Workforce Development News

Weber State student and past iFellow, Alexa Pierce won first place in the undergraduate category at the sixth annual Intermountain Sustainability Summit poster session held on March 5, 2015. She not only won first, but also snagged the People’s Choice Award for the 2015 poster session at the Summit.

Look at what past iUTAH undergraduate researchers are doing now!

Timothy Beach, 2014 iFellow

Tim is currently studying Watershed Sciences at Utah State University with a minor in GIS. His project with Dr. Sarah Null as an iFellow last summer involved using GIS skills learned on campus to create and manipulate spatial information about Utah’s water situation. Thanks to this experience with iUTAH, Tim will have an internship, this upcoming summer with the Bear River Canal Company in Tremonton, Utah. He’ll be using GIS to help their coordination with the Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge. In addition to his summer internship he will also be working at the USU Water Quality Extension office, helping to create outreach materials for the iUTAH program. Tim is hoping to apply to graduate schools in the near future, most likely starting the fall of 2016.

Timothy Beach, an undergraduate student mentored by Sarah Null in the Watershed Science Department at Utah State University, represented iUTAH at this year’s Maps on the Hill event at the State Capitol. Tim was an iUTAH iFellow last summer. During his research, he created a Utah water map with the assistance of Utah Valley University and iUTAH scientist Suzanne Walther and the sponsorship of iUTAH.

His water map describes statewide water resources, demands, and management to help visualize Utah's current and future water scarcity challenges. Tim presented his water map in English and Spanish to gain more access to a more diverse audience.

The 4^th annual Maps on the Hill event is supported by the Utah Geographic Information Council (UGIC) and AGRC (Automated Geographic Reference Center).

This event held on January 28, 2015 offered a good opportunity for students and professionals to share maps, mapping tools, and mapping projects with elected officials, fellow practitioners, and the public. Participants included both individual mapping projects and organizations.

The event included a map display event that was held the first Wednesday of the 2015 Legislative session. The focus of the event was presenting interesting maps or map technology projects that are applicable to a wide audience.

According to Tim, “The presentation on the Hill went well! The few hours I was there ended up being a pretty good experience for me. School groups, legislators, and the general public were all there. There were a good amount of 9th graders that were interested in the map; they asked lots of questions about dams, water usage throughout the state, and GIS/map making. I brought some extra copies of the poster to give out to people and ended up giving two maps away to legislators, which I felt was a success. A few of the people even asked if it was available online. I also had a lot of good conversations with professionals who work with GIS and I think overall, Maps on the Hill was a success.“

Source: http://gis.utah.gov/maps-on-the-hill-2015-signup-is-now-open/

Taya grew up in Indiana and received her Bachelor’s degree, from the University of Southern Indiana in International Studies, and Spanish. While pursuing a dual-Master’s degree in Natural Resources and Sustainable Development from American University and the U.N. University of Peace,Taya became interested and involved in water issues at the global level. This experience drew Taya to the Sociology program at Utah State University and specifically the iUtah project. 

She is pursuing her PhD in sociology under the guidance of Dr. Courtney Flint. Currently, Taya is excited to explore more about water governance in the U.S. and human dimensions of water in Utah. This includes looking at people’s perceptions of their vulnerabilities related to water resources as well as discovering how Utahans value water. Taya is currently using results from the iUTAH household water survey to discover respondent characteristics that can be used as indicators for specific water questions. This will help guide her next project that looks to pursue better ways to incorporate all of Utah’s voices related to water. Beyond research, Taya is enjoying getting to know this part of the Western U.S. 

Trinity is a first year graduate student under Dr. Bethany Neilson in Civil and Environmental Engineering at Utah State University. His research interests include understanding the spatial and temporal variability in groundwater/surface water interactions. Trinity grew up on a small farm in the southern Utah town of Hurricane, where he saw first-hand the importance of water use and conservation. He later developed an interest in research while completing his undergraduate degree at Utah State, where he chose to join iUTAH and become part of a larger research effort focused on water sustainability. When he is not working or studying, Trinity enjoys fly fishing and hiking with his wife, or working on projects around the house.