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  • Oct. 2024:   Emily Wilcox and Meghan Albritton's paper titled "Effectiveness of the upscaled use of a silver-ceramic (silver ionization) technology to disinfect drinking water in tanks at schools in rural India" was accepted in the Journal of Water & Health!
     

  • Oct. 2024:   Paramita Chakraborty presented "An assessment of manganese contamination in Virginia private drinking water systems" at the Virginia Tech Water Colloquium!
     

  • Aug. 2024:   Abhinav Patel presented "Hydrochemical attributes and fluoride release in a multi-tier aquifer system of a densely populated region in the Central Ganga Plain, India" at the Goldschmidt Conference in Chicago, IL!
     

  • Aug. 2024:   Julia Sherry began a faculty position in the Department of Applied Health Science at Indiana University-Bloomington!
     

  • July 2024:   Paramita Chakraborty was awarded the William R. Walker Graduate Research Fellow Award!
     

  • June 2024:   Lauren Handley was awarded a CNRE Undergraduate Research Fellowship in support of research on tsunami warning systems!
     

  • June 2024:   Kora Bednar was awarded a CNRE Undergraduate Research Fellowship in support of research on tsunami warning systems!
     

  • May 2024:   Abhinav Patel, a Ph.D. student in Hydrogeology at Banaras Hindu University, was awarded a prestigious doctoral research fellowship from the Government of India to visit the Water & Hazards Working Group at Virginia Tech--we look forward to hosting Abhinav!
     

  • May 2024:   Paramita Chakraborty was awarded funding from the Sidman P. Poole Endowment in support of her M.S. thesis research!
     

  • April 2024:   Tara Blue was awarded an Odyssey Fellowship to advance water conservation and water literacy in Virginia!
     

  • April 2024:   Emily Wilcox and Meghan Albritton presented "Deploying silver ionization to disinfect drinking water at schools in India" at the AAG Annual Meeting in Hawaii!
     

  • March 2024:   Paramita Chakraborty was awarded a Pathways Grant to redesign a course on environmental issues at Virginia Tech!
     

  • Dec. 2023:   Emily Wilcox accepted a position at the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection!
     

  • Nov. 2023:   Tara Blue published an informative podcast on water literacy for her honors project!
     

  • Aug. 2023:   Arpita Das began the MPH in Global Public Health program at New York University!
     

  • May 2023:   Emily Wilcox began a position at the Ohio EPA!
     

  • May 2023:   Emily Wilcox defended her M.S. thesis "Assessing the impacts of a water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) intervention on changing behavior in Bihar, India!" 
     

  • Jan. 2023:   Emily Wilcox and Meghan Albritton conducted field and lab work in India on treating treating drinking water at schools using silver ionization! Read the article here.
     

  • Dec. 2022:   Arpita Das completed her practicum titled "The effects of climate change on waterborne diseases in South Asia"!
     

  • Nov. 2022:   Emily Wilcox presented "Determining relationships between demographic variables and their impacts on access to water in India" at the SEDAAG Annual Conference in Atlanta!
     

  • Nov. 2022:   Dillon Mungle presented "Simulating and deploying the upscaled use of a novel, silver-ceramic technology to disinfect drinking water in schools in India" at the SEDAAG Annual Conference in Atlanta!
     

  • Sep. 2022:   Dillon Mungle began an M.S. degree in the European Union as an Erasmus Mundus Scholar!
     

  • Aug. 2022:   Hannah Garbutt co-founded the "Period at VT" student club at Virginia Tech!
     

  • Aug. 2022:   J.T. Bandzuh accepted an Adjunct Instructor position at Mount Aloysius College!
     

  • May 2022:   Emily Wilcox conducted fieldwork on WASH behavior change in Bihar, India as part of her M.S. thesis research!
     

  • May 2022:   Julia Geiger and Natalie Robertson completed their undergraduate research project "Developing a site suitability index for community gardens in Roanoke, VA"!
     

  • April 2022:   Emily Wilcox was awarded funding from the Sidman P. Poole Endowment in support of her M.S. thesis research!
     

  • Jan. 2022:   Dillon Mungle was awarded a Stephen H. Schoenholtz Water Undergraduate Research Fund for the project "Simulating the upscaled use of a silver-ceramic technology to disinfect drinking water at the community scale"!
     

  • Aug. 2021:   J.T. Bandzuh accepted an Adjunct Instructor of Geography position at University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown!
     

  • Aug. 2021:   Shaifali Prajapati began the M.S. Geography program at Florida State University!
     

  • June 2021:   Saalehah Habeebah began the M.S. Sustainable Water Management program at Tufts University!
     

  • June 2021:   Julia Sherry accepted an Instructor of Public Health Position at Clemson University!
     

  • May 2021:   Jen Kern accepted a GIS Analyst position at Blue Raster!
     

  • May 2021:   Jen Kern defended her M.S. thesis "Modelling hydrologic system change in a paraglacial catchment in the northern Rocky Mountains"!
     

  • Nov. 2020:   Jen Kern presented "An approach for basin scale analysis of changing paraglacial water budgets" at the SEDAAG Annual Conference!
     

