Institute: Idaho
Year Established: 2016 Start Date: 2016-03-01 End Date: 2017-02-28
Total Federal Funds: $48,500 Total Non-Federal Funds: $71,663
Principal Investigators: Mark Solomon, Brant Miller, Julie Scanlin, Jerry Long
Project Summary: The Idaho Water Resources Research Institute’s mission includes a robust stakeholder engagement, outreach and education program supported by IWRRI staff. IWRRI engagement and outreach activity includes maintaining a stakeholder-based Idaho water resource research needs assessment, distribution of research activities and findings to water users, stakeholders and the general public, publication of formal research reports published in technical journals, and providing presentations to the water resource community. IWRRI sponsors a range of timely conferences, workshops, short-courses and seminars that focus on water and environmental management issues of importance to Idaho and the region. IWRRI provides support for place-based and traditional watershed education programs for K-12 students. The Confluence Project (TCP) will engage teachers and students in place and project-based curricular approaches. TCP is a watershed and climate science curricular approach that is infused with Indigenous knowledge. TCP will expand to southeastern Idaho and will reach approximately 300 Idaho students annually. TCP will provide K-12 teachers with a model to take back to their Idaho classrooms each year. TCP uses a series of field experiences that help students to understand better the issues related to water as a critical resource. In 2016, IWRRI will transition its historical delivery of Project WET to other Idaho educators.