⏲️ This month’s edition contains approximately 800 words (just over a 3-minute read).

The CONSERVE Research Group is building a native seed bank for Alabama through a new partnership with Atlanta Botanical Garden, Washburn Seeds and Agricultural Consulting, and the Alabama Native Seed Network. The effort aims to give restoration projects and private landowners a ready source of simple, effective native seed mixes for healthier watersheds across the state.

How can well-chosen seeds set up decades of healthier land?

CIROH community resources allow students, researchers and water professionals to access, share and improve on existing work. Whether it is a model like NextGen In A Box, a presentation, published paper or notebook, open-source assets remain critical for the future of water resources modeling in a consortium made up of diverse fields, talents and careers.

How much faster does water science move when nobody has to start from scratch?

In Kazakhstan, access to water is shaped as much by governance as by supply. Government corruption and mistrust of neighboring states restrict the population's access to water for irrigation and daily life, deepening the pressures of drought across the region. GWSC examines how those forces can combine to fuel instability.

What happens when a nation's water crisis is rooted less in scarcity than in trust?

GWSC looks ahead to 2035 in Liberia, where intensifying heavy-rain days could overwhelm already inadequate infrastructure while dry-season lows cut into water supply. The result is a nation squeezed from both directions, too much water in one season and too little in the next.

How can infrastructure keep pace when the extremes pull in opposite directions?

Cuba is heading into the 2026-27 El Niño already weakened by fuel shortages and a fragile power grid, conditions that were largely absent during the comparable 2015-16 event. GWSC examines how the pattern's typical dry summers and wet winters could deepen drought-driven food insecurity and threaten cash crops like tobacco.

The CIROH Visiting Scholars Program provided Dr. Mohamed Fathi Said and Dr. Wei Zhang with everything they needed to learn about hydroclimatic whiplash. Through their research collaboration with Dr. Mukesh Kumar, high-performance computing resources and plenty of uninterrupted coding time, these visiting scholars impacted hydrologic forecasting and created a lifelong friendship and collaboration.

What can two scientists on opposite sides of the world accomplish once the right tools and time bring them together?

When water, conflict and security intersect, assumptions can be as risky as the challenges themselves. GWSC's Busting Water Myths Workshop brought leading scholars, students and practitioners to UA to challenge long-held beliefs and trade evidence-based perspectives on today's water security landscape.

What water myths are still shaping decisions that affect real communities?

What does it take to replace a water myth with evidence?

Our Water-R2O NRT students traveled across the Southeast to explore Hurricane Helene as a case study in operational hydrology. From flood forecasting and dam safety to emergency management and recovery, the study tour gave students a firsthand look at how water science supports real-world decisions and communities.

How does a hurricane's aftermath become a classroom for the scientists who'll forecast the next one?

Every week, students in the Research Experience for Undergraduates program participate in Water Wednesdays, a field learning experience designed to offer them the chance to physically experience the realities of water research and operations.

What does hands-on fieldwork teach that a textbook can't?

Dr. Xinyue Ye, CONSERVE director of AI and Endowed Shelby Distinguished Professor at UA, has been elected to the National Academy of Artificial Intelligence, or NAAI, in recognition of his contributions to geospatial AI, urban AI and smart cities. The honor marks his leadership in shaping the future of the field.

How do you teach a machine to understand a place, not just map it?

Radio waves fade almost as soon as they touch water, so underwater robots, vehicles and sensors rely on sound, which travels slowly and carries limited bandwidth. Dr. Lina Pu, a computer science faculty member at UA and an Alabama Water Institute affiliate, has earned a National Science Foundation CAREER Award to develop acoustic panels that steer sound waves farther and carry more information, with payoffs for ocean research, environmental monitoring and maritime security. She is one of four UA faculty members to earn the honor this year.

What could clearer signals beneath the surface mean for the next ocean discovery?

Atmospheric rivers can bring much-needed water to the West, but they can also produce devastating floods. Dr. Marty Ralph, founding director of the Center for Western Weather and Water Extremes at UC San Diego’s Scripps Institution of Oceanography, discusses atmospheric river reconnaissance, forecast-informed reservoir operations and the importance of bringing researchers and forecasters together to turn science into better tools for water managers.

The Alabama Water Institute is hiring a Hydrologic Scientist I to support hydrologic prediction, flood and drought forecasting, and water resources planning tied to NOAA's national low-flow information efforts. The role puts a researcher directly inside the modeling and analysis work that shapes water forecasting decisions across the region.

What does it take to turn hydrologic data into decisions communities can act on?

The National Weather Service is accepting applications from UA for its 2026-27 Student Career On-Site Training program, or SCOuT, which pairs hydrology students with an NWS mentor for hands-on job shadowing at NOAA and NWS facilities. UA is one of only eight universities nationwide invited to apply on the hydrology track.

What does operational hydrology actually look like from the inside?