Features
A reservoir of knowledge
NMSU taps long history of water research excellence in addressing new challenges
Hyper harvesters
Hydropower energy harvesters have potential to transform power generation
Recipe for clean water
Researchers create toolkit to pinpoint regions at high risk for groundwater contamination
Salvage mission
Tucumcari science center finds new ways to use recycled treated municipal wastewater
Helping others
Partnerships can benefit both students and researchers, even 8,000 miles apart
An Apple a Day
Encouraging Hispanics to make better food choices is focus of marketing study
Power: from wastewater to the grid
Animal monitors
NSF INSPIRE award boosts NMSU collaboration for wireless sensor networks
A path to math
NMSU researchers show how games can increase math understanding
Highlights
Message from Vice President for Research
New Mexico State University brings to bear a long tradition of excellence in water research as it examines current concerns and challenges related to the availability, quality and quantity of our water. This is especially true in a semi-arid state, where every drop can make a difference to our woodlands, communities and agricultural lands.
This focus on water research has been a priority throughout our 125-year heritage as a land-grant institution, and is especially important given New Mexico’s dry climate.
Water research has a significant presence among our Core Research Strengths. Listed under the topic of “Sustainability,” our water research and outreach programs are conducted by researchers in four colleges based at our Las Cruces campus and the Agricultural Science Centers, located across New Mexico.
NMSU is headquarters for the statewide and federally supported (in part) New Mexico Water Resources Research Institute, which studies aquifer salinity, water availability, quality, sustainability, and water-related border and international issues.
Other key research initiatives originating in the College of Engineering include the National Science Foundation funded Engineering Research Center, which is a multi-university effort to reinvent America’s aging and inadequate urban water infrastructure. NMSU joins Stanford University, the Colorado School of Mines and the University of California, Berkeley, in this effort.
Research efforts led by the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences focus on water technology research in Afghanistan; monitoring and solving trans-boundary water issues on the U.S-Mexico border; the link between traditional irrigation systems and ecosystem and watershed health; and the effects of climate change on New Mexico’s mountain sources of water.
I invite you to learn more about our critical, community-oriented water research activities in the following pages of this magazine.
Excellence in water research at New Mexico State University is a longtime source of pride and an everyday responsibility as we explore the best opportunities and seek the best solutions to the challenges related to the availability, quality and quantity of this precious resource.
Vimal Chaitanya
Vice President for Research