Las Cruces, New Mexico

June 11, 2019

INNOVATIVE,

MULTIDISCIPLINARY

WATER RESEARCH

TO ADDRESS THE NEEDS

OF THE US -MEXICO

BORDER CORRIDOR

Las Cruces, New MexicoJune 11, 2019

ABOUT

These efforts are part of the NSF sponsored Border Solutions Alliance, which aims to bring together

researchers from the United States and Mexico to address critical issues that impact both nations and can

benefit from cross-border coordination. The Border Solutions Alliance is a collaboration among the

University of Arizona, the University of California at San Diego, New Mexico State University, the

University of Texas at El Paso, and the University of Texas at San Antonio. The workshop on June 11 will

connect the ongoing NSF Research Coordination Network CE3SAR to the NSF Border Solutions Alliance.

New Mexico State University and the New Mexico Water Resources Research Institute will host

the Innovative, Multidisciplinary Water Research to Address the Needs of the US-Mexico Border

Corridor breakout session, in collaboration with the Autonomous University of Chihuahua, on June 11,

2019, in Las Cruces, New Mexico. Water resources remain critical to the health of border communities. A

diverse group of water researchers from the United States and Mexico will develop proposals related to

the following border water themes:

Headwater to main stem watershed interactions: Rio Grande/Rio Bravo and Rio Conchos

Water quality in rural, binational communities

Integrated assessment and management of transboundary aquifers in the New Mexico-Texas-

Chihuahua corridor

Water education and global learning

These themes and research proposal topics serve as the foundation for partnerships that will produce

meaningful water research for the needs of healthy border communities. Teams will present their

research proposals to an expert panel for feedback, which will allow refinement of possible work activities

leading into follow-up meetings.

AGENDA

Innovative, multidisciplinary water research to address

the needs of the US-Mexico border corridor New Mexico State University | Las Cruces, New Mexico

Tuesday, June 11, 2019

7:00 AM Shuttles to Las Cruces

Shuttles will take participants from the Hilton Garden Inn El Paso University

Hotel in El Paso, TX to New Mexico State University in Las Cruces, NM

8:00 AM Registration

Breakfast

8:30 AM Introduction

Sam Fernald

Director, New Mexico Water Resources Research Institute

Welcome Address

Luis Cifuentes

Vice President of Research, New Mexico State University

8:45 AM Flash Talks

Researchers will introduce themselves and their research interests in one-

minute flash talks.

9:45 AM Morning break

10:00 AM Theme-Guiding Presentations

Theme presentations will guide the afternoon discussions and research team

formation process.

Headwater to main stem watershed interactions: The Rio Grande/Rio Bravo

and Rio Conchos (Topic 1)

Holly Brause

PhD Candidate, Anthropology, University of New Mexico

Héctor Rubio Arias

Profesor, Departamento de Recursos Naturales, Universidad Autónoma de

Chihuahua

10:30 AM Water quality in rural, binational communities (Topic 2)

Beatriz Adriana Rocha-Gutiérrez

Profesor, Facultad de Ciencias Químicas, Universidad Autónoma de Chihuahua

Margie Vela

PhD Candidate, Water Science and Management, New Mexico State

University

11:00 AM Integrated assessment and management of transboundary aquifers in the

New Mexico-Texas-Chihuahua corridor (Topic 3)

Alfredo Granados-Olivas

Profesor-Investigador, Instituto de Ingeniería y Tecnología, Universidad

Autónoma de Ciudad Juárez

Sam Fernald

Director, New Mexico Water Resources Research Institute

11:30 AM Water Education and Global Learning (Topic 4)

Rudy Rosen

Director, Institute for Water Resources Science and Technology, Texas A&M

University in San Antonio

Anne Cross

Assistant Professor of Biology, Tulsa Community College

12:00 PM Proposal Development: Team Selection

12:30 PM Working Lunch

Proposal Development: Discussions

1:30 PM Theme Development: Presentation Preparations

2:15 PM Afternoon Break

2:30 PM Proposal Development Presentations to Panel

Teams will pitch their research proposals to the panel and receive feedback.

Topic 4

3:00 PM Topic 3

3:30 PM Topic 2

4:00 PM Topic 1

4:30 PM Conclusions

4:45 PM Shuttles to El Paso

Shuttles will take participants back to the Hilton Garden Inn El Paso University

Hotel in El Paso, TX.

Panelists

Gilbert Anaya

Gilbert joined the U.S. International Boundary and Water Commission (USIBWC) in 1999 and is currently the Chief of the Environmental Management Division. He has served as the U.S. Chair for the USIBWC Binational Technical Work Groups working on the Transboundary Aquifer Program since 2005 to foster research and dialog in transboundary reaches of the Santa Cruz River Aquifer, San Pedro River Aquifer, and the Mesilla and Hueco Bolsons. Along with groundwater, Mr. Anaya also has worked on water quality, wastewater, and environmental compliance projects related to the mission of the IBWC. He earned a BS in Microbiology from The University of Texas at El Paso, and an MS in Environmental Science from The University of Texas at San Antonio, and served in the United States Army. Before joining USIBWC, Mr. Anaya worked in the water and wastewater field for ten years with El Paso Water and the Cibolo Creek Municipal Authority. He has worked with federal, state, and local agencies from the U.S. and Mexico on a variety of environmental resource issues all along the US–Mexico border.

