By Anya Normandeau, Water Resources Center
Each year at the Minnesota Water Resources Conference, two awards named after significant people in the Minnesota water community, are carefully selected by members of the conference awards subcommittee. This year, two recipients were presented with each award by Water Resources Center Director, Jeff Peterson.
Deborah L. Swackhamer Early Career Award
The first award, Deborah L. Swackhamer Early Career Award, is named after former Water Resources Center director andUniversity of Minnesota Professor Deborah (Deb) Swackhamer. Her research included influential work on organic pollutant behavior and endocrine-disrupting chemicals. She advocated for scientific integrity and incorporation of scientific knowledge in policy making. During her career, she was known for mentoring students and young faculty, challenging them in many different ways.
This award was created in her name to recognize early career scientists and professionals. It is meant to highlight future leaders in the water research field.
This year, two people were selected as recipients of this award this year. The first being Xue Feng, Land-Grant associate professor in the Department of Civil, Environmental and Geo-Engineering at the University of Minnesota.
Feng’s research revolves around her interest in the role of plants in controlling the water cycle. One of her projects includes field-based research in the peatlands in Northern Minnesota. She focuses on providing information about how climate change will affect future water cycles across the state and country. Her second research project is based within the U of M-based NSF urban LTER. In this specific project, her focus is on how to control and manage the water cycle in urban environments to ensure the safety and well-being of our society.
Feng is also a leader who champions women in hydrological sciences including editing an issue in the Journal of Hydrology called, “Women in hydrology: celebrating the contributions of mentors, researchers, and leaders.”
The second recipient of the 2024 Deborah L. Swackhamer Early Career Award was Stephanie Hatzenbihler from Stearns County Soil and Water Conservation District (SWCD).
In 2017, Hatzenbihler joined the City of Rochester as an Environmental Education Specialist on the stormwater team where she focused on inclusive public engagement for surface water management, behavior change research and programming for chloride and pet waste pollution reduction. She worked with diversity, equity, and inclusion specialists for inclusive community engagement, while mentoring future water resource champions through several programs including, MN Greencorps, MN Water Stewards, and Adopt-a-Drain.
In March 2023, she joined Stearns County SWCD as a water plan coordinator where she leads and supports several other programs including the Mississippi River-Sartell One Watershed One Plan, Wellhead Protection Plans. In this role, she also hosts initiatives such as the “We Are Water MN” exhibit.
Dave Ford Award
The second award presented at this year’s conference was the Dave Ford Award. Named after Dave Ford, this award honors someone for their significant contributions, achievements or public service in water resources management. This person also exhibits the collaborative spirit and leadership of Dave Ford.
This year’s first recipient of this award was Joe A. Magner, a research professor in the Department of Bioproducts and Biosystems Engineering at the University of Minnesota and former employee of the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA).
Magner’s work at the MPCA shaped Clean Water Partnership diagnostic studies, stream restoration plans, surface water/groundwater interaction assessments, and much more. He also became chief architect for the development of biological stressor best management practices implementation strategies,which continues to be fundamental for watershed management and planning.
While pioneering many innovative areas of research and development, he also successfully mentored countless developing scientists and oversaw interdisciplinary teams while teaching others in the watershed profession.
The second recipient of the Dave Ford award was Randy Neprash, retired stormwater regulatory specialist at Stantec and Minnesota Cities Stormwater Coalition. Throughout his career, Neprash provided guidance and support with complex regulations and communities searching for water resource improvement through stormwater implementation and advocating for advancement of new technologies in the field.
He created the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) Guide Plan with the League of Minnesota Cities to help many cities comply with the Municipal stormwater (MS4) permit requirements. He also played large roles in many initiatives including Minnesota’s Minimal Impact Design Standards, creation of the Minnesota Stormwater Steering Committee, Clean Water Fund support, and much more.