NALMS Announces Recipients of Kenneth H. Reckhow Student Scholarships
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 14, 2021
Contact: Alyssa Anderson, Marketing & Membership Director
Phone: 608-233-2836
Email: info@nalms.org
NALMS Announces Recipients of Kenneth H. Reckhow Student Scholarships
MADISON, WI – We are thrilled to announce the first-ever recipients of the Kenneth H. Reckhow Scholarship, a new opportunity established just this year. The two recipients are: Emily Waterman (University of Oklahoma, Geospatial Technologies and Environmental Science Master’s Program) and Marc James Rand (Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Bath).
Photo courtesy of Dr. Kenneth Reckhow
Established through the generosity and kindness of NALMS Life Member, Dr. Kenneth Reckhow, the Kenneth H. Reckhow Scholarship Fund provides financial support to graduate students to use toward their education. “Along with NALMS members Denny Cooke and Gene Welch,” Dr. Reckhow explains, “I was part of the pre-NALMS conferences in Madison, Minneapolis, and East Lansing, leading to the 1980 meeting in Portland…NALMS helped me grow as a scientist. These are just a few of the great memories that I have, which makes me want to give back to NALMS through this scholarship fund.”
With a unique tie-in to a NALMS tradition and Dr. Reckhow’s personal history with the Society, the scholarship winners were directly linked with an event that occurs each year at the NALMS annual symposium: the Clean Lakes Classic 5K. Starting with the 2021 Clean Lakes Classic 5K Run/Walk (which was a virtual fun run this year due to the pandemic), one female and one male graduate student participant in the event was randomly selected to receive $500 for use toward their education. The drawing took place via Zoom on December 8, 2021 with NALMS staff (Alyssa Anderson and Philip Forsberg), Past President Lisa Borre, and Dr. Reckhow in attendance.
Learn more about the Kenneth H. Reckhow Scholarship Fund: https://www.nalms.org/nalms-student-programs/reckhow-scholarship-fund/. Details for students interested in applying for a 2022 scholarship will be released in the coming months.
Learn more about our scholarship recipients:
Emily Waterman // University of Oklahoma
I am enrolled in the Geospatial Technologies and Environmental Science Master’s Program at OU in efforts to further my understanding of GIS Technology and its role in helping manage lakes. This degree will also help me with my current assignment updating the Fish and Wildlife Services National Wetland Inventory lacustrine and bottomland hardwood sites for the state of Oklahoma.
I have a bachelors degree in Environmental Science and Ecological Studies from George Mason University in Virginia and have always found myself very interested in environmental conservation. When I moved to Oklahoma last year I found it interesting that all the large lakes in the state are manmade, with many being the sole source of drinking water for the communities nearby. When I got the opportunity to come work for Oklahoma Water Resources Board in their Lakes division it felt like not only an exciting and fun opportunity but a chance to do something really important! When the 2021 NALMS conference was coming up everyone in my division was excited and helped me sign up for my first conference. After attending, I could easily see what the excitement was all about! Getting to hear from all the different scholars and lakes industry professionals was motivating, inspiring and made me even more proud to work in lakes management. I want to say a big thank you to NALMS and Dr. Kenneth Reckhow for this scholarship and all that they have done for lakes conservation!
James Rand // University of Bath
I am a marine engineer by profession having served over twenty years in the Royal Navy as an Engineer Officer. I had a varied career including two sea going ‘Chief Engineer’ jobs, an exchange job with The Royal Netherlands Navy, being the UK government/Navy representative out in Saudi Arabia, paid to do an MSc and an “interesting” operational tour in Iraq. On leaving the Navy I became a very unhappy maths teacher for a few years and then a builder/odd job man. Bored to tears, I decided that the PhD I always should have done would be a great opportunity to get a technical refresher, update my engineering skills and re-position my career to a slightly different field of engineering lake science.
I have been looking at the temporal, spatial and practical problems/issues (the subject of my presentation at NALMS 2021) involved with both manual (i.e. from a boat) and automated (i.e. a data buoy) water quality monitoring and how a low cost autonomous underwater vehicle (such as an underwater glider) could address them. The PhD was meant to be mainly practical in nature but with the pandemic has ended up involving quite a lot of modelling (and thus learning new skills). However, by early summer 2022 I hope to have my final prototype in the water to collect data and I can then evaluate if mobile automated lake data collection is an alternative to traditional monitoring methods.
I have been working with lake data (Belgrade Lakes, Maine) out in Maine, USA and the plan is, travel restrictions permitting, that I get out on the lakes in 2022 to do some research and gain practical lake science experience. I have also been using both Bristol Water and Welsh Water reservoirs to test my prototypes and discuss ideas with their engineers and scientists.
Despite my age, this PhD has taught me that, with effort and application, I can tackle just about any novel thing (after all, I have written code that actually works!!!). It may be that my prototype can be developed commercially but that will really depend upon the outcome of my research and also my appetite for being an entrepreneur. As served me well throughout my time in the Royal Navy, I strongly believe in actively not having a career plan and just grabbing interesting opportunities that present themselves. If an exciting opportunity crops up for either of us, then my wife Emma and I are ready to stay in Bath or move anywhere in the world without a great amount of worry or thought – things tend to work out.
[If all goes according to plan, James hopes to use this scholarship money to travel to the USA next year to conduct some research on the Belgrade Lakes in Maine.]
###
Founded in 1980, the North American Lake Management Society (NALMS) is a nonprofit organization focused on the management and protection of lakes and reservoirs. A melting pot, welcoming anyone with an interest in lakes, NALMS strives to forge partnerships among citizens, scientists, and professionals to achieve this mission.