Radu Boghici

Radu Boghici is a hydrogeologist with the Texas Water Development Board (TWDB). For the past seven years, he has been running and building numerical groundwater flow models of the Texas aquifers. Before this role, Radu delineated and characterized several binational, transboundary aquifers along the US–Mexico border, and oversaw the groundwater monitoring program at the TWDB.

Luis Cifuentes

Dr. Luis Cifuentes earned a bachelor’s degree with honors in Chemistry from Swarthmore College, an MS degree in Marine Studies, and a PhD degree in Oceanography, both from the University of Delaware. He served the Texas A&M University System for more than 29 years, including seven years of administrative experience at Texas A&M University and an equal number at Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi (TAMU-CC) where he served as Vice President for Research, Commercialization and Outreach. Dr. Cifuentes led the effort to bring one of six FAA Unmanned Aircraft Systems test sites to TAMU-CC, serving as Interim Director of the Lone Star UAS Center of Excellence and Innovation from June 2014 to August 2015. Since July 1, 2018, he has served as Vice President for Research and Professor in the Department of Geology at New Mexico State University. Dr. Cifuentes was also named Dean of the Graduate School at NMSU on September 1, 2018.

Van Clothier

Van Clothier graduated from the University of California at San Diego in 1982 with a degree in physics. His firm, Stream Dynamics, Inc., specializes in turning runoff and erosion problems into water harvesting opportunities with water harvesting earth works, urban stormwater retrofits, and riparian and wetland restoration in both urban and wildland settings. Van has worked extensively in New Mexico, Arizona, and Sonora on a variety of water harvesting and stream restoration projects. He has completed the River Restoration and Natural Channel Design stream restoration course schedule taught by Dr. Dave Rosgen. He is the co-author with Bill Zeedyk of a book called, Let the Water Do the Work: Induced Meandering, an Evolving Method for Restoring Incised Channels, published November, 2009. Recent projects include designing water harvesting stormwater retrofits for the Cities of Santa Fe and Silver City, restoring a very large ciénega (desert

marsh) in the boot heel of New Mexico, building a wetland at the entrance to Ruidoso High School, and restoring many wetlands in the famous Valles Caldera of Northern New Mexico.

Michelle Estrada-Lopez

Michelle Estrada-Lopez is a Civil Engineer for the Bureau of Reclamation. She has a background in water operations for the Pecos River and Rio Grande. She currently oversees the water allocation and accounting for the Rio Grande Project and serves as a project manager for the Albuquerque Area Office. Additionally, she is a mother of two, serves on the Board of Directors for the Junior League of Albuquerque and owns her own Jazzercise franchise.

Alisha Giron

Alisha Giron has worked in research administration at New Mexico State University for 14 years. She is the Executive Director for Research Administration overseeing research development, pre-award administration, and research integrity & compliance for the NMSU system. Prior to joining NMSU, Alisha was a Principal Investigator for grants and contracts awarded to the City of Las Cruces Police Department. She holds a Bachelor’s of Social Work degree and a Master of Arts in Government degree, with a Minor in Security & Intelligence Studies, both from NMSU.

Anne-Marie Matherne

Since 2001, Anne-Marie Matherne has worked as a hydrologist with the USGS New Mexico Water Science Center. She is program coordinator of the USGS component of the Transboundary Aquifer Assessment Program (TAAP) under the Integrated Water Availability Assessments Program. Dr. Matherne is currently Chief of the Environmental Geosciences Unit at the New Mexico Water Science Center. She holds a PhD in Geotechnical Engineering from the University of Illinois-Chicago.

Rod McSherry

Rod McSherry, a native New Mexican and a proud Aggie alumnus, is the interim associate provost for International and Border Programs at New Mexico State University. He most recently served as associate professor and director of the Office of Global Agricultural Initiatives at NMSU’s College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences where he also was the Gerald Thomas Chair for Sustainable Agriculture. Mr. McSherry served as a commissioned officer in the U.S. Foreign Service from 1988 to 2012, completing his tenure as a Senior Foreign Service Officer and returning home to New Mexico.

In his current role as associate provost, Mr. McSherry is leading the way in student and faculty mobility efforts with the neighboring Mexican states of Chihuahua and Sonora, developing creative ways to engage companies on both sides of the border to support education and workforce development. A key component of Mr. McSherry’s portfolio has been research and education exchanges that engaged U.S. land grant universities. He helped move international researchers, policy makers, community developers and students between the U.S. and international partner institutions to advance mutual understanding and broad-based academic and scientific excellence.

Mr. McSherry has also maintained a strong connection to private sector companies throughout his career, particularly in the development and implementation of global engagement strategies that included research, training, and sharing of best practices. Mr. McSherry earned his bachelor’s degree in agriculture (1984) and master’s in international agricultural economics (1986), both from New Mexico State University. He is currently a doctoral candidate (economic development), also at New Mexico State University.

