New Coastal and Water Resource Fellows Investigate Flooding, PFAS, and More

BY JUSTIN LINDEMANN

For immediate release

Contact:
Katie Mosher, kmosher@ncsu.edu
John Fear, jmfear@ncsu.edu

Five North Carolina graduate students recently began new coastal and water resource fellowships. North Carolina Sea Grant and the North Carolina Water Resources Research Institute are supporting four students’ research projects, and the state’s Urban Water Consortium is funding a fifth.

Topics include PFAS removal, flooding, a potential new source of drinking water, and oyster reef breakwater designs.

“This group of projects will provide much-needed insight for several grand challenges facing our state,” says John Fear, deputy director for North Carolina Sea Grant and North Carolina Water Resources Research Institute (WRRI). “The quality of proposals and projects generated by our state’s universities continues to impress me.”

This year’s fellows currently study at four North Carolina universities:

Emine Fidan is a doctoral student in biological and agricultural engineering at NC State University. Her advisor is Natalie Nelson, and her project is “Advancing Understanding of Flood Water Quality Distributions and Drivers through Statistical Modeling.”

Tiffany VanDerwerker is a doctoral student in marine, earth, and atmospheric sciences at NC State. Her advisor is David Genereux, and her project is “Assessing Water Quality in the Upper Cape Fear Aquifer, a Potential Alternate Drinking Water Source for Chemours-Area Residents.”

Lauren Grimley is a doctoral student in earth, marine, and environmental sciences at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Her advisor is Antonia Sebastian, and her project is “Determining the Relative Contribution of Nuisance Flooding to the Risk Profiles of Estuarine Communities Under Current and Future Climate Conditions.”

Georgette Tso is a doctoral student in coastal studies at East Carolina University. Her advisor is Siddharth Narayan, and her project is “Integrating Hydrodynamic and Ecological Modeling to Optimize Oyster Reef Breakwater Designs for Ecological Success and Coastal Resilience Benefits.”

The Urban Water Consortium, which WRRI facilitates, is supporting a fellowship for Holly Haflich, a doctoral student in environmental sciences and engineering at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Her advisor is Orlando Coronell, and she will be researching “PFAS Removal from Natural Water through Electrodeionization Equipped with Novel PFAS Selective Resins.”

Past recipients of the joint fellowship from North Carolina Sea Grant and the North Carolina Water Resources Research Institute have included several noted researchers, such as Austin Gray, whose latest study investigated the effects of antibiotics on urban stream ecology.

North Carolina Sea Grant’s funding opportunities
ncseagrant.ncsu.edu/funding-opps

WRRI’s funding opportunities
wrri.ncsu.edu/funding

about the Urban Water Consortium
wrri.ncsu.edu/partnerships/uwc