2024 El Dia Wrap-Up: Recap
Program | Photos of the Event | Survey
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After many months of preparation and hard work, the 2024 El Día del Agua y la Atmósfera student research conference took place during EarthWeek on Tuesday, March 19, at the Environmental Science and Natural Resources (ENR2) Building.
The day-long event featured 31 fabulous posters, 13 outstanding oral presentations, and congenial networking among students, faculty, alumni, friends, and visiting students. A special thanks to all our sponsors who provided $12,500 for student awards and prizes and $3,000 in support of refreshments, meals, and other conference expenses.
In addition to our department poster presentations, Dr. Constantinos Manoli and his Junior High Science Students from St. Cyril of Alexandria School participated in El Día with their poster presentation “A Case Study: Aerosol levels in Mid-Town Tucson.” It was great to see future HAS scientists at work!
Breakfast & Key Note Speaker
The day began with a breakfast reception made possible by our event sponsors. Breakfast was followed by opening remarks from El Día Chair, Hector Venegas-Quinones, followed by Dr. Christopher Castro, HAS Interim Department Head.
Our El Día Keynote Speaker and incoming HAS Department Head, Dr. Peter Troch, gave an exciting and inspiring talk about what the future holds for the Department of Hydrology & Atmospheric Sciences.
Oral and Poster Sessions, Lunch, & World Café
El Día’s day continued with three oral presentation sessions, two poster presentations sessions, lunch for all attendees, and a World Café Workshop involving the re-imagining of the HAS undergraduate degree major.
Thank you to everyone who participated in the World Cafe. We hope it sparked some productive discussion about the future of HAS. (Notes from the World Cafe will be emailed to everyone soon.)
Water in The Lifecycle of a Mine & The Spirit of Tom Meixner Award
The Symposium concluded with an engaging, educational video from the School of Mining & Mineral Resources entitled “Water in the Lifecycle of a Mine.” Presentation within the video involved experts in this field, including Dr. Tom Meixner.
At the end of the day, “The Spirit of Tom Meixner Award” sponsored by Salt River Project, was to be announced. The award was created to recognize a person who most embodied the collaborative and enthusiastic spirit of El Día, a student-sponsored event that was very important to Tom Meixner. Due to technical difficulties, we were unable to announce the winner on the day of the conference; however, we have since been able to gather the data. Attendees of El Día have unanimously nominated graduate student Patrick Neri as the recipient of the award. Congratulations, Patrick, for receiving “The Spirt of Tom Meixner Award from your colleagues, peers and friends!
After Event Reception
For a well-deserved celebration, we concluded the day with a reception at No Anchovies. All were invited to attend and celebrate the day with pizza, laughter, and friendship.
Click here for more reception photos.
HAS Student Symposium Planning Committee
Special thanks to the HAS Student Symposium Planning Committee: (Left to Right) Mohammad Farmani, Omid Zandi, Hector Venegas-Quinones, Nathan Strom, and Hossein Yousefi Sohi.
We are grateful to all our sponsors for the day's events. Thank you again for your contributions and for making our day a success!