Kansas Water Institute Student Fellows
KWI fosters interdisciplinary learning and research, providing students with the tools and resources to innovate and solve real-world problems in the field of water resources. We offer a variety of opportunities to support undergraduate and graduate students, including scholarships, research grants, and experiential learning experiences.
Graduate Research Fellows
Jonas Adjasoo is a Ph.D. student in Chemical Engineering whose research centers on engineering heterogeneous photocatalysts to use sunlight and create active species to eliminate contaminants in water and valorize waste. Jonas has extensive interdisciplinary experience in wastewater treatment research, spanning chemical engineering, materials science, water management and policy. He holds an M.S. in Chemical Engineering from Iowa State University, where he worked on the synthesis and assembly of two-dimensional optical metamaterials using DNA origami templates. He completed his B.S. in Materials Science Engineering from the University of Ghana, where his thesis focused on developing zeolite/cerium oxide nanocomposites for water purification.
Moupyali Chakravarty is a Ph.D. student in geography whose research focuses on how rivers adjust channel elevation in response to the balance between sediment supply and water discharge. Her methodology integrates field-based surveys, optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dating, numerical landscape evolution modeling across millennial timescales, and hydraulic modeling to identify factors influencing this balance. She earned a master's degree in Geography from India, with research centered on river capture using field surveys and remote sensing.
Ifeoma Francesca Okonye is a Ph.D. student in geography whose research focuses on surface water quality assessment in Kansas. She uses geospatial and statistical methods to evaluate nutrient loading, sedimentation, and agricultural runoff, with the goal of improving how water quality data are analyzed and visualized for resource management. She holds degrees in Remote Sensing and GIS (B.Tech., Federal University of Technology, Akure) and a Master's Degree in Geography from K-State. Her master’s research, supported by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks, focused on conservation planning for the endangered Whooping Crane through spatial modeling of habitat use and migratory pathways.
Hannah Parker is a graduate student in Agricultural Economics with a focus on resource economics. Her research focuses on groundwater valuation for irrigation and livestock production within the High Plains Aquifer region of Kansas. She uses land transaction data to estimate how changes in saturated thickness affect agricultural land values. She earned her bachelor's degree in economics from Purdue University in Spring 2025.
Grace Roth is a graduate student studying Agriculture Education and Communications. Grace was raised in Western Kansas where she found her passion for the future of water in Kansas and its impact on farmers and ranchers affected by the decline of Ogallala Aquifer. She received her bachelor’s degree in Agricultural Communications and Journalism from Kansas State University in May 2024. Before receiving her degree, Grace actively promoted water conservation, and education practices. Her dedication to advocacy and education has shaped her career path and inspired her to continue to play an active role in the state’s water resource issues.
Robert Sholl is a graduate student studying Statistics with a focus in spatio-temporal models. Robert was raised on the importance of nature conservation, growing up between the beaches of the Monterey Bay and the mountains of Colorado Springs. He received his bachelor's degree in Microbiology at K-State in Spring 2021. After graduation Robert worked as a toxicology chemist, a corporate educator, and a real estate data analyst. He returned to K-State to merge those industry skills with academic research to produce impactful tools for the future of Kansas agriculture.
Colton Stefanski is a graduate student studying Plant Pathology. His research goal is to quantify the water use efficiency of wheat plants infected by stripe rust. Colton is from St. Louis, Missouri and earned his bachelor’s degree in Horticulture Science at K-State in December 2025. After graduation Colton worked in the K-State Plant Disease Diagnostic Lab where he analyzed plant samples submitted from across the state of Kansas, providing timely information about the presence and impact of diseases to any grower experiencing a plant problem. He moved to a graduate position in the department to hone his diagnostic skills and gain a better understanding of the role plant diseases play in natural and agricultural systems.
Undergraduate Research Fellows
The KWI Undergraduate Research Fellows Program is a two-semester program that supports K-State students who are conducting a water-related research project with a K-State faculty member. This program is designed to support juniors or seniors with their undergraduate research experiences.
Lara Dunkley is an undergraduate senior in Environmental Science and Agronomy. She is currently working on a project in the Hydropedology and Root Pedology Lab on quantifying playa groundwater recharge via crack flow. She is an officer in the K-State Soil and Water Conservation Chapter and a member of the Soil Judging team. Lara is also the president of On the Spot, K-State's premier improv club.
