Student Fellowships

Three fellowships are offered annually to Washington State Students. One, the Rod Sakrison Memorial Fellowship Award, is awarded to a member of an AWRA Student Chapter at a college or university in Washington State. In 2007, the AWRA-WA board of directors dedicated this award to the memory of Rod Sakrison in recognition of his effort to increase student involvement in AWRA. Rod was a two-time board president and instrumental in establishing the University of Washington AWRA Student Chapter. The other two awards are given to students enrolled graduate programs at a college or university in Washington State.

Fellowship Benefits

All fellowships are for full-time graduate students completing an advanced degree in an interdisciplinary water resources subject. In addition to $2,500 in cash, each award includes a one-year membership in both the State and National AWRA, a one-year subscription to the Journal of the American Water Resources Association (JAWRA), and complimentary admission to the Washington State Section Annual Conference.

Applications Are Open - Apply by March 2, 2026

AWRA-WA Fellowship applications for the 2025-2026 academic year are accepted through March 2, 2026. All current, full-time graduate students studying water resources in Washington state are encouraged to apply. Please contact Jason McCormick, Fellowship Committee Chair, with any questions. 

Download the application.

Congratulations to our recent 2024-2025 Fellowship Recipients!

• Kaylyn Stewart – University of Washington – "Synthesis and Characterization of Molecular Imprinted Polymers on Activated Carbon for Selective Removal of PFAS"
• Abdisa Kebebew – Washington State University – "Modeling the Impact of Wildfire on Municipal Watersheds: Implications for Reservoir Management"
• Maggie Egan – Central Washington University – "The Hydrology and Geomorphology of Pre-Restoration West Fork Teanaway"

2023-2024 Fellowship Recipients

• Kinsey Freeman – Washington State University –  "The Clean Water Act and Environmental Justice in the Columbia River Basin: An Exploration of Policy, Power, and Intergovernmental Collaboration in Total Maximum Daily Loads"
• Brook Bauer – Central Washington University –  "Managed Aquifer Recharge Potential on the Ahtanum Alluvial Fan in the Yakima Basin"
• Sarath Suresh – University of Washington –  "Leveraging Satellites to Improve Flood Preparedness by Enhancing Hydropower Dam Management"
• Elif Myers – Central Washington University –  "Exploring Groundwater Recharge Potential of the Manastash Creek Alluvial Fan: A Hydrogeological and Geochemical Analysis"

2022-2023 Fellowship Recipients

• Edward Vlasenko – Central Washington University –  "Quantifying Evapotranspiration Water Loss from Taneum Creek and its Floodplain, Central WA"
• Shahzaib Khan – University of Washington –  "Leveraging Satellite Technology to Address the Intersection of Global Water, Food, and Energy Needs"
• Hailey Smith – Washington State University –  "Modeling Targeted Riparian Vegetation Restoration and Climate Change Impacts on Future Stream Temperatures in the Lower Yakima River Basin"
• Bethany Kharrazi – Central Washington University –  "A Conceptual Framework for Managed Aquifer Recharge near Yakima, Washington, USA"

2021-2022 Fellowship Recipients

• Phillip Moffatt – Washington State University –  “Understanding Precipitation Patterns and Runoff Mechanisms with Isotope Hydrology”
• Hordur Helgason – University of Washington –  “Improving Cold Region Hydrologic Modeling Using Deep Learning and Remote Sensing”
• Emily Polizzi – Central Washington University –  “Floodplain Storage Capacity of the Upper Yakima River Tributaries”
• Telelmak “Telly” Olsen – Western Washington University –  “Quantifying the Effects of Post-fire Debris Flows on Stream Channel Morphology”
• Katelin Killoy – Eastern Washington University –  “Assessing Beaver Dam Analogs as a Stream Restoration Tool in Fire Affected Tributaries of the Methow and Okanogan Watersheds”

2020-2021 Fellowship Recipients

• Ashlee Abrantes  – University of Washington –  “Utilizing Environmental DNA as an Index for Freshwater Conservation and Management”
• Rachel Fricke  – University of Washington –  “Employing Mobil Applications to Assess Human Benefits From and Risks To Water Resources”
• Sam Fixler – Central Washington University –  “Investigation of Channel Morphology and Groundwater Connectivity at Taneum Creek, WA”

2019-2020 Fellowship Recipients

• Alyssa DeMott – Central Washington University –  “Long-term geomorphic effects of the Glines Canyon Dam removal on the Elwha River, WA, USA”
• Hisham A. Eldardiry – University of Washington –  “Adaptive Reservoir Operation in the Transboundary Nile River basin”
• Ravi Appana – Washington State University –  “Improving the Representation of Groundwater Dynamics in Regional Hydrologic Models”

2018-2019 Fellowship Recipients

• Silas Sleeper - Central Washington University - "Using isotope hydrology and major ion geochemistry to assess potential ASR sites"
• Joe Weirich - Eastern Washington University - "Beaver Moderated Fire Resiliency in the North Cascades"

2017-2018 Fellowship Recipients

• Marissa Medina - Eastern Washington University - "The Effects of Climate Change in Wetland Carbon Cycling and Microbial Community Dynamics"

2016-2017 Fellowship Recipients

• Shahryar Ahmed - University of Washington - "Building Capacity of Satellite Remote-sensing based Natural Hazards Monitoring in South Asian Nations and investigating missed hydropower potential for North American dams"
• Justin Pflug - University of Washington - "Using LIDAR to evaluate snow - glacier interface"

2015-2016 Fellowship Recipients

• Dallin Jensen - Central Washington University - "Nitrates of Atmospheric Origin in Groundwater of the Lower Yakima Valley"
• Melanie Thornton - Washington State University - "Collaborative Modeling in the Spokane River Basin: Engaging Stakeholders to Explore Basin-wide Water Management Strategies"

2014-2015 Fellowship Recipients

• Melanie Thornton - "Collaborative Modeling in the Spokane River Basin: Engaging Stakeholders to Explore Basin-wide Water Management Strategies"
• Ashley Adams - "Determining the Effects of Vegetation on Levee Structural Integrity on the Green River in King County, WA"

2013-2014 Fellowship Recipients

• Brian Henn - "Development of Statistical Tools for Estimating Air Temperature, Precipitation and Snowpack in Mountain Watersheds"
• Hossein Sadeghi - "Center Pivot Lateral Speed Adjustment Based on Weather Parameters"

2012-2013 Fellowships Recipients

• Katrina Mendrey - "Additives to soils in bioswales to maximize contaminant removal; update of nutrients by Douglas Fir"
• Susan Dickerson-Lange - "Investigating the effect of forest characteristics on snowpack accumulation and ablation in mountain watersheds"

2011-2012 Fellowships Recipients

• Daniel Haskell - The characterization of phthalate ester sources to the Foss Superfund Site using principle component analysis"
• Cristine Schucker - "Variation in microbial populations among tributaries of Latah Creek"