University of Arkansas at Little Rock

Drew Westerman was awarded a research grant from the National Speleological Society Research Advisory Committee for his work in Fitton Cave, in north-central Arkansas.

Officials from UALR, Central Arkansas Water, and the U.S. Geological Survey’s (USGS) Arkansas Water Science Center entered a partnership Monday that will integrate environmental education with valuable research aimed at protecting and enhancing the area’s drinking water sources.

The agreement, announced at the shore of Lake Maumelle, creates the Central Arkansas Watershed Center of Excellence. The collaboration will allow UALR students and faculty and USGS scientists to work together to improve water quality in Central Arkansas and to inspire students to pursue graduate education in scientific careers.

Dr. Michael Gealt, dean of UALR’s College of Science and Math, said the Watershed Center of Excellence will include four programs:

• A science-based monitoring, research, and information-gathering program that will provide long-term observations of water quality and management strategies for lake, reservoir, and stream protection in central Arkansas.

• A research program that encompasses the scientific investigation of water quality and quantity issues related to source security of drinking, agricultural, and industrial water supplies, as well as the engineering processes that can be developed to enhance security.

• The Watershed Stewardship Program, a community-based program designed to educate the public about conservation, preservation, and stewardship issues of particular water bodies and ecosystems within central Arkansas.

• The Research and Educational Outreach Program that will develop research and outreach opportunities for undergraduate and graduate students in limnology – the division of hydrology that studies inland waters – hydrogeology, and watershed science. The program will communicate the research results to the community by working through local teachers and schools and with workshops on citizen-based watershed projects.

“Overall, the Central Arkansas Watershed Center of Excellence will contribute substantially to the development of human resources knowledgeable about the environment,” Gealt said.

Dr. Margaret McMillan, associate professor of earth science, won the 2008 Kathleen Thomsen Hall Charitable Grant, awarded annually to support a member of the UALR faculty in their efforts to contribute to or enhance their own capacity in the arts, sciences, or education, Provost David O. Belcher announced today.

McMillan was awarded the grant to support her proposal, “Assessing the Sensitivity of Water to Surface, Soil, Rock and Cave conditions in Fitton Cave, northern Arkansas.” Earth Science Assistant Professor Amelia Robinson was co-author of the proposal.

Funding from the grant will allow McMillan and Robinson to evaluate water quality as it travels through a karst aquifer. Since this is typical of Arkansas’ geological structure, this research will make an important contribution to water resource management in Arkansas. UALR faculty from nine departments submitted 21 proposals in this year’s Thomsen Hall grant competition.

The Kathleen Thomsen Hall Charitable Trust Grant is competitively awarded annually to full-time faculty and professional staff at UALR in any academic field. This grant is administered by UALR on behalf of the trust, the sole purpose of which is to support scholarly activity in the arts and sciences.

Dr. Beth McMillan, Associate Professor of Earth Sciences, received the College of Science and Mathematics Faculty Excellence Award for Teaching.  Congratulations!

Drew Westerman, MSISM student received the Karst Waters Institute’s William L. Wilson Memorial Scholarship in Karst Science for 2008!  The award and a plaque will be given at a banquet on March 29th!  Congrats, Drew!

The UALR Department of Earth Sciences and the Arkansas Geological Survey will co-host the South-Central Section Geological Society of America Meeting in Hot Springs, Arkansas on March 30 - April 1, 2008. Professional Geologists and students from the South-Central region (Arkansas, Louisiana, Texas, Oklahoma, and Kansas) will present research and attend field trips and workshops. More information about the meeting can be found at:
http://www.geosociety.org/sectdiv/southc/08mtg/