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Click below on individual water-related researchers to understand their interests, expertise, and experience. You may find someone with whom you can make common cause. Expand each person individually to learn more.

Fisseha Meresa Alemayehu, Associate professor-mechanical engineering, WTAMU

What Water Working Group mission areas does your work most relate with?

Area 3 - Increased collection and use of regional weather data
Area 5 - Residential landscape water conservation efforts
Area 7 - Controlled environment agriculture

What are some ideas or that describe your interests in water projects?

Renewable Energy Systems
Computational Modeling
Water Conservation
Drip Irrigation
Water Harvesting

What excites you about water research in the Texas Panhandle?

I grew up in a city surrounded by rural areas with subsistence farming on water-stressed, dry-land farms and shortage of water is always an issue. Texas panhandle is also in similar situation and am looking forward into contributing my skills in enhancing water usage and conservation practice.

What other ways can we contact your directly?

You can reach me through my faculty page contact information here.

Carolina Brandani, Associate research scientist- soil science, AgriLife Research

What Water Working Group mission areas does your work most relate with?

Area 1 - Irrigated crops water use and rainfed agriculture
Area 3 - Increased collection and use of regional weather data

What are some ideas or that describe your interests in water projects?

I am interested in how land use and land management practices impact carbon and nitrogen cycling in semi-arid crop and grassland ecosystems. A major focus of my work involves developing climate-resilient agricultural systems through soil carbon sequestration, enhancing the use efficiency of agroecosystems, sustainable management of soils, and soil health.

What excites you about water research in the Texas Panhandle?

Any increased inch of water in Texas Panhandle counts! Working synergistically as a multidisciplinary team focused on water resiliency can benefit all our community and beyond.

What other ways can we contact your directly?

You can reach me through my department page contact information here.

Erik Crosman, Assistant professor-environmental science, WTAMU

What Water Working Group mission areas does your work most relate with?

Area 3 - Increased collection and use of regional weather data
Area 4 - Social attitudes and mindset towards water
Area 7 - Controlled environment agriculture

What are some ideas or that describe your interests in water projects?

Playa infiltration
Water quality
Precipitation and weather patterns
Limnology
Lake physiochemistry
Remote sensing of water

What excites you about water research in the Texas Panhandle?

Water is our lifeblood on the Texas Panhandle. Nowhere have I met so many people who are grateful after a good rainfall. We appreciate and depend on water from both the sky and aquifer below. I'm honored to be living in this critical time where we need to manage both climate change impacts and human use of the aquifer impacts on our water supply. It is a huge challenge but I remain optimistic.

What other ways can we contact your directly

You can reach me through my faculty page contact information here.

Bridget Guerrero, Associate professor-ag business & economics, WTAMU

What Water Working Group mission areas does your work most relate with?

Area 1 - Irrigated crops water use and rainfed agriculture
Area 4 - Social attitudes and mindset towards water
Area 8 - Water use and management in confined animal feeding operations (CAFOs)

What are some ideas or that describe your interests in water projects?

agriculture, cattle, crops, dairy, economics, irrigation, Ogallala, policy
production , socioeconomic, strategies, swine

What excites you about water research in the Texas Panhandle?

Agriculture experiences such variable weather, and climate is changing. People in different areas are having problems with water that they hadn’t had before, but we can learn from each other. I am excited to see how, through education and innovation, the next generation will change things for the better.

What other ways can we contact your directly?

You can reach me through my faculty page contact information here.

Nathan Howell, Associate professor-environmental engineering, WTAMU

What Water Working Group mission areas does your work most relate with?

Area 1 - Irrigated crops water use and rainfed agriculture
Area 2 - Wastewater and low water quality treatment and beneficial use
Area 4 - Social attitudes and mindset towards water
Area 7 - Controlled environment agriculture (CEA)

What are some ideas or that describe your interests in water projects?

brackish groundwater, marginal water quality application, aquaponics, increased soil water holding capacity through biochar, water footprints, water chemistry, wastewater-based epidemiology, water pollution, water education and decision-making

What excites you about water research in the Texas Panhandle?

What other ways can we contact your directly?

You can reach me through my faculty contact page or learn more via ResearchGate.

Kenneth Leitch, Associate professor-civil engineering, WTAMU

What Water Working Group mission areas does your work most relate with?

Area 3 - Increased collection and use of regional weather data
Area 5 - Residential landscape water conservation efforts
Area 7 - Controlled environment agriculture

What are some ideas or that describe your interests in water projects?

Water conservation, xeriscaping, LEED, rainfall data collection

What excites you about water research in the Texas Panhandle?

I am interested in water conservation and education, water reuse, sustainable construction (LEED: Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design), and water resources planning for today and the future.

What other ways can we contact your directly?

You can reach me through my faculty contact page.

Guillermo Marcillo, Assistant professor-agricultural statistics, WTAMU

What Water Working Group mission areas does your work most relate with?

Area 1 - Irrigated crops water use and rainfed agriculture
Area 3 - Increased collection and use of regional weather data
Area 6 - Ag-tech for wise water use

What are some ideas or that describe your interests in water projects?

Digital and data-driven methods to optimize water use in agriculture, soil management impacts on water conservation, data science and analytics applied to water conservation

What excites you about water research in the Texas Panhandle?

The Texas Panhandle faces challenges - with water scarcity being a major limitation for rural and urban prosperity for the region. Yet, challenges create opportunities as well. Data are generated at unprecedent rates than ever, so agricultural data scientists (like me!) can be key players in promoting data-driven evidence and supporting the efforts of water researchers and educators.

What other ways can we contact your directly?

You can reach me through my faculty contact page.

Anirban Pal, Assistant professor-mechanical enginering, WTAMU

What Water Working Group mission areas does your work most relate with?

Area 3 - Increased collection and use of regional weather data
Area 5 - Residential landscape water conservation efforts
Area 7 - Controlled environment agriculture

What are some ideas or that describe your interests in water projects?

Conservation, Recycling, Automation

What excites you about water research in the Texas Panhandle?

Necessity is the mother of invention, and I am excited how water scarcity in this region will spur innovations in water use and food production.

What other ways can we contact your directly?

You can reach me through my faculty contact page.

Vinu U. Unnikrishnan, Assistant professor-civil engineering, WTAMU

What Water Working Group mission areas does your work most relate with?

Area 6 - Ag Tech for wise water use
Area 7 - Controlled environment agriculture

What are some ideas or that describe your interests in water projects?

Computational modeling, Fluid-structure interaction, Finite Element Analysis (FEA), Nutrient distribution, Bioreactors

What excites you about water research in the Texas Panhandle?

The use of computational tools and algorithms for studying water related issues in the Texas Panhandle, with a wide ranging effect on the global scale - From the Panhandle to the rest of the world.

What other ways can we contact your directly?

You can reach me through my faculty contact page.

Li Chou, Assistant professor-computer science, WTAMU

What Water Working Group mission areas does your work most relate with?

Area 3 - Increased collection and use of regional weather data
Area 6 - Ag Tech for wise water use
Area 7 - Controlled environment agriculture

What are some ideas or that describe your interests in water projects?

Machine learning, Data science

What excites you about water research in the Texas Panhandle?

Doing research in areas that matter in life is important to me. Of course, water, being the source of life and a key contributor to flourishing ecosystems, is something that really matters. This is especially crucial to the livelihood of the Texas Panhandle since water is a rapidly diminishing resource.

What other ways can we contact your directly?

You can reach me through my faculty contact page.