Participants

Lourdes Ballinas

Lourdes Ballinas has a bachelor’s in Chemistry, master’s in Science in Analytical Chemistry, and PhD in Chemistry from the Autonomus University of Mexico. Since 2003, she has been a professor at the Autonomous University of Chihuahua Mexico. Her main activity is related to separation processes. In this field she has been working on membrane technology, with special emphasis on membrane development from biomass and activated carbon. Another area of her expertise is analytical chemistry. In this area, her principal contribution is in arsenic analysis in water using ETV-ICP-MS and ETAAS. She has also been working on metal analysis of water samples. Her expertise includes analysis of the metabolites of inorganic arsenic (MAs and DMAs) in the urine of Chihuahua residents exposed to inorganic arsenic in drinking water. She has been a key collaborator on several population studies in Mexico involving analysis of arsenicals in water and urine using hydride generation-cryotrapping-atomic absorption spectrometry.

Holly Brause

Holly Brause is a PhD Candidate in the department of Anthropology at The University of New Mexico. She is currently engaged in dissertation research about the future of agriculture in the U.S./Mexico borderlands with particular emphasis on the chile industry in New Mexico and Chihuahua. The politics and practices of agricultural water use are a key component to her work on cross-border agrarian futures. She is also currently working with a small group of researchers on a Lower Rio Grande water modeling project and exploring how social and physical sciences can work together across disciplinary boundaries to more effectively capture hydrosocial processes. Brause has an MA in Latin American Studies from the University of Florida, and a BA in Anthropology from Linfield College.

Christopher Brown

Since becoming interested in US–Mexico border issues while doing his PhD work in the early 1990s, Christopher Brown has been actively involved in the study of binational water resource issues on the US–Mexico border. Brown’s specific areas of interest include binational water resource policy and the use of applied GIS tools to examine water quality and supply in twin city regions along the US–Mexico Border.

Brown has a particular interest in comparative studies of these twin cities; at the root of these studies is the desire to see how the regional geographies involved in each area support various policy initiatives. In the last several years, Brown has also focused on the above issues in a “North American context,” exploring a framework that has been advanced by Jorge Castañeda dealing with the idea of a “North American community.” In

this work, he has explored comparative analysis of water resource management frameworks on the US–Canada and U.S.-Mexico borders. Brown’s latest area of research examines the development of metrics by which the quality of life of US–Mexico border residents can be measured, and he recently completed the development of a human development index for Doña Ana County in southern New Mexico with Madelyn Schoderbek and Randy Carr, staff members of the Spatial Applications and Research Center (SpARC) Lab at NMSU.

Lauren Cifuentes

Dr. Lauren Cifuentes’ primary research interests are in administration of distance education and design of effective online instruction, including design considerations for collaborative environments. With NSF funding she investigates the relative contributions of instructors, peer-interaction, case-based experiences, and scaffolds in online learning environments.

Ana Córdova

Dr. Ana Córdova is a research professor in the Environmental and Urban Studies department of Colegio de la Frontera Norte in Cuidad Juárez. She has a master’s and PhD in politics and natural resource management from Cornell University. Her current work is focused around urban sustainability and alternative technologies, including such themes as green infrastructure, urban green spaces, urban water management, environmental restoration, sustainable construction, solid waste management, and urban agriculture.

Previously, she was Director of Ecological Regulation (2004-05) and Director General of Ecological Regulatory Research and Ecosystem Conservation (2006-08) within the National Ecology Institute—SEMARNAT. From 1993-95 she was Director of the Center for Environmental Quality at Tecnológico de Monterrey’s Chihuahua campus. From 1991-92 she worked within the Rural Development Office for the state of Chihuahua. She has also been a consultant for the North American Commission for Environmental Cooperation, the Border Environment Cooperation Commission, The Nature Conservancy, and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).

Irasema Coronado

Irasema Coronado received her bachelor’s degree in political science and a certificate of Latin American Studies from the University of South Florida. She has an MA in Latin American Studies and a PhD in Political Science from the University of Arizona. Her area of specialization is comparative politics. She is a professor in the Department of Political Science at the University of Texas at El Paso, where she holds the Kruszewski Family Endowed Professorship. She is also a contributing faculty member of the Environmental Science and Engineering PhD program. She is co-author of the book titled “Fronteras No Mas: Toward Social Justice at the U.S.-Mexico Border” and “Styles, Strategies, and Issues of Women Leaders at the Border” Eds. Mattingly, Doreen and Hansen Women and change at the U.S.-Mexico Border Tucson, Arizona: University of Arizona Press.

Irasema Coronado is past president of the Association for Borderland Studies 2005-2006. She served as a member of the Environmental Protection Agency Good Neighbor Environmental Board from 1999-2002 and co-chair of the Coalition Against Violence Toward Women and Children on the Border. She was also part of the National Advisory Committee for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency from 2003-2006.

President Barack Obama appointed her to serve on the Joint Public Advisory Committee of the Commission for Environmental Cooperation in North America in 2010. Currently, she is also a member of the academic advisory board for Ms. Magazine, and serves on the Environmental Protection Agency’s National Advisory Council for Environmental Policy and Technology (NACEPT) and the Department of Human Health Services, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences- National Advisory Environmental Health Sciences Council.

Anne Cross

Anne Cross is a student of the science of learning and puts a lot of thought and effort into implementing innovative high impact practices in her classroom. True to her teaching philosophy, she pursues creative field and hands-on experiences to engage students in learning biology and the scientific method. She is interested in discipline-based undergraduate education research in the life science and environmental sciences.

