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!
AWRA-WA Fellowship applications are closed for the 2024-25 academic year. Information for the 2025-26 program will be made available at a later time. 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.
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"
