Ekaterina Menkina, a University of Alabama anthropology student, had never touched professional filming equipment before. However, the Alabama Water Institute’s CONSERVE Research Group took a chance on her in 2024, handing over professional-grade camera equipment and trusting her to document ancient pictographs 800 miles from Tuscaloosa. “I saw the words ‘creative’ and ‘art,’ and I…
A process that once required two full days of hands-on work by a researcher and graduate student now takes about an hour. The Alabama Water Institute’s Equipment Support Program recently helped fund a Thermo Scientific KingFisher Apex for its CONSERVE Future Ecologies lab. The state-of-the-art genomics platform automates the extraction of DNA, RNA and proteins from plants,…
CIROH showcased national leadership at the 2025 AGU Meeting, contributing to more than 30 sessions on flood prediction, AI-enabled modeling, community water science and workforce development. CIROH researchers highlighted advances in next-generation water prediction systems while engaging global audiences on research to operations, collaboration and societal impact.
AWI’s CONSERVE team is working with tribal partners across 12 states to map rivercane and build a traits database that supports both ecosystem restoration and cultural traditions. Their recent presentation in Florida highlighted how the project strengthens conservation and tribal heritage.
A new three-year initiative will track PFAS contamination in coastal waters across Alabama and Mississippi, producing the first published data on these persistent chemicals in Gulf Coast waters for the region.
CIROH is building on the momentum of AGU24 as it prepares for AGU25 in New Orleans, where leaders in Earth and space science will gather under the theme “Where Science Connects Us.”
The Alabama Water Institute continues to support its affiliated faculty members and their research across The University of Alabama with new tools that expand capabilities in labs and in the field.
CIROH researchers have harnessed NASA’s satellite data to sharpen a critical piece of flood forecasting: river slope. Their new datasets improve U.S. flood models by more than 30%, giving emergency managers faster, more reliable information to protect communities during extreme weather.
Dr. Jonathan Frame has secured a National Science Foundation grant to investigate how expanding AI infrastructure will impact water resources—a critical issue he believes will define the next decade of water management.
Most rivers lack gauges, leaving gaps in flood forecasting, water management and emergency planning. This new machine learning approach uses downstream data to predict upstream flow with no sensors needed.