Anne studies desertification in the Chihuahuan and Sonoran Desert ecosystems of Arizona and New Mexico. She developed a widely used index of soil phosphorus bioavailability and validated the index with soil samples from grassland and shrubland ecosystems in New Mexico’s northern Chihuahuan Desert. NASA, NSF and Oklahoma State University’s Center for Water Research, and the National Audubon Society funded her field- and laboratory research on beetle diversity, oil spill remediation, and

ecosystem consequences of exotic grass invasion. Anne embraces science advocacy through her participation in AAAS’s Science and Technology Fellowship program at the US Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, D.C., the National Academy of Science’s Young Investigator in western Siberia, Russia, and as trustee for The Nature Conservancy’s Oklahoma Chapter. Anne has a BA in history from Colorado College, a MA in biology from the University of Colorado, and a PhD in biogeochemistry from Duke University. Anne has been an assistant professor of botany at Oklahoma State University and is currently on the biology faculty at Tulsa Community College.

Elva Escobar Briones

Dr. Elva Escobar Briones is director of the Institute of Marine and Limnological Sciences (ICML) at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), as well as a researcher in the Biodiversity and Macroecology laboratory within ICML. Dr. Escobar received a BS in hydrobiology from the Autonomous Metropolitan University (UAM) and received a MS and PhD in biological oceanography from UNAM. Her line of work focuses on the fauna associated with the seabed and the macroecology of aquatic environments in general. Her areas of expertise include the function and structure of tropical aquatic ecosystems; systematics and biology of benthic crustaceans; and community function models. Her research carried out on board UNAM vessels, as well as those of international collaborators, characterizes and explains the patterns of abundance, biomass, size, and geographical distribution of the biological diversity of the seabed at depths greater than

200 meters. Dr. Escobar chaired the “Global Marine Assessment” in its evaluation of UNESCO assessments, and coordinated the “Deep Sea and Deep Sea Biogeographic Classification Systems Program” in areas beyond the national jurisdiction of UNESCO-IUCN. She was recently appointed to the Executive Planning Group of the “UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development (2021-2030).”

Jose F. Espiritu

Jose F. Espiritu is an Associate Professor and Graduate Program Director in the Industrial, Manufacturing and Systems Engineering Department at The University of Texas at El Paso. He obtained his MS and PhD degrees in Industrial and Systems Engineering from Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey. His research interests are in the broad areas of systems risk and reliability analysis, data analytics, systems optimization, systems resiliency and sustainability and smart and sustainable logistics. He has been the Principal or Co-Principal Investigator in over $10 million in successful grants from agencies such as The United States Department of Agriculture, The Texas Department of Transportation, The Department of Education and The Department of Homeland Security, as well as funding from private organizations. He is a member of the Institute of Industrial and Systems Engineers (IISE), the American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE) and the Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences (INFORMS).

Sam Fernald

Sam Fernald was appointed director of the New Mexico Water Resources Research Institute (NM WRRI) in July 2013 after having served as interim director since January 2011. As director, he leads the institute in its mission to develop and disseminate knowledge that will assist the state, region, and nation in solving water resources problems.

NM WRRI, one of 54 water institutes in the nation, encourages university faculty statewide to pursue critical areas of water resources research while providing training opportunities for students, and transfers research findings to the academic community, water managers and the general public. Professor Fernald also is a faculty member in the Department of Animal and Range Sciences at New Mexico State University.

Dr. Fernald’s earned degrees include a 1987 BA in international relations from Stanford University, an M.E.M. in 1993 in water and air resources from Duke University, and a PhD in watershed science from Colorado State University in 1997. His primary research interests include water quality hydrology; land use effects on infiltration, runoff, sediment yield, and nonpoint source pollution; and effects of surface water/groundwater exchange on water availability and water quality. Dr. Fernald received a Fulbright Scholarship to Patagonian National University, Trelew, Argentina in 2008, and another Fulbright Scholarship to the University of Concepcion, Concepcion, Chile in 2000.

Maria Fuentes

Dr. Maria Fuentes is a graduate from medicine from Universidad Autónoma de Ciudad Juárez and also certified by the U.S. Educational Committee of Foreign Medical Graduates. She obtained her Master of Public Health at The University of Texas in El Paso where she focused her research on environmental factors that influence the dissemination of antibiotic resistant genes, plasmids and antimicrobial residues into the Rio Grande River. She is currently a PhD student of the Interdisciplinary Health Sciences program at UTEP, where she continues studying the possible health effects of chronic exposure to genes of Extended Spectrum ß Lactamase (ESBL) bacteria and Carbapenem Resistant Enterobacteria (CRE) and pharmaceutical residues through the ecosystem. Through a collaboration with different disciplines in biology, chemistry, medicine, public health and geology, her studies aim to understand the emergence of antibiotic resistant pathogens that could impact the health of people living in the border area of El Paso, TX and Juarez, Mexico.

Yongli Gao

Yongli Gao is Associate Professor and Director of Center for Water Research at the University of Texas at San Antonio. He has a PhD in Hydrogeology and a MS in Computer Science from the University of Minnesota and MS and BS degrees in Geology from Beijing University. His research interests include karst hydrogeology and geomorphology, water resources and aquifer sustainability, paleohydrology and paleoclimate reconstruction, and isotope geochemistry.

