The purpose of this workshop was to understand the Teton context and stakeholder concerns in order to design a integrated pilot project that is relevant, legitimate, and salient while bounded enough to accomplish during the next 1-2 years.

Rawlins and Sinclair have recently been facing water shortages as the result of aging and neglected infrastructure, but also drought. Experts suggest that many towns across the West could face similar problems in the future.

A five-year, $20 million grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to the University of Wyoming will allow researchers to work with Wyoming’s communities to deal with expected significant and lasting changes in water availability.

After a semester of hard work University of Wyoming geology students have the opportunity to present their research at the AGU Conference in San Francisco December 12th - 16th. This is the largest worldwide conference in the geophysical sciences that brings together scientists, educators, and students. One UW student that will be presenting her research at the conference will be Casey McGuffy.

Before coming to Laramie, Dr. Befus received his PhD from the University of Texas, Austin and went on to serve as a U. S. Geological Survey Mendenhall Research Fellow in Woods Hole, Massachusetts. Dr. Befus's research is focused on how groundwater interacts with conditions at the Earth's surface. "Groundwater is what I'm curious about. How does it affect everything else?" Dr. Befus said. Groundwater acts as long term reservoir for water, but it does change over time. Dr. Befus is interested in how human uses are affecting the sustainability of the resource and how this in turn may affect system ecology, chemistry, and weathering of bedrock.

The course focused on concepts from both ecology and computer science to help solve real world problems. Brian Barber from the Biodiversity and Institute and Liz Nysson worked on developing the curriculum for the course. To begin, the girls were introduced to some of the basic background of botany. Then they began to learn python coding, a type of coding typically used for beginners. The python coding was then applied to Raspberry pi computers. These small computers are about the size of a credit card and can be used with a standard computer monitor, keyboard, and mouse.

Video: Learn how one University of Wyoming student conducts research that reimagines the science behind water in the Mountain West.

Wyoming is a state that pays attention to water. As a semi-arid head water state, citizens and organizations need to know how much water we have, and where this water is going. With scientific research we can answer these questions. Working with WyCEHG, Associate Professor Ginger Paige has been able to conduct hydrology research that has been able to contribute to a better understanding of water processes across the state.