Tag CONSERVE


NOAA Sea Grant Awards UA Researchers $2.34M for Marine Debris Prevention

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – University of Alabama researchers have been awarded a $2.34 million federal grant to help prevent and remove marine debris along the Gulf Coast as part of President Biden’s Investing in America agenda, under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. Dr. Mark Cheng, professor in UA’s College of Engineering and lead principal investigator, and Michael…


AWI Student Spotlight: Peter Feldkamp

The Alabama Water Institute and the Community Oriented Nature-based Science for Ecosystem Restoration and Versatile Engineering Research Group, or CONSERVE, recently welcomed student intern Peter Feldkamp. Feldkamp, a rising senior at The University of Alabama majoring in biology, joined AWI as an undergraduate research assistant in summer 2024. Feldkamp works under Michael Fedoroff, director of…


CONSERVE Op-ed: Rivercane Ecosystem Stewardship and Cultural Resiliency for the Jena Band of Choctaw

Co-authors: Meg Woods, Parker King and Katya Menkina On April 14, our CONSERVE team had the extraordinary opportunity to invite the Jena Band of Choctaw Indians from Louisiana to help thin native rivercane stands in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Thinning native cane stands is vital to the health and resiliency of the cane stand ecosystem. The effort was…


CONSERVE Partners with Department of Defense for Networking Initiative

More than 151 participants from around the world recently attended the Department of Defense Cultural Resources Networking even. The Community Oriented Nature-based Science for Ecosystem Restoration and Versatile Engineering Research Group, or CONSERVE, was both an attendee and sponsor of the event. CONSERVE director Michael Fedoroff also serves as co-director of the DOD Partners in…


AWI Staff, Affiliates Attend Annual American Meteorological Society Meeting

Members of the Alabama Water Institute recently attended the 104th Annual American Meteorological Society Meeting in Baltimore, Maryland. The meeting, held at the end of January, featured several presenters from NOAA’s Cooperative Institute for Research to Operations in Hydrology. The goal of the 2024 meeting was to leverage society’s collective strengths so that communities can…


CONSERVE, Tribal Communities Work to Preserve Oklahoma Rivercane Ecosystems

A team from The University of Alabama and Alabama Water Institute’s CONSERVE research group recently spent a productive week working with the United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians in Tahlequah, Oklahoma. Their goal was to observe and understand native rivercane populations — a plant species that is important to the watersheds and cultural lifeways of…


Data Storyteller Joins CONSERVE Research Group

The Alabama Water Institute’s Community Orientated Nature-based Science for Ecosystem Restoration and Versatile Engineering, or CONSERVE, Research Group welcomes Parker King as a graduate research assistant. In his role, King will engage with texts through platforms such as ArcGIS and ESRI StoryMaps, exploring innovative ways to present data in a more accessible format. “I hope…


AWI CONSERVE Research Group Selected to Lead National Preservation Program for Department of Defense

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – The Alabama Water Institute’s Community Oriented Nature-based Science for Ecosystem Restoration and Versatile Engineering, or CONSERVE, Research group and the U.S. Department of Defense are partnering to establish a program aimed at preserving and protecting cultural resources at military installations across the country. This partnership is funded through the Office of the…


AWI Student Spotlight: Ava Noffsinger

The Alabama Water Institute recently welcomed student intern Ava Noffsinger as a student intern for its Community-oriented Nature-based Science for Ecosystem and Versatile Engineering, or CONSERVE, research group. Noffsinger, a junior at The University of Alabama, joined AWI in the spring of 2023. She is majoring in anthropology with minors in English and international business.…


AWI’s CONSERVE Research Group Awarded $250,000

The Alabama Water Institute’s Community-Oriented Nature-based Science for Ecosystem Restoration and Versatile Engineering, or CONSERVE, research group was recently awarded a $250,000 grant from the United States Army Corps of Engineers Engineering with Nature Program for its Acequia Science and Tribal Engagement Support project. The multi-year project will take place in Arizona and New Mexico,…