NC WRRI

Oct 5, 2023

NC WRRI Calls for 2024 Conference Abstracts

UPDATE December 4, 2023: The abstract submission deadline has been extended to December 17. Now Accepting Abstracts WRRI’s annual conference brings together students, faculty, and practitioners from multiple sectors and disciplines working in water resources across North Carolina. The 2024 event will take place on March 20-21 in Raleigh.  NC WRRI is accepting abstracts until…

Sep 27, 2023

NC WRRI Fellows Work to Improve Well Water Quality Through PFAS Research

BY EMMA SCARDINA Graduate students Tiffany VanDerwerker of North Carolina State University and Charlotte Robbins of UNC Chapel Hill are supporting communities through their research on PFAS in well water. VanDerwerker’s research considered an alternative water source for homes that have contaminated well water. Robbins’ project analyzes how PFAS leaks from landfills into surrounding groundwater…

Aug 28, 2023

Call for Abstracts

Submit Abstracts by November 18th The deadline to submit abstracts has passed. The conference program is determined by the abstracts that are submitted and accepted by WRRI. Past conferences have had sessions on a variety of topics from across the state including water quality and quantity, flooding, emerging contaminants, water and wastewater treatment, erosion control,…

Aug 7, 2023

“Keeping Water Renewable” Lesson Plan Receives National Award

This year’s APEX Awards for Publication Excellence have honored Keeping Water Renewable: 5E Lesson, a free, standards-aligned lesson on renewable water for middle and high school students. The interactive blended lesson provides a thorough explanation of the water cycle, including how climate change and human interference affect water quality and availability and contains enough material for 10 to 12 class periods. The lesson was developed by PBS NC, in partnership with NC Water Resources Research Institute, North Carolina Sea Grant, and the NC Department of Environmental Quality. It is available on the PBS NC website.

Jul 19, 2023

The Road Less Traveled: An Academic Journey from Undergrad to Professor

Emine Fidan, former NC WRRI and NC Sea Grant Joint Funding recipient defended her dissertation in November 2022 and began her appointment as a professor in January 2023. When asked what advice she would give to other graduates, she said, “I would just say not to be discouraged by your failures in research. And that’s because I had so many. A huge part of my Ph.D. was just trying something new, finding out that it didn’t work, trying something else, and then reaching another obstacle.”

May 24, 2023

2021 Projects

WRRI-supported researchers explore a wide range of topics in water resources, from emerging contaminants and drinking water quality, to stormwater infrastructure, to environmental issues, community engagement, and much more. Read on to learn about funded projects for 2021. Faculty Projects Novel Mass Spectrometry Approaches for the Identification of Pesticides and Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances in…

May 17, 2023

2022 Projects

WRRI-supported researchers explore a wide range of topics in water resources, from emerging contaminants, to flooding, to stormwater management, community engagement, and more. Read on to learn about funded projects for 2022. If searching for Faculty projects, visit the 2021 Projects page. Graduate Projects Advancing Understanding of Flood Water Quality Distributions and Drivers through Statistical…

Apr 26, 2023

WRRI’s Walnut Creek Wetland Community Partnership Recognized for Environmental and Community Impacts

The Walnut Creek Wetland Community Partnership (WCWCP) received two awards from the City of Raleigh during the Earth Day Celebration on April 21 at Dix Park: The Raleigh Environmental Stewardship Award, which recognizes individuals and organizations that show environmental leadership and whose work acknowledges the relationship between the environment, economics, and communities; and the Dare…

Apr 25, 2023

NC Urban Water Consortium-Funded Researcher Looks to Eliminate PFAS

Scientists in North Carolina and beyond continue to identify harmful effects of chemicals once considered useful and innovative — but those chemicals are now causing damage to our water systems and to our bodies. Now known as forever chemicals because of their persistent and lasting nature, these chemicals include PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances) that…

Apr 11, 2023

New NC WRRI Fellows to Consider Pressing Issues in Water, Engage Local Communities

Six graduate students across North Carolina recently began new fellowship projects. Four of these are funded by the North Carolina Water Resources Research Institute (NC WRRI), and the Urban Water Consortium and Stormwater Consortium, facilitated through NC WRRI, are each funding one project. Topics range from PFAS contamination in well water and streams, to green…