoney, East Carolina University, "Nutrient and Bacteria Dynamics of Package Treatment Plants in Coastal North Carolina"  Click here to view an image of the poster.

SECOND PLACE:  Vinicius Taguchi,  NC State University, "Undervalued Stormwater Treatment by Undersized Disconnected Impervious Surfaces in Wilmington, North Carolina"  Click here to view an image of the poster.

THIRD PLACE:   Adeline Lopez,  NC State University, "Coal Ash Constituents at the base of aquatic food webs:  Dynamic behavior of arsenic"  Click here to view an image of the poster.

HONORABLE MENTIONS: 

Brent Serozi, East Carolina University, "Onsite Wastewater Systems Phosphate Treatment in the North Carolina Piedmont"  Click here to view an image of the poster.

Jordan Jernigan, East Carolina University, "Evaluation of Surface and Subsurface Discharging Onsite Wastewater Systems in the North Carolina Piedmont"  Click here to view an image of the poster.

2015 

FIRST PLACE:  Guy Iverson, East Carolina University, "Tracking Nitrate-Nitrogen Sources Using 15N and 18O in Nitrate in Coastal Plain Surface and Ground Waters"  

SECOND PLACE:  Amirhossein Mazrooei,  NC State University, "Decomposition of Sources of Errors in Seasonal Streamflow Forecasting Over the US Sunbelt"

THIRD PLACE:  Robert  Mahoney,  East Carolina University, "Seasonal Nitrogen Dynamics of Packaged Wastewater Treatment Plants in Coastal North Carolina"

HONORABLE MENTIONS: 

Elizabeth Allen, NC State University, "Challenges of Monitoring Water Quality on a Continuous Basis at the Watershed Scale in Eastern North Carolina"

Richard Small, UNC-Charlotte, "Response of Foraminifera (Marine Microorganism) to a Concentrated Brine Solution Discharged from a Reverse Osmosis Water Treatment Plant in Currituck County, North Carolina"