Alfredo Granados-Olivas

Dr. Alfredo Granados-Olivas has been a professor at Universidad Autónoma de Ciudad Juárez, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering since 1987. He graduated from NMSU on 2000. Presently, he is a member of the National System of Researchers in Mexico (SNI-Level 1). Dr. Granados was recently awarded by the National Association of Schools and Faculties of Engineering of Mexico (ANFEI) for distinguishing himself as one of the academics taking part in training engineers with academic excellence. His professional interests are the sustainability of water resources in arid ecosystems to promote equity and sustainable development within the rural communities of Mexico. His areas of expertise include hydrogeology, interaction of surface water and groundwater, aquifer recharge, and GIS.

Hugo Gutierrez-Jurado

Hugo is a hydrologist specialized in the study water resources and their interactions and feedbacks with land surface processes at local, regional and continental scales. Hugo has a BS in Ecological Engineering from the Universidad Autónoma de Chihuahua (UACH), an MS in Environmental Science from the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) and a PhD in Hydrology from the New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology. He is also an adjunct Professor at the Flinders University of South Australia and the National Centre for Groundwater Research and Training of Australia. Currently, Hugo is an Assistant Professor of Hydrology in the Department of Geological Sciences at the University of Texas at El Paso where he leads a research group focused on studying the ecohydrology and water resources of water limited and tropical areas. Recently, Hugo has established strong collaboration ties with Mexico’s National Institute of Forestry, Agriculture and Livestock

Research, UACH professors in Chihuahua and researchers from the Sonoran Institute of Technology (ITSON), working in a closed watershed of the northern-central highlands of Mexico, where overexploitation of water resources threaten the social and economic viability of a large agricultural community. Hugo is also co-founder of the National Laboratory for Coastal Resilience (LANRESC by its Spanish acronym) funded through a Consortium of Mexican Universities and CONACYT in a multi-institutional effort to gather a team of experts from the nation to work on researching solutions for some of the most pressing sustainability problems of coastal areas in Mexico.

Carina Heckert

I am a medical anthropologist with research interests in global health, gender and sexuality, violence and health, immigration, and ethnographic research methods. Broadly, my research focuses on how policy, whether it is global health policy or US immigration policy, impacts people’s illness experiences and experiences seeking healthcare. My book, Fault Lines of Care: Gender, HIV, and Global Health in Bolivia (Rutgers University Press, 2018), focuses on how people with HIV experience the forms of care that exist as a product of global health interventions. The title Fault Lines of Care reflects the book’s focus on the ways that the system of HIV care itself generates gaps in who accesses services and under what circumstances and the ways that people experience care, stay in care, fall out of care, or avoid seeking care. In addition to my work in Bolivia, I have also been a part of multiple projects related to immigration and health. These projects have

included examining healthcare access among Burmese refugees, experiences of recovery from intimate partner violence among undocumented immigrant women, and the mental health needs of immigrant women in rural areas. My newest project examines the intersections of emotional distress, reproductive healthcare access, and immigration policy in the El Paso region.

Rocío Infante-Ramírez

Dr. Rocío Infante-Ramírez is a professor in Biotechnology in the Department of Chemistry at the Autonomous University of Chihuahua. She obtained a PhD in Microbiology with major in Virology and a master’s in Sciences of Immunobiology at the Autonomous University of Nuevo León, México. She earned a bachelor’s degree in Chemistry with a major in Bacteria and Parasitology at the Autonomous University of Chihuahua.

Her research is focused on molecular diagnostic and characterization of pathogens: genotyping of norovirus and rotavirus from human and environmental samples with metagenomics analysis. She has been working with water sanitization systems using slow sand filters lab scale and in rural areas. Dr. Infante has patents of system filtration capture detection molecular for enteric virus and ecological water sanitization systems.

Dr. Infante has been a PI in internationals grants and local funds in research projects related to quality water. UACH-WWF (World Wilde Foundation) GEF Tarahumara Sustainable - Protected Area Bassaseachic Falls National Park.

Brian Laub

Research in my lab focuses on how aquatic organisms use the physical environment throughout their lifecycle and how human land use within watersheds impacts aquatic organisms through alterations to the physical environment. We also study how to best mitigate and reverse watershed impacts through river and stream restoration. An important goal in river restoration is to recover a dynamic, self-sustaining ecosystem. Accomplishing this goal requires an understanding of the physical processes that alter river and riparian habitat and how the life history cycle of aquatic organisms has adapted to these dynamic physical processes. A major goal of my lab’s research is to inform how to manage landscapes to protect and restore the health of aquatic ecosystems, including conservation of aquatic biodiversity. I have also been involved with research in the Big Bend region of the Rio Grande since 2014, and co-authored a report synthesizing knowledge of aquatic ecology in the region in 2015 (available at: https://www.sciencebase.gov/catalog/item/548b63d7e4b0279dd8f12c83 ).

Wen-Yee Lee

Dr. Wen-Yee Lee is an Associate Professor of Chemistry. Her research has been focusing on developing green analytical methods to analyze organic compounds in various matrices. Her group has developed cost effective and environmentally friendly methods to detect organic pollutants in various environmental compartments (such as air, water, soil, and plants) and biological fluids (such as urine and saliva) using a solventless sample preparation technique - Stir Bar Sorptive Extraction - coupled with Gas Chromatography/ Mass Spectrometry. Ongoing projects focuses on (1) studies of environmental endocrine disrupting compounds (EDCs), such as pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs), estrogens, glucocorticoids, and polybrominated diphenol ethers, in wastewater and sludge, (2) monitoring water quality in the Rio Grande and other water systems, (3) evaluating estrogenic activities of EDCs in reclaimed water and wastewater from fracking process, and (4) developing techniques to effectively remove EDCs in drinking water and wastewater. In semi-arid areas like El Paso, the use of reclaimed water is becoming indispensable practice. Dr. Lee’s group investigated the efficiency of wastewater treatment on the removal of EDCs and continue to work with multidisciplinary collaborators to evaluate novel and existing filter and disinfection technologies for drinking water and potable reuse in a robust and cost-efficient small water systems.

