Watershed Innovations (WINS) Grant Program

Mississippi River with bridge in background.

WINS amplifies work from U of M scientists conducting high-impact, interdisciplinary research at the intersection of water, land, and people.

WINS was created to catalyze lasting collaborative initiatives that will build and strengthen the growing interdisciplinary expertise around water resources at the University of Minnesota. The WRC is assisting by providing support for graduate students in the form of supplemental research stipends. WINS leverages resources from CFANS and the Water Resources Research Institutes program at the USGS.

For questions or more details, contact Sarah Roth.

Current projects

Completed projects

Expand all

Completed projects

Investigating whether soil health systems improve field workability and quality of life

Anna Cates | Dept. of Soil, Water and Climate

This project assessed the soil response to rainfall under different management systems (e.g., soil moisture and soil structure, such that soil may bear equipment despite high moisture levels). Estimated field working days and their economic impacts with SHMS and conventional systems, and explored the importance of field working days for farmer quality of life and stress levels.

Learn more

Assessing the impact of industrial agriculture on water quantity and quality in the Park Rapids region

John Nieber | Bioproducts and Biosystems Engineering

There is a need to quantify the impact of intensified agricultural production on the quantity and quality of surface waters and groundwater. The present study had the objective to make such a quantification.

Learn more

Nitrogen Rate, Cover Crops, and Living Mulches: Their Impact on Irrigated Corn and Soybean Production and the Environment

Fabian Fernandez | Dept. of Soil, Water and Climate

The objectives of the original study were to evaluate under these cropping systems and cover crop arrangements the effect of nitrogen (N) rate on grain yield and nitrate-N leaching concentration and load.

Learn more

Snow hydrology in Minnesota headwater catchments

Xue Feng | Civil, Environmental, and Geo-Engineering

This study aimed to fill a critical knowledge gap by understanding snow dynamics in headwater catchments in the U.S. Midwest, which is governed by entirely distinct climate, soil, and topographic controls.

Learn more