Southern Illinois University Museum issued the following announcement on Jan. 18
A doctoral student in Environmental Resources and Policy at Southern Illinois University Carbondale recently won two major awards.
Amina Naliaka won a North Central Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (NC-SARE) grant. The highly competitive grant will fund her dissertation work on a project titled “A socio-hydrological framework for assessing groundwater sustainability in an irrigated agricultural landscape.”
Second, Naliaka was one of only two recipients of an American Association of Geographers (AAG) graduate summer internship. The award gives her the opportunity to assist the AAG with a virtual summer series of workshops, seminars, working groups and forums, meant for graduate students and recently graduated geographers to learn, meet, and connect with other geographers.
“We are very proud of Amina’s accomplishments, which reflect so positively on SIU and our graduate programs,” said Justin Schoof, director SIU’s School of Earth Systems and Sustainability, and professor of Geography and Environmental Resources.
A critical resource
Groundwater irrigation is critical to the sustenance of agricultural production in the Midwest, Naliaka said. Because of heavy use, many agricultural regions that rely on groundwater irrigation are experiencing substantial drawdown or even depletion of groundwater reservoirs.
The NC-SARE dissertation project is aimed at developing a socio-hydrological modeling framework for examining the sustainability of aquifers in such landscapes, while evaluating potential solutions for improving resilience in a changing climate.
“It is critical to have a thorough understanding of the groundwater system and its interaction with groundwater users and future challenges such as climate variability and change,” Naliaka said.
To do this, the project will characterize both hydrologic dynamics and producers’ irrigation behaviors and use models to integrate the system’s dynamics. It also will evaluate groundwater sustainability under future climate scenarios.
Naliaka hopes for a career in academia, working as a professor in water resources to help find solutions for water management in the Earth’s constantly changing environment.
“I hope to continually produce research that makes a positive impact on the lives and well-being of the community,” she said. “I also hope to inspire and mentor other women from underrepresented groups to pursue academic careers.”
SIU played major part in success
Naliaka said SIU played a key role in helping her pursue her goals.
“SIU has enabled me to grow tremendously,” she said. “I have the privilege of working alongside excellent students and outstanding mentors and this has nurtured my love of research and has greatly impacted my education and experience.”
The university also exposed her to numerous opportunities for advancing her academics and sharing her research.
“I have also had the privilege to teach and work with diverse people during my studies, which has helped me develop excellent communication and engagement skills,” she said.
Original source can be found here.
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