  • July 2020:   Molly Hackley was featured on WFXR TV discussing our grant to bring STEM-based learning projects to children and families stuck at home due to COVID-19! Click here for the video.
     

  • May 2020:   Breeanna Prince'article "A statistical and spatial analysis of water poverty using a modified Water Poverty Index (WPI)" was published in the International Journal of Water Resources Development!
     

  • April 2020:   Ben Clark and Ian MacNaughton's article "Bhola Cyclone, Bangladesh, 1970" was published in the encyclopedia Natural hazards & disasters: from avalanches & climate change to water spouts & wildfires!
     

  • April 2020:   Kelsey Compton and Drew Stevensarticle "BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill, 2010" was published in the encyclopedia Natural hazards & disasters: from avalanches & climate change to water spouts & wildfires!
     

  • April 2020:   Veronica Scott's article "Assessing strontium and vulnerability to strontium in private drinking water systems in Virginia was accepted for publication in Water!
     

  • Dec. 2019:   Sanam Aksha's article "A geospatial analysis of multi-hazard risk in Dharan, Nepal" was accepted for publication in Geomatics, Natural Hazards & Risk!
     

  • Oct. 2019:   Karla Boza Carbonell was awarded a Leadership Equity & Diversity Scholarship from the Specialty Coffee Association as well as a Q Arabica Grading Scholarship from Gather Coffee Company and Coffee Traders!  Both scholarships seek to increase female diversity in the coffee industry.
     

  • Sep. 2019:   Julia Sherry began the Ph.D. Psychology program at the University of Zurich, Switzerland!
     

  • Aug. 2019:   Shaifali Prajapati's article "Purity, pollution, and space: barriers to latrine adoption in post-disaster India" was published in the Environmental Management!
     

  • Aug. 2019:   Alexa Maione completed an internship with the Department of Conservation and Recreation in Richmond, VA!
     

  • June 2019:   Veronica Scott began a position at the State Laboratory of Hygiene at the University of Wisconsin-Madison as an Environmental Program Associate!  Congrats, Veronica!
     

  • April 2019:   Veronica Scott defended her M.S. thesis "Strontium in drinking water: assessing strontium as a drinking water contaminant in Virginia private wells"!
     

  • April 2019:   Sanam Aksha presented "Multi-hazard risk assessment in Dharan, Nepal using geospatial techniques" at the Annual Meeting of the American Association of Geographers in Washington DC!
     

  • Jan. 2019:   Sanam Aksha accepted a position as a Post-Doctoral Researcher on social vulnerability to hazards at the University of Central Florida.  Congrats, Sanam!
     

  • Jan. 2019:   Saalehah Habeebah began a position at Delolitte in Washington DC!  Congrats, Saalehah!
     

  • Dec. 2018:   Julia Sherry's article "Perceptions of water services and innovations to improve water services in Tanzania" was published in Public Works Management & Policy!
     

  • Nov. 2018:   Sanam Aksha's article "An analysis of social vulnerability to natural hazards in Nepal using a modified Social Vulnerability Index" was published in the International Journal of Disaster Risk Science!
     

  • Nov. 2018:   Veronica Scott presented "Assessing strontium contamination in private drinking water supplies in Virginia" at the SEDAAG Annual Meeting in Johnson City, TN!
     

  • Nov. 2018:   Saalehah Habeebah presented "An analysis of access water, sanitation, and hygiene services among refugees in the New River Valley, Virginia" at the SEDAAG Annual Meeting in Johnson City, TN!
     

  • Oct. 2018:  Veronica Scott helped coordinate the "Extension Well Water Workshop" in Raleigh, NC!
     

  • Oct. 2018:   Veronica Scott presented "Strontium in private well drinking water in Virginia" at the UCOWR WaterSmart Innovations Conference in Las Vegas!
     

  • Sep. 2018:   Alexa Maione presented her service learning project and led a panel at the Annual Conference of the National Aquaponics Association in Hartford!
     

  • Sep. 2018:   Sanam Aksha successfully defended his doctoral dissertation "Assessing vulnerability and multi-hazard risk in the Nepal Himalaya"!  Congratulations, Dr. Aksha!
     

  • Aug. 2018:   Breeanna Prince accepted a position as a GIS Analyst with Leidos!
     

  • July 2018:   Alexa Maione was awarded the Leo Bourassa Scholarship from the Virginia Lakes and Watershed Association as well as the George M. Simmons Water Scholarship from Virginia Tech!
     

  • May 2018:   Alexa Maione was awarded an Oregon Sea Grant Internship with the Shellfish and Estuarine Assessment of Coastal Oregon (SEACOR) program of the US Fish and Wildlife Service in Summer 2018!
     

  • May 2018:   Breeanna Prince successfully defended her M.S. thesis "Access to water: advancement of multidimensional, multiscalar, and participatory methods of measurement in the Global South"!
     

  • ​April 2018:   Veronica Scott and Breeanna Prince were jointly awarded the Geography Student Assembly Outstanding Member Award!
     

