The Alaska Section of the American Water Resources Association is sponsoring a competition to recognize current, exemplary papers by undergraduate students on topics relating to Alaskan water resources. The purpose of the competition is to encourage scholarship in water resources among undergraduate students. This competition is separate from and in addition to the Water Resources Scholarship Program provided by the Section, which grants scholarships for graduate students based on evaluation of competitive research proposals. Any student in an Alaskan undergraduate program with a cumulative G.P.A. is 3.0 or higher is eligible.

Multiple awards may be given up to $1000. These are available for the best papers. Winners will also be announced in the Annual meeting and have their registration fees waived if they wish to attend. Previous winners of this AWRA paper competition can be eligible for another paper contest award if the submittal is another topic and not the same submittal from the previous application.

Interactions of Surface and Ground Water in the Chester Creek Basin, Anchorage - Megan Cardenas, University of Alaska Anchorage

Submit one digital copy of the paper in Word format and one paper copy, not exceeding 20 pages in length with figures and references, to the address listed below. The paper must be accompanied by documentation of current enrollment in a college or university in Alaska. Please include a letter from an instructor at the college documenting that the paper was derived from work discussed or assigned in class or a special project.

The prize will be awarded based on the review of the submitted papers by a committee of Alaska section members. The "Best Student Paper Committee" shall consist of professionals representing at least three disciplines such as hydrology, water quality, environmental science, engineering, fisheries, geology, or biology.
The paper must demonstrate:

• Insight into current problems or aspects of research, development, or management of water resources in Alaska;
• Clarity of presentation (text, graphics, tables, references)
• Logical support of theme or hypothesis.

Papers should include a summary, introduction, objectives, methods, results and discussion sections. To be given full consideration for the 2012 awards, and to allow for the presentation at the 2012 Alaska Section Annual Meeting, the education committee chair must receive papers by February 1st, 2012. Papers received after this date may not be considered for the 2012 competition.

For more information, contact:

Jon Zufelt
Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory
US Army Corps of Engineers
724 Quartermaster Door 1
PO Box 5646
Ft. Richardson, AK 99505-0646
Ph: 907-384-0511; Fax: 907-384-0519
Email: Jon.E.Zufelt@erdc.usace.army.mil