This Brown Bag will feature presentations by UA students who received research grants in 2018 through the WRRC from the Water Resources Research Act, Section 104(b) grant program. This program fosters regionally important research on water and related issues and encourages students and young scientists to pursue careers in water resources.
Brown Bag Seminar Series
Bring your lunch and join us for a range of presentations on water-related topics of interest.
Access to the WRRC’s Brown Bag series now routinely includes offsite listeners through live webcasts via Goto-Webinar and in-house video coverage.
The slide presentations of most seminars are also available for viewing on the website.
Upcoming Brown Bag Seminars
March 28, 2019
Brown Bag
Brown Bag Seminar - Testing the capability of freshwater algae to remove lead (Pb) from water and A case study on the Santa Cruz River: Can treated wastewater support desert fishes?
Looking Ahead
Feb. 20 - Mark Brusseau
March 14 - Crystal Tulley-Cordova
April 24 - Tanya Quist
Previous Brown Bag Seminars
March 19, 2019
Brown Bag
Project Harvest: Be Informed. Grow Smarter.
Speakers: Mónica Ramírez-Andreotta, Director/PI, Flor Sandoval, Co-PI/SERI Senior Program Manager, AJ Moses, SWES PhD student, Jesus Solis-Leon, SWES MS student, Norma Villagomez-Marquez, SWES PhD student, Leona Davis, College of Education MS student, Dorsey Kaufmann, School of Art MFA candidate.
March 14, 2019
Brown Bag
Stable isotopes in precipitation and meteoric waters: Investigating the North American monsoon across the Four Corners region
The North American monsoon (NAM) is a significant summertime feature of climate in the southwestern United States; NAM is an important contributor to total annual precipitation in the Four Corners region. For the northern extent of NAM, an observational spatiotemporal study of this substantial precipitation contributor has been understudied. Little is known about source contributors to NAM in the Four Corners region. Characteristic details about NAM and its relationship to associated water resources can be better understood using oxygen and hydrogen stable isotopes.
February 20, 2019
Brown Bag
The Occurrence and Fate of PFAS (Per-/Poly-Fluoroalkyl Substances) in the Environment
The use of per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in numerous industrial, commercial, and military applications has resulted in their widespread distribution in the environment. Research reports have demonstrated that PFAS are present in the atmosphere, surface water, sediment, soil, groundwater, treated wastewater, biosolids, landfill leachate, and drinking water. This presentation will briefly discuss the nature, sources, and properties of PFAS, their transport, and fate in the environment, with example case studies.
February 13, 2019
Brown Bag
An Abbreviated History and Overview of AI with Example Applications to Hydrology
A short historical overview of Artificial Intelligence (AI), how it came into existence, and its evolution from its inception to today, will be presented. This includes the seminal "Turing Machine", the original two AI schools of thought, the so-called AI winter, its rebirth in 1986, and recent renaissance with Deep Learning. This will be followed by two illustrative hydrological examples. reality at a commercial scale. The presentation will be concluded with thoughts regarding present-day applications and requirements for AI in water management.
January 30, 2019
Brown Bag
Effects of Energy Extraction and Utilization on Source Water Bromide Concentration and Finished Drinking Water Risk
Natural and anthropogenic sources of bromide can alter source waters in ways that affect drinking water quality and human health risk.
November 14, 2018
Brown Bag
Agrivoltaics: co-locating agriculture and photovoltaics to increase food and energy production while decreasing water use
Food, energy, and water systems, especially in drylands, are vulnerable to projected changes in climate – primarily changes in the timing and amount of precipitation and rising air temperatures. For the most part, we grow non-dryland adapted food within a dryland climate through a reliance on irrigation, and the water resource requirements are large and increasing. At the same time, renewable energy in drylands is vulnerable to the same warming trends that threaten food systems. The abundance of sunlight in the southwest US constitutes a significant solar energy resource.
November 08, 2018
Brown Bag
Brown Bag Seminar - How Beer Can Save Rivers
Water, such a vital component to our lives and the environment around us, is also the main ingredient in beer. As we dive into what it takes to make beer and the role water has in this fermented beverage we’ll also investigate some creative ways we are able to conserve water inside the brewery and out. From involvement with local farmers, a maltster, and a charitable environmental organization to working with recycled wastewater, all it takes is an idea, a conversation, and little creativity to make an impact.
September 27, 2018
Brown Bag
Brown Bag Seminar - Watering Irrigated Agriculture in Arizona
In this overview of Arizona’s irrigated agriculture and its water supply, the focus will be on what is grown, where, with what water; how the water is managed by the state and by irrigators; water efficiency strategies; and economic impacts. The presentation will touch on current irrigation water supply issues concerning growers, their communities, and other water users.
September 18, 2018
Brown Bag
WRRC Brown Bag - Innovating the Urban Water System: The Architecture of a Decentralized Future
Globally, cities are facing increased water stress under growing populations, degrading infrastructure, and changing climate patterns. This imbalance between available water resources and projected urban water demands presents tremendous challenges for water resource management, necessitating novel planning and design strategies and tools. Rainwater harvesting (RWH) has been pointed to as one partial answer; however, the capacity of such a solution to address urban water deficits had been largely untested. This talk will investigate two components of decentralized water infrastructure’s