Stacey Lyle

Dr. Stacey D. Lyle, Professor of Practice, Professional Land Surveyor-Texas USA. With expertise in land ownerships and rights testifying in State, Federal, and International court cases as an expert. He recently departed BP where he was brought in to help them restructure their company to operate using an Enterprise GIS for Data Science.

Dr. Lyle is a former United Nations Energy Delegate to the Global Geospatial Information Management Session. He was a former Research Scientist at the Conrad Blucher Institute for Surveying and Science, NASA Faculty Fellow, FAA UAV Lone Star Center founder and a Kiki Del La Garza USDA Faculty Fellow. Dr. Lyle developed numerous surveying and mapping equipment and software solutions as Director of Machine Automation Division and as a GPS/Photogrammetry Specialist for Leica Geosystems, North America. He authored or co-authored over 40 papers. His current research involves building

Autocartographic Tools for a private engineering companies, developing Open-Source GNSS/UAV Software for NASA, creating a Slocomb Ocean Glider real-time GIS and building an UAV Sinkhole Detection system for Department of Defense.

Maria Cristina Morales

Maria Cristina Morales is Associate Professor of Sociology at the University of Texas at El Paso. Dr. Morales’ interests are in Latina/o sociology, international migration, and social inequality particularly focusing on labor, immigrant incorporation, and border issues. She co-authored the book Latinos in the United States: Diversity and Change with Dr. Rogelio Saenz. Dr. Morales’ recent research is focusing on immigration and policing.

Jesus Ochoa-Rivero

Mr. Ochoa-Rivero earned a Master’s Degree in Chemical Engineer from the Autonomous University of Chihuahua (UACH) in 2013. He was awarded with an internship in the University of South Australia-SA Water and participated in the project “Hydraulic Conductivity and Vegetation Characteristics of Different Biofilter Designs for Water Harvesting and Reuse”. Currently, he works at the National Research Institute of Forestry, Agriculture and Animal Production (INIFAP-Mexico) as Water Management Researcher. Also, he is a lecturer of the class “Soil Pollution and Water Sciences” at the College of Animal Science and Ecology in the UACH. His research activities include publications, proceeding’s memories and technical books, among others. Mr. Ochoa-Rivero is currently focused in water resources management, water quality, climate change, soil science, trace element biogeochemistry.

Mario Olmos

Dr. Mario Olmos obtained a MS in Hydraulic Resources from Arid Zones from the Autonomous University of Chihuahua and a PhD in Science of Environmental Technology Advanced from The Materials Research Center. His research areas include: removal of arsenic in water through phytoremediation, wastewater treatment, and waste management. He has publications listed in Scopus and has been PI of projects related to water treatment with federal grants. Currently, he is part of the staff of the waste water treatment plants in Chihuahua. He is also a professor at the College of Animal Science and Ecology in the UACH since 2012.

Ashley Page

Ashley Page is a Program Specialist at the New Mexico Water Resources Research Institute involved in the Transboundary Aquifer Assessment Program and transboundary water research. She received a Fulbright to research the hydrologic-social system in the Bulgaria and Greece transboundary region this upcoming fall. She holds an MS in Water Science and Management from New Mexico State University and a BA in Political Science from Davidson College.

Jacob Petersen-Perlman

Jacob Petersen-Perlman is a Research Analyst at The University of Arizona Water

Resources Research Center (WRRC). He has focused on international water cooperation

issues and issues of groundwater governance and management at the WRRC. Dr.

Petersen-Perlman previously served as a post-doctoral scholar through the Ken Alberman

Fellowship in Water, Society, and Geopolitics at Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel.

He earned his PhD in Geography at Oregon State University, his MS in Geography at the

University of Montana, and his BS in Meteorology at Iowa State University. His research

areas of interest include transboundary water conflict and cooperation, water security,

and water governance.

Nicolas Pineda Pablos

Nicolas Pineda Pablos is Researcher and Professor, El Colegio de Sonora, Hermosillo, Sonora, Mexico. His areas of expertise are public policy and water management. He received the degree of Doctor of Philosophy from the University of Texas at Austin in 1999. He has been a Professor and Researcher in El Colegio de Sonora, and other Mexican institutions. Author and coauthor of articles, books and book chapters in Spanish and English. Since October 2018, he is in a sabbatical stay at the Udall Center where he is working on US-Mexico binational water management.

Jorge Preciado

Jorge Preciado is a research assistant at the New Mexico Water Resources Research Institute. His current research focuses on estimating groundwater recharge and model water flow. He holds a BA in architecture, a MS in water and energy engineering from University of Guadalajara (UdeG), and is currently a PhD student in the water science and management program at New Mexico State University. His research interests are water use efficiency in agriculture and cities.

