Donald R. Davis Undergraduate Distinction Award

The Davis Undergraduate Distinction Award is sponsored by the Donald R. Davis Endowment to the Department of Hydrology and Atmospheric Sciences. The award is presented at the annual student symposium, El Día del Agua y la Atmósfera, and recognizes an outstanding undergraduate HAS student (unless noted otherwise) who has demonstrated excellence in writing, speaking, and visual poster or oral presentation skills.  

The late Dr. Davis was Professor of Hydrology and Water Resources and served as the HWR Undergraduate Coordinator and was a fearless advocate for undergraduates for decades.  He was also the Senior Capstone Coordinator, a rotating instructor for the College of Engineering Freshman Core Course (ENGR 102), and Co-Designer/Co-Director of the Master of Engineering program in Water Resources Engineering in the original Department of Hydrology and Water Resources. 

The inaugural award was made in 2009.

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2024, Gigi Giralté

  • Mechanistic drivers of the North American monsoon

2023, Dylan Girone, Brandolyn Baeza, Eden Harper, and Dylan Simpson 

  • Do models established in the 1980S accurately predict flowering for five Sonoran plant species under current conditions of drought and warmer average temperatures?

2022, Stella Heflin

  • Bias-adjusted satellite-based and reanalysis products show agreement in estimating north American monsoon season precipitation

2021, Sierra Bettis

  • Carbon and nitrogen fluxes in green-infrastructure basins

2020, Jacob Ridlinghafer

  • Relating pyrogenic carbon accumulation to modern and historic fire regimes: Using estimates of peak flow rate and USLE to predict erosion

2019, Kevin Strongman

  • Comparing different sounding parameters at KTUS to flood reports during the monsoon across southeast Arizona from 1990-2017

2018, Amanda Minke

  • Using fresh water algae to remove lead from water

2017, Erin Gray

  • Using water isotopes and SO4/Cl Ratios to investigate the hydrology of wetlands in the Las Cienegas

2016, Anthony Luketich (BS SNRE)

  • Economic evaluation of urban green-infrastructure systems: A case study in Tucson, Arizona

2015, Rachel S. Tucci

  • Sources of recharge to groundwater in Davidson canyon, southeast Arizona: An isotopic tracer study

2014,  Ryan D. Toomey

  • The analysis of infiltration rates within recharge basins by tilling and varying water depth

2013, Samantha McEntire

  • Understanding salinity stress in citrus

2012, Brian Scott Sheppard

  • The effect of wildfire on rangeland sustainability in the San Rafael valley

2011, Dylan Cobean

  • Comparison and analysis of the 2009 NASS cropland data layer to 2009 field verified crop data throughout southern Arizona

2010, Philip Calabrese

  • Constraining the hydrogeology of the Willcox basin in southeast Arizona using natural tracers

2009, Damian Gosch

  • Title unknown