2022 El Dia's Success!

Bravo, Well Done, Congratulations, Take a bow!

El Día del Agua y la Atmósfera was a complete success!  Your contribution as a sponsor helped us achieve this success, and we are forever grateful for your participation!  We appreciate your attendance, be it in person or virtual.  We hope you enjoyed your day with students, faculty, alumni, and guests!  We appreciate any feedback regarding the event and ask that you fill out this short survey: Click Here for Survey. 

Below is a recap of the successful day, more information and pictures are being uploaded to the dedicated, student-run website created by Reza Ehsani.  You can also click here for the 2022 Program, and click here to view photoes of the event.

After many months of preparation and hard work, the 2022 El Día del Agua y la Atmósfera student research conference took place during Earth Week on Tuesday, March 22 at the Environmental Science and Natural Resources (ENR2) Building. The day-long event featured fabulous posters, outstanding oral presentations, and congenial networking among students, faculty, alumni, friends, and visiting students. We're pleased to report that the event was a resounding success! 

The day began with a breakfast reception made possible in part by the Campus Sustainability Fund and was followed by opening remarks from HAS Department Head, Dr. Tom Meixner, and the El Dia Student Coordinator, Robert 'Quinn' Hull.

Recognition was given to Dennis R. Scheall, retired Director of Instruction and Research Support for Hydrology & Water Resources.  Dennis was the organizer of the first annual El Dia del Agua (EDDA) in 1991.  Dennis was handed the “simple” task of organizing this event from scratch in a year’s time with one overriding objective – to make it a success.  He did make the first EDDA a success with everyone who attended the event – students and faculty in Hydrology & Water Resources (HWR) and from other departments, alumni, and professionals from industry, consulting firms, and non-governmental and governmental agencies.  View and read more about Dennis Scheall in our  2022 Program.   

Janene Yazzie of Sixth World Solutions, Sandy Fabritz of Freeport McMoRan, and Terri Sue Rossi of the Arizona Water Company presented a very engaging Keynote Panel, which was moderated by student Mekha Pereira.

This was followed by the first poster session in the scenic ENR2 courtyard. 

The first oral presentation session, moderated by student Alcely Lau, preceded lunch upstairs. The luncheon featured a nice talk by Steve Waters, HAS alumnus and Flood Warning Branch Manager at Flood Control District of Maricopa County. The luncheon event was moderated by student Brandon Mitchell.  Following lunch, activities included two oral presentation sessions, moderated by Abigail Kahler and Hannah Haugen respectively, and an additional poster session.

Congratulations to all our winners!  At the end of the day, 17 students were recognized with awards and prizes for their outstanding efforts starting with our Legacy Awards:

 Legacy Awards & Winners

Montgomery Prize - A Legacy Sponsor, Errol L. Montgomery & Associates, Inc., $2,500 prize for the most outstanding oral presentation of the event

• Amanda Triplett, Climate Warming-Driven Changes In The Cryosphere And Their Impact On Groundwater-Surface Water Interactions In The Heihe River Basin

Hargis Awards - A Legacy Sponsor, Hargis+Associates, Inc., $1000 and $400 awards for the most outstanding technical presentations (poster format) of the event

• First Prize - Ben West, Implementing reservoir operations in ParFlow, a fully integrated physical hydrology model
• Second Prize - Danielle Rehwoldt, Hydrochemical assessment of rare earth elements in various formation water types in the Paradox Basin

Benjamin M. Herman Award - Department-sponsored award of $1,000 for excellence in technical presentation in the area of Atmospheric Sciences (oral format)

• Reza Ehsani, Nowcasting-Nets: Representation Learning for Satellite-based Precipitation Nowcasting using Convolutional and Recurrent Neural Networks

Hydrology and Atmospheric Sciences Awards of Excellence - Department-sponsored award of $400 for excellence in technical oral presentation (oral and poster)

• Mostafa Javadian, Canopy temperature is regulated by ecosystem structural traits and captures the ecohydrologic dynamics of a semiarid mixed conifer forest site
• Adam Stratman, Origins and Residence Times of Water Supporting O’Donnell Creek Cienega in Southeastern Arizona

Donald R. Davis Undergraduate Distinction Award - Outstanding undergraduate student award of $400 sponsored by the Donald R. Davis Endowment

• Stella Heflin, Bias-Adjusted Satellite-Based and Reanalysis Products Show Agreement in Estimating North American Monsoon Season Precipitation

Eugene S. Simpson Undergraduate Prize - Poster Content Hydrogeology or Subsurface Hydrology, Outstanding undergraduate poster award of $400 sponsored by the Eugene S. Simpson Endowment

• Dylan Girone, A Forecast Evaluation of the North American Summer Monsoon Precipitation near Arizona in Recent Years

Corporate Awards & Winners

• Arizona Hydrological Society - Best Hydrology Oral Presentation -  Diana Hsieh
• Pima County Flood Control - Outstanding Oral Presentation – Patricia Puente
• Salt River Project - Outstanding Oral Presentation – Luis De la Fuente
• Stanley N. Davis Outstanding Poster in Hydrology, Sponsored by Peter Mock Groundwater Consulting, Inc.– Xenia De Garcia
• Matrix New World Engineering -Outstanding Oral Presentation - Sidian Chen
• Tucson Water Outstanding Excellence in Technical Communication in Poster Format – Danielle Tadych
• GeoSystem Analysis, Inc. - Best Applied Hydrogeology Oral Presentation   – Chandler Noyes
• Pima County Department of Environmental Quality- Best Oral – Camilo Salcedo; Poster Awards – Lauren Cutler

Thanks to everyone who worked so hard to prepare for the day's events. You guys made this event. Although many folks dedicated hours of time - special thanks is deserved for Abigail Kahler, Alcely Lau, Reza Ehsani, and Erma Santander for especially heavy lifts! 

Merci ~Gracias ~ Danke ~ Arigato ~ Thank you!

We are grateful to all our sponsors for the day's events. 

Thank you again for your contributions and making our day a success!

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The El Día Planning Committee