Pablo Reyes-Castro

I am a research professor at the Center for Studies on Health and Society, at El Colegio de Sonora, a social science research center in Sonora, Mexico. My interests and work experience have mainly focused on the analysis and management of geographic information, the evaluation of the intra-urban differences in disease distribution, and its relationship to socio-environmental determinants. I am particularly interested in using public surveillance and socio-environmental data in order to know how socio-environmental determinants of health affect disease distribution. I believe this approach will inform decision makers to improve the health of vulnerable populations. Currently, I study the intra-urban mortality profile of communicable, non-communicable, and external causes of disease, and their association with socioeconomic and demographic conditions in three cities of Sonora, Mexico.

Judith Virginia Rios Arana

Judith V. Ríos Arana is a research professor at the Chemical and Biological Sciences Department of the Universidad Autónoma de Ciudad Juárez. Her research topics include studies on Río Bravo/Grande water physicochemical characteristics and metal content at the El Paso-Juárez area, limnology of arid zones (springs water quality, morphology monitoring, and zooplankton identification), ecotoxicology (effect of metal mixtures on rotifers population dynamics) and environmental education (developing of an interactive workshop on environment issues for 4thgrade kids to evaluate knowledge acquisition). In 2010 she participated as a curator in the UTEP Centennial museum exhibition “A river Interrupted: making a case for changing our management of the Rio Grande.” Dr. Ríos received her BS degree in Bacteriological and Parasitological Chemistry at The Universidad Autónoma de Chihuahua (Facultad de Ciencias Químicas) in 1996, her MS in Chemistry and PhD in Environmental Sciences at the University of Texas at El Paso in 1999 and 2003, respectively.

Beatriz Rocha-Gutierrez

Beatriz Rocha, PhD, has been a professor of Chemistry at the Autonomous University of Chihuahua since 2013. She obtained a master’s in analytical chemistry and a PhD in environmental sciences and engineering from The University of Texas at El Paso. Her work has concentrated on drinking water quality, reuse of wastewater in agriculture and reclaimed water in industry. Her research also includes detection and quantification focused in two groups of emerging pollutants: DDTs and PBDEs in wastewater and sewage sludge. Dr. Rocha has presented her research findings in several international, national and regional scientific meetings in places such as El Paso, TX, San Diego, CA, Tampa, FL, Jackson, Mississippi, and other cities in Mexico. She has been published in international journals listed in Scopus in all the areas of her research, and is part of the Mexican Researchers Institute (SNI). Dr. Rocha has been PI in Mexican federal grants and regional funds in research projects related to water treatment.

Jorge Rodriguez

Deputy Chief Jorge A. Rodriguez, a first-generation American and lifelong El Pasoan, is the Emergency Management Director and EMAP Accreditation Manager for the El Paso City & County Office of Emergency Management. For the last 20 years, he has worked for the El Paso Fire Department in various ranks and assignments in emergency operations, training, administration, special projects and emergency management. He holds a Master of Public Administration and a BA in Political Science with a certificate in Intelligence and National Security.

Rudolph “Rudy” Rosen

Rudolph “Rudy” Rosen, PhD, is a professor and Director of the Institute for Water Resources Science and Technology at Texas A&M University in San Antonio, a Fellow of The Meadows Center for Water and the Environment, Texas State University, and a former Research Associate at the Harte Research Institute for Gulf of Mexico Studies, Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi. He directed a joint project between the Center and Institute called H2O – Headwaters to Ocean. The H2O project formed the basis for Texas Aquatic Science, a comprehensive curriculum for water and aquatic sciences developed by the Meadows Center, Harte Research Institute, and Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. Dr. Rosen authored the water education textbook Texas Aquatic Science, a product of the H2O partnership. Visit H2O at http://www.water-texas.org

Dr. Rosen is a former Director of Wildlife, Fisheries and Coastal Resources for the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. He was also Executive Director of Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, where he served in the environmental cabinet of two governors. Dr. Rosen specializes in conservation organization management, leadership, fundraising, and advocacy. He recently wrote the book Money for the Cause: A Complete Guide to Event Fundraising published by Texas A&M University Press. It’s an easy to understand yet comprehensive textbook on fundraising for environmental causes.

Hector O. Rubio-Arias

Dr. Hector O. Rubio obtained his PhD at New Mexico State University in 1989. He is retired from the National Research Institute of Forestry, Agriculture and Animal Production (INIFAP-Mexico). Presently, He is a research professor in the College of Animal Production and Ecology of the Autonomous University of Chihuahua, where he is involved in different projects related to the level of pollution in soils and water resources. Dr. Rubio has written four books, several book chapters and has about 70 peer-reviewed publications in different journals. He belongs to the National Researcher System of CONACYT-Mexico and he is participating as a member of the bio-security experts of CONABIO-Mexico. Dr. Rubio serves on the editorial boards of several journals, as well as having served as reviewer of many publications.

