Outreach Activities

• Clapp had Several in-person and on-line meetings were held with enCore Energy Corp leadership (Mr. Paul Goranson and Dr. Dennis Stover) and the lead on-site engineer (Mr. Vikas Joshi) during the fall of 2021 and spring of 2022. These regular meetings will continue and occur more frequently in the summer and fall of 2022.
• Ren’s students (Miranda N De La Garza, Kurtis M. Kuypers, and Alberto A Aguirre) served as EVEN student ambassador in Fall 2021.
• Ren’s student (Olivia Garcia) will assist with the summer school program at Driscoll Independent School District in June 2022.
• Dr. Alexander regularly talks with potential TAMUK students (incoming freshman or transfer students) either via on campus tours or Zoom sessions set up by our College of Engineering outreach coordinator, and in these sessions, he regularly brings up the CREST grant opportunities for stipend support and research experiences for undergraduate and graduate students.
• Veronica Ancona organized an International mini-symposium between TAMUK and Instituto Tecnologico Superior de Salvatierra (ITESS), Mexico for CREST students to present their research projects, on August 27, 2021. Theme of symposium was “Technical solutions to improve agricultural production".

Research Communications Workshop

• CREST-SWU researchers organized a virtual research communication workshop on January 28, 2022. Purpose of the workshop was to discuss and share ongoing research activities with various stakeholder, especially from the Rio Grande Valley region of South Texas. Focus of the workshop was on irrigation water quality issues and concerns, plant pathogens in irrigation water, and monitoring and modeling water in the Rio Grande Region. Attendees of the workshop included industry representatives, growers, advisory board members, faculty and students. 

CREST Faculty and students made presentation on the following topics

• Stakeholder mental models of water use in south Texas
• Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) for Remote Soil Monitoring
• Monitoring Plant Pathogens in Irrigation Water
• Evaluation of Rio Grande River’s Hydrochemical Characteristics and Applicability for Irrigation
• Effects of Different Best Management Practices on Water Quality Indicators in the Arroyo Los Olmos Watershed, Texas
• Evaluation of Nitrogen Fertilizer and Compost Application on Freeze Damaged Citrus in the Lower Rio Grande Valley

Following were the stakeholder feedback on current research activities & input for future research directions

• Study the hydrochemical characteristics of ground water vs. river water
• Study the economic benefit of compost application
• Evaluate or Develop filtration systems for irrigation water
• Feasibility of the construction of Wetlands
• Determine the water and salinity thresholds for different crops
• Areas of concern: The water quality and quantity of the Rio Grande River will continue deteriorating as the quantity in the tributary sources is reduced