What a Day! The 28th Annual El Dia del Agua y la Atmosfera Launches Earth Week 2018

April 11, 2018
Earth Week

What a day! On Monday, April 9, the 28th Annual El Día del Agua y la Atmósfera , the annual HAS student research conference, launched the School of Earth and Environmental Science's EarthWeek 2018 activities in the Grand Ballroom of the Student Union Memorial Center.

EarthWeek activities continued on Tuesday with Tree Ring Day, on Wednesday with the SEES Joint Poster-Oral Plenary Sessions and the EarthWeek Keynote speaker, on Thursday with three primary sessions--GeoDaze, SWESx, and SNRExpo, and will conclude Friday with the final day of GeoDaze.

Our special guest luncheon speaker was Lt. Col. Stephen Maile, HAS advisory board member and Commander 25th Operational Weather Squadron, Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, and our guest keynote speaker was Sherri Goodman, member of the Center for Climate and Security's Advisory Board and Senior Advisor for International Security, Senior Fellow with the Wilson Center, and former Deputy Undersecretary of Defense (Environmental Security). 

HAS Assistant Professor Tom Galarneau moderated a highly anticipated panel on career paths and work/life balance which featured commentary and a Q&A session by Lt. Col. Stephen Maile, HAS advisor board member and luncheon speaker, Mekha Pereira, a recent HAS alumna working in private consulting, Margaret Snyder, Tucson Water hydrologist working in a city government agency, and Amber Sullins, HAS alumna and ABC 15 News Phoenix Chief Meteorologist.

Throughout the day, HAS graduate and undergraduate students made 12 oral presentations and 21 poster presentations and competed for juried awards and prizes.  All conference attendees selected the best presentations overall to represent the department at Earth Week's Plenary Sessions. Congratulations to our People's Choice Awardees which included:

  • ORAL PRESENTER
    • Jack Anderson
  • POSTER PRESENTERS
    • Erin Gray
    • Neha Gupta
    • Jihyun Kim
    • Jeffrey Klakovich
    • Tao Liu
    • Chandler Noyes
    • Rebecca Stolar
    • Samantha Swartz
    • Nicole Weber
    • Joshua Welty

Congratulations to all of our juried (judged) oral and poster winners, as well as our student-selected outstanding faculty and staff awardees:

Montgomery Prize Winner - Antonio Meira

  • Best oral presentation - Certificate and Award $2000 - Legacy Sponsor: E.L. Montgomery & Associates, Inc.
  • Judges: Ben Paras, Martha Whitaker, Chris Magirl

Hargis Awards - Jihyun Kim (1st) & Rebecca Stolar (2nd)

  • Best technical presentation via visual communication (poster) - Certificate and Award $1000 (1st) and $400 (2nd)
  • Legacy Sponsor: Hargis+Associates, Inc.
  • Judges: Dennis Scheall, Tim Corley, Kyle Rine

Hydrology and Atmospheric Sciences Awards of Excellence - Jack Anderson (oral) & Andrew Daus (poster)

  • Best oral and poster presentations (excluding Montgomery and Hargis awardees) - Certificate and Award $400 each
  • Judges: (Oral) Hsin-I Chang, Dick Thompson, Ali Behrangi and (Poster) Brittany Ciancarelli, Michael Brunke, Luis Gustavo De Goncalves

Donald R. Davis Undergraduate Distinction Award - Amanda Minke

  • Outstanding undergraduate award (academic or research) - Certificate and Award $400
  • Judges: Timothy Lahmers, Alissa White, Jack Reeves Eyre

Eugene S. Simpson Undergraduate Poster Award - Samantha Swartz

  • Best undergraduate poster in hydrogeology, subsurface hydrology, or groundwater - Certificate and Award $400
  • Judges: Timothy Lahmers, Alissa White, Jack Reeves Eyre

AquaMan Series - Tom Galarneau, Ty Ferré, Martha Whitaker, and Erma Santander

  • HAS Outstanding Faculty Instructor and Outstanding Staff Awards selected by entire HAS student body
  • Storm (X-Men) - Tom Galarneau
  • Captain Planet (Turner/DIC Entertainment) - Ty Ferré
  • AquaMan (DC Justice League) - Martha Whitaker
  • Atlas (Greek Mythology) - Erma Santader

We can't thank all of our generous sponsors, long-time supporters, and experienced judges enough!  Heartfelt thanks and appreciation also go to all of the organizers--students, faculty, and staff--who have worked behind the scenes all year long to make this annual event possible. We could not have such a successful event without your continued encouragement and support.