Congratulations to the Colorado AWWA Student Scholarship Recipients!

Five students attending University of Colorado Boulder and Colorado School of Mines have been awarded AWWA Scholarship program awards to assist in their educational funding.

Attending the University of Colorado at Boulder:

Emma Wells, recipient of the HDR One Water Institute Scholarship

Nadia Jorgensen, recipient of the Holly A. Cornell Scholarship from Jacobs

Emma Payne, recipient of the Dr. Philip C. Singers Scholarship

Attending the Colorado School of Mines:

Bahareh Tajdini, recipient of the Bryant L. Bench award from Carollo Engineers

Tayler Elwell, recipient of the Denver Water Centennial Scholarship

The three recipients attending University of Colorado Boulder are in the PhD program of the Environmental Engineering department with advisors Karl Linden and Scott Summers.

Emma Wells' focus is on water quality and utility risk management. She says that her research is only successful through collaboration and she will use the scholarship funding while “working with operators, regulators, and utility management to understand their experiences with risk management. I will use these funds to meet with my partners and collect data.  I hope that my work can be used to support utilities as they navigate ever-changing environmental, regulatory, and technical contexts to provide safe water.”

		Nadia Jorgensen says the Holly A. Cornell scholarship will help with her future plans. “I hope to continue evaluating GAC performance for controlling unregulated and regulated DBPs across a range of water matrices and developing laboratory skills to analyze contaminants in samples.”
		Emma Payne is the third recipient of the Dr. Philip C. Singer Scholarship, and her thesis is about improving UV advanced oxidation efficiency through tailored wavelength and radical promoter innovations. Emma in interested in passing on her knowledge to the next generation: "I am committed to being a good mentor and teacher, in addition to researcher and graduate student.   As much as I thoroughly believe that my research will advance the field of environmental engineering, I also recognize that helping others to achieve their goals and contribute to the field is equally important. In this vein, I have pursued several mentoring and teaching opportunities and will continue to seek these   opportunities out during my graduate career and beyond.”

At the Colorado School of Mines, both scholarship recipients are PhD candidates in the Civil and Environmental Engineering department.

		Bahareh Tajdini attended ACE 23 and was presented with her “big check” from Carollo Engineers. She is focusing on the removal of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) from complex water matrices using adsorption-based processes and is grateful for the award. “Receiving this scholarship has motivated me tremendously to test new approaches and strategies for the current PFAS problem.”
		The recipient of the Denver Water Centennial Scholarship Tayler Elwell who has a goal of revolutionizing the wastewater treatment industry. She applied for the Denver Water scholarship because she is aligned with the utility’s interests. “I am a Colorado native, avid angler, and water recreator, so I see myself as a stakeholder in Colorado’s water resources. I understand the present-day water scarcity in the West, and I am pleased to know that Denver Water is targeting the issue and developing innovative solutions.”