This opportunity is funded by NC WRRI and North Carolina Sea Grant. It is open to any full-time graduate student at North Carolina’s colleges and universities, regardless of citizenship. Proposed research should be conducted under the guidance of a faculty advisor.

A full description of research priorities for the funding period are provided in the official Request for Proposals. The deadline for proposals is November 17, 2025 at 5pm.

WRRI and Sea Grant encourage undergraduate participation in proposed projects. Each research project should align with the strategic plans of NC WRRI and/or NC Sea Grant.

For questions, please contact John Fear at jmfear@ncsu.edu or Kaitlin Tucker at ktucker@ncsu.edu.

Research Priorities

Research should address one or more of these focus areas:

• Algal bloom processes and impacts
• Aquatic invasive species
• Community resilience planning
• Economics, planning, and/or policy related to water resources management
• Emerging regulated and unregulated contaminants of concern
• Erosion and sediment control
• Green stormwater infrastructure & nature-based solutions
• Innovative uses of machine learning
• Microplastic pollution
• Surface and groundwater quality and/or quantity
• Trash, litter, and marine debris
• Urban flooding
• Water treatment, including aquaculture effluent