Lauren Seybold is an Environmental Science undergraduate with an interest in water quality and equity. She became fascinated with how water connects us all while volunteering with the Water Institute at the CoSearch interdisciplinary faculty workshop. Seeing others come together over water has inspired her to do research at an international scale, where her second language and research experience may help shape future international collaboration over shared issues like low access to clean water and sanitation in rural areas.
Treven Webb is a junior in the Department of Agronomy at Kansas State University. His research focuses on the use of unmanned aerial vehicles to improve the efficiency of fungicide applications in corn production. His work evaluates how UAV flight speed and altitude affect spray coverage throughout the corn canopy, while using aerial imagery and yield data to assess treatment effectiveness. This research helps improve the efficiency of agricultural chemical applications and support more sustainable management practices for Kansas producers.
Townley Family Scholars
The Duane and Terry Townley Family Scholarship is awarded to two undergraduate students who demonstrate exemplary work and are leaders in water research. The scholarship was established to support students interested in the field of water resources, and helps to fund their work in undergraduate research.
Vivian Nguyen is a junior at Kansas State University pursuing dual degrees in Mechanical Engineering and Physics. She is involved in undergraduate research focused on nanomaterial-based electrochemical sensors for environmental monitoring. Vivian hopes to pursue a Ph.D. in Materials Science and Engineering and build a career developing innovative technologies that address environmental challenges.
Destinee Shaffer is a junior researching Nature-inspired chelating polymers for water purification. She is persuing a degreee in Life Sciences, with dual minors in Biology and Leadership Studies.
Previous Townley Family Scholars
Josiah Quinlan is a junior in the department of Biological and Agricultural Engineering. His research focuses on the downstream environmental impacts of the water injection dredging process in Tuttle Creek Reservoir. Josiah’s research is part of a collaborative, multidisciplinary effort to investigate the effects of this unique dredging process and may help form future dredging policies at other sites.
Helen Winters is a double major in Fisheries, Wildlife, Conservation, and Environmental Biology and Biology. Her research is on big bluestem, with a focus on how this dominant prairie grass adapts to climate and responds to differing water availabilities. This work will help form conclusions about the productivity, health, and ability of an ecosystem to support grazing.
Paul Kessinger is a 2025 Mechanical Engineering graduate from Kansas State University. During his year as a Townley Family Scholar, Paul worked in the Microfluidics Lab as an undergraduate researcher. His research was aimed at creating a triboelectric nanogenerator to power water droplet movement and using microfluidics to test for cyanotoxins in water samples. Prior to attending Kansas State University, he worked as a reporter at The Marysville Advocate and earned an associate's degree from Highland Community College in 2021.
Sami Villasana is a 2025 graduate in Geology from Kansas State University, with a secondary degree in natural resources and environmental sciences, focusing on groundwater and structural geology. Since the start of her sophomore year, Sami worked as a student researcher in a geochemistry lab, where she assisted in data collection for the Konza Biological Prairie long-term ecological study under an NSF grant. She also participated in the Kansas Groundwater Geopaths to monitor groundwater quality in private wells in south-central Kansas. Sami's senior thesis examined the driving forces for intermittent springs in the Konza prairie.
Congratulations, Graduates!
Join the Kansas Water Institute in congratulating our Water Fellows as they finish their time at Kansas State University and move forward as researchers, leaders, policy makers, educators, and more!
Sophia Cori received her Master's Degree in Agricultural Education for her work Analyzing Interdisciplinary research team development at the 2024 Kansas Water Institute CoSearch competition.
Prabhleen Kaur graduated from the College of Arts and Sciences in Spring 2026. She majored in Chemistry.
Kushan Kompalage graduated with his Ph.D. in Chemistry in 2026. His dissertation, Advanced UHPLC-MS/MS method development for ultra-low level quantitative analysis of analytes in agricultural matrices was a jumping-off point for his new position as a research scientist in the Kansas Water Institute Water Quality Laboratory.
Jackson Lindamood received his Master's degree in Agricultural Economics in Spring 2026. His thesis was titled Capitalization of Groundwater Restrictions and Woody Encroachment in Agricultural Land Values across Kansas.
Emma Grace Tyndall graduated from the College of Arts and Sciences in Spring 2026. She majored in Environmental Science.
Helen Winters graduated from the College of Arts and Sciences in Spring 2026. She was a double major in Fisheries, Wildlife, Conservation, and Environmental Biology and Biology.
Paul Kessinger graduated from the College of Engineering in Spring 2025. He majored in Mechanical Engineering.
Sami Villasana graduated from the College of Arts and Sciences in Spring 2025. She majored in Geology.