  • ​April 2018:   Veronica Scott was elected Vice President of the Graduate Student Assembly at Virginia Tech!
     

  • April 2018:   Breeanna Prince presented "An analysis of human-environment waterscapes using a modified Water Poverty Index" at the Annual Meeting of the American Association of Geographers in New Orleans!

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  • April 2018:   Sanam Aksha presented "How resilient are Himalayan communities? An assessment of disaster resilience in Nepal" at the Annual Meeting of the American Association of Geographers in New Orleans!
     

  • April 2018:   Veronica Scott presented "Detecting changes in nighttime sky brightness over Grand Teton National Park with the Suomi NPP VIIRS sensor" at the Annual Meeting of the American Association of Geographers in New Orleans!
     

  • March 2018:   Sanam Aksha won the AAG's Asian Geography Specialty Group Student Paper Competition!
     

  • Feb. 2018:   Breeanna Prince was awarded a Student Assistantship from Esri!

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  • Jan. 2018:   Saalehah Habeebah was awarded a SWURF grant for the project "An analysis of access to water, sanitation, and hygiene services among refugees in the New River Valley"!

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  • Jan. 2018:   Alexa Maione was awarded a SWURF grant for the project "The introduction of aquaponics systems in the educational setting in Montgomery County, Virginia"!
     

  • Jan. 2018:   Saalehah Habeebah accepted a Spring 2018 internship position at the Virginia Water Resources Research Center!
     

  • ​Oct. 2017:   Sanam Aksha's article "Spatial and temporal analysis of natural hazard mortality in Nepal" was published in Environmental Hazards!
     

  • ​Oct. 2017:   Breeanna Prince presented "Construction and application of a contextualized, multiscalar Water Poverty Index in coastal India" at the Water Research: Building Knowledge and Innovative Solutions conference in West Virginia!
     

  • ​Oct. 2017:   Shaifali Prajapati presented "Of space and purity, cost and convenience: barriers to latrine adoption in coastal South India" at the Water Research: Building Knowledge and Innovative Solutions conference in West Virginia!
     

  • ​Aug. 2017:   Julia Sherry began a position as Project Evaluation Specialist at Water Mission International!
     

  • Aug. 2017:   J.T. Bandzuh's article "Local perceptions of measures to control Aedes mosquitoes and mosquito-borne diseases in Puntarenas and San José, Costa Rica" was published in the Journal of Latin American Geography!
     

  • ​May 2017:   Julia Sherry successfully defended her M.S. thesis "Perceptions of water services and innovations to improve water services in Tanzania"!

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  • ​April 2017:   Breeanna Prince was awarded the Geography Student Assembly Outstanding Member Award!

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  • ​April 2017:   Sanam Aksha presented "Assessment of social vulnerability to natural hazards in Nepal" at the Annual Meeting of the American Association of Geographers in Boston!

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  • April 2017:   Shaifali Prajapati presented "Social, economic, and cultural factors of latrine adoption in coastal South India" at the Annual Meeting of the American Association of Geographers in Boston!

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  • March 2017:   Sanam Aksha was awarded the A.B. Massey Outstanding Doctoral Student Award!

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  • March 2017:   Julia Sherry was awarded the Outstanding Teaching Assistant Award!

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  • Jan. 2017:   Marifrancis Hardison-Moschopoulos will begin the M.S. program in International Development Studies at Utrecht University, Netherlands, in Fall 2018!

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  • Nov. 2016:   Shaifali Prajapati was awarded a Sustainable Water Undergraduate Research Fellowship from the Virginia Water Resources Research Center for her research on "Social, economic, and cultural factors of latrine adoption in coastal South India"!

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  • Oct. 2016:   Julia Sherry won the poster competition at WaterSmart Innovations conference in Las Vegas, NV!  Julia's poster was titled "Perceptions of water services and the introduction of technologies to improve water services in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania".

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  • Aug. 2016:   Marifrancis Hardison-Moschopoulos completed a summer internship on microplastic ocean pollution with the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) in Athens, Greece!

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  • Aug. 2016:   J.T. Bandzuh began the Ph.D. Geography program at Florida State University!

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  • Aug. 2016:   Julia Sherry returned from a summer of fieldwork on perceptions of water quality and water services in Tanzania as part of a Water Mission and World Bank research team!

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  • June 2016:   Sanam Aksha was awarded an Open Society Fellowship for continued  dissertation fieldwork on natural disaster vulnerability in Nepal!

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  • May 2016:   J.T. Bandzuh successfully defended his M.S. thesis "Perceptions of measures to control Aedes mosquitoes and mosquito-borne diseases in Costa Rica"!

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  • April 2016:   Erica Davis was accepted to the University of Tennessee College of Law with the prestigious Tennessee Law Scholars and Research Associates scholarship!

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  • Nov. 2015:   Sanam Aksha was awarded a Google Earth Engine scholarship to attend the American Geophysical Union annual conference in San Francisco!

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  • Aug. 2015:   Adrian Santiago Tate completed fieldwork on post-tsunami hazard mitigation in Sri Lanka under under the prestigious Wayne and Claire Horton Fellowship!

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