New leadership to guide the Virginia Water Resources Research Center
Director Kevin McGuire and Associate Director Daniel McLaughlin will continue the center’s mission of research, collaboration, and outreach on water issues impacting the commonwealth.
For new Virginia Water Resources Research Center Director Kevin McGuire, water is a key component to understanding and protecting natural resources throughout Virginia.
“Simply put, we can’t live without water,” said McGuire, professor in the Department of Forest Resources and Environmental Conservation. “That goes for both people and natural environments. We have to ensure that people have access to potable water, and we have to ensure that water is available to sustain ecosystem services and ecosystem processes.”
The Virginia Water Resources Research Center – previously directed by Professor Emeritus Stephen Schoenholtz – has served as a focal point for water education, outreach, and research throughout the commonwealth since Virginia Tech was selected to house the center in 1965. Situated in the College of Natural Resources and Environment since 2005, the center has been recognized among other water centers and institutes as a national leader in educational collaborations and outreach efforts.
“Our mission aligns with the land-grant mission of Virginia Tech with an orientation toward water concerns,” said McGuire, an affiliated faculty member of the Fralin Life Sciences Institute and the Global Change Center. “We have a lot of very strong partnerships, and my hope is to leverage those partnerships to better develop and coordinate research and training opportunities in water resources while also sharing our findings with municipalities, agencies, and the general public.”
Daniel McLaughlin, the new associate director of the center, echoes an aim to build on the center’s current strengths.
“Kevin and I are going to work on a shared vision to think strategically about how to continue the mission on water resources research, outreach, and training,” said McLaughlin, associate professor in the Department of Forest Resources and Environmental Conservation. “We’re also focused on being a clearinghouse where agencies and people in the public and private sectors can come to us to connect with experts in the field.”
Water challenges are prevalent in the news across the U.S., and there are a host of issues that impact Virginia water resources, such as drought, access to clean water, concerns about pollution and impairment of water bodies, and flooding and stormwater.
“Some of the water issues Virginia is dealing with are quite regional,” said McGuire, who teaches forest and watershed hydrology. “From concerns about groundwater extraction in the eastern part of the state to issues of emerging contaminants such as microplastics, pharmaceuticals, and forever chemicals, there are a lot of research areas that require collaborative thinking and research.”
That collaborative mindset extends beyond Virginia: The water center is part of a national network of 54 centers that can trace their origins back to the federal Water Resources Research Act of 1964, which established research centers focusing on water quality and management issues in all 50 states as well as the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and Guam.
“Our center is part of the mid-Atlantic region, and we do a lot of collaboration with other states in our region,” said McGuire. “We get together annually with other water centers and institutes at the National Institute for Water Resources meeting in Washington, D.C., and that is one of our opportunities to talk about how to collaborate while speaking to congressional representatives about local challenges and opportunities in water resources management, science, and education.”
Another key ambition for the water center leadership is to help pave the way for a new generation of researchers. To that end, the center supports an undergraduate degree in water: resources, policy and management, an interdisciplinary STEM program that trains students in water science, policy, and management. The center also provides numerous seed grants and funding for undergraduate and graduate students at Virginia Tech and across the commonwealth who are studying water resource questions.
To further water research with local and global impacts, the center will host its second Water Research Colloquium this fall. The event will bring water research faculty and graduate students together to discuss, promote, and network on collaborative research.
“Last year’s colloquium was about highlighting the various projects taking place on campus,” said McLaughlin, who researches and teaches aquatic ecosystem processes. “This year, our goal is to develop an integrated vision about where water research is going on campus and how we can better leverage our shared resources and expertise.”
For McGuire, the central aim of the water center is to be a connection point for researchers, students, communities, and policymakers concerned with water issues.
“Our goal is to facilitate and strengthen partnerships,” said McGuire. “We have tremendous expertise in this university and throughout the commonwealth, and our aim is to connect our knowledge and expertise with others looking to tackle the water challenges of today and tomorrow.
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