Blanca Estela Sánchez Ramírez

The lines of research being conducted in my laboratory are focused on characterizing the effects of arsenic exposure on placenta development as well as on reproductive function. In order to explain the mechanism by which arsenic exposure during gestation induces premature labor or low weight, we characterized the placental morphophysiology in pregnant mice exposed to arsenic. Results showed an increase in microinfarctions and vascular congestion; additionally, an increase in glucose transporter type 3 (Glut-3) and a decrease in Glut-4 was demonstrated in placentas from females exposed. An important fact detected during this work was the inconsistency of the estral cycle of the murine females, which was notorious. Actually, we are conducting several studies to determine the disruption of endocrine cycles in females exposed to arsenic and the relationship with impairment in signal transduction or receptor expression in ovary cells. In collaboration

with researchers from the Department of Nutrition at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, we participated in the supervision of the process of DNA and RNA isolation from individuals exposed to arsenic through drinking water, and to certify the quality of samples and conditions of shipping to NCU were test of DNA methylation was carried out

Sergio Soto-Navarro

Education:

BS, Animal Science, Autonomous University of Baja California, 1989

MS, Animal Production Systems, Autonomous University of Baja California, 1993

PhD, Animal Science with emphasis in Ruminant Nutrition, New Mexico State University,

1999

Post-Doctorate - Protein Metabolism of Rapidly Growing Goats, Langston

University,1999-2002

Post-Doctorate - Metabolism of Selenium on Rapidly Growing Tissues, North Dakota State

University, 2002-2004

Research: Beef cattle nutrition and management; forage utilization

Robert Varady

Robert G. Varady is research professor of environmental policy and immediate past director of the Udall Center for Studies in Public Policy at the University of Arizona. He also is adjunct research professor of arid lands studies in the School of Natural Resources and the Environment, and adjunct professor in the Department of Hydrology and Atmospheric Sciences.

Varady obtained his PhD in 1981 in the modern history of developing-country infrastructure from the University of Arizona, and holds MS and BS degrees in mathematics from the Polytechnic Institute of Brooklyn (now NYU Tandon School of Engineering) and the City College of New York, respectively.

Varady’s work mostly has addressed environmental and water-management governance and policy in arid regions, with an emphasis on transboundary issues, especially along the US–Mexico border. He has studied the history of global water initiatives, transboundary aquifer governance, and water security in the Americas. He has been a consultant to UNESCO, FAO, and GEF on a number of water-related efforts, and recently led an evaluation of UNESCO’s World Water Assessment Program.

Margie Vela

Margie Vela is a PhD candidate at New Mexico State University and a USDA NIFA Fellow. She will finish her degree in Water Science and Management in May 2019. Her research involves interdisciplinary work and focuses on the social implications of water inequity, exploring the relationships between potable water and various health indicators, and potable water and educational attainment for communities on the Southern U.S. Border. She is currently working with high school students living in these communities on a Youth Participatory Action Research Project to explore access to water in the colonias of the U.S.

Vela is a native to El Paso and holds an MBA and a BS in Business Marketing. She has served the State of NM and NMSU as a Regent for NMSU. Additionally, she worked in several professional roles including Assistant Director for the Science and Mathematics Initiative for Learning Enrichment at Delaware State University; and Project Director for the HIRED! Program at Child, Youth, and School Services for Fort Lee, Virginia. Margie served as a consultant for rural organic farmers in Colombia regarding water use and organizational development. She conducts workshops for college students and researchers on various topics including interdisciplinary research, complex socio-environmental problems, and college success.

María de Lourdes Villalba

Dr. María de Lourdes Villalba obtained her doctorate in Environmental Science and Technology with specialization in Natural Environmental Radioactivity in water at the Advanced Materials Research Center (CIMAV). She was a fellow of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), which allowed her to train in radiochemical methods in the Department of Atomic, Molecular and Nuclear Physics at the University of Seville, Spain. She is currently a full-time research professor at the Faculty of Engineering of the Autonomous University of Chihuahua, and participates in the research areas: environmental radioactivity, hydrochemistry and water quality. Dr. Villalba has published two books, as well as articles both national and international. She has been director of thesis projects at the undergraduate, master’s and doctoral levels. Technical manager of projects supported by the National Council of Science and Technology (CONACYT).

Shane Walker

Dr. Walker serves as Director of the UTEP Center for Inland Desalination Systems and Associate Professor in the Department of Civil Engineering. He teaches courses on water and wastewater engineering, aqueous chemistry, and physical/chemical treatment processes, and his research focuses on sustainable drinking water treatment, especially high recovery inland desalination.

Pei Xu

Dr. Xu is Associate Professor in the Department of Civil Engineering at New Mexico State University. Her research focuses on developing innovative treatment and desalination technologies for use of alternative water sources such as municipal wastewater, brackish water, desalination concentrate, and oil and gas produced water. The goal of her research is to address critical water shortage problems in arid and semi-arid regions.

Adriana Zuniga-Teran

Adriana Zuniga-Teran is an Assistant Research Scientist at the University of Arizona’s Udall Center for Studies in Public Policy and the School of Landscape Architecture and Planning. With a background in architecture and expertise in neighborhood design, Dr. Zuniga combines knowledge-building with problem-solving of real-world challenges in her research projects. Adriana works with stakeholders and community partners to answer questions related to water security, urban resilience, and environmental justice, by focusing on greenspace/green infrastructure across the urban-rural continuum.

Adriana is originally from Monterrey, Mexico. She did her undergraduate studies on architecture at the Monterrey Institute of Technology and Higher Education (ITESM) in Monterrey. She worked as an architectural designer in Mexico for several years. She holds two advanced degrees from the University of Arizona: a master of architecture degree with a concentration in design and energy conservation, and a doctoral degree in arid lands resource sciences with a minor in global change.