Congratulations to this year’s WALPA scholarship winners! Paloma Mireles and Ash Breault take home the honors this year.

Dave Lamb Memorial Scholarship Winner ($1000)

Paloma Mireles, Washington State University-Vancouver, Master’s student

Paloma's research focuses on the Klamath dams and the exposed sediments left behind after their removal. Reservoirs allow for the accumulation of trapped sediment, creating a pool of carbon that can become a source of greenhouse gas emissions once exposed. She seeks to understand how the inundated sediment evolves and what soil properties are driving the carbon gas fluxes. Paloma's research will provide valuable insight into the mechanisms behind methane and carbon dioxide fluxes, leading to better mitigation strategies when decommissioning dams.

WALPA Undergraduate Scholarship ($500)

Ash Breault, University of Washington-Tacoma, undergraduate student

Ash’s research is in collaboration with researchers at UW-Tacoma, and a team of researchers from the Chehalis Tribe of Indians, WDFW, USFS, University of Puget Sound, Western Washington University, The Evergreen State College, and UW Bothell. 

Ash is working to characterize Chinook salmon reintroduction sites and map the spread of invasive New Zealand mud snails (NZMS) in the Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument where Chinook salmon are being reintroduced this year. Her research will focus on determining whether the water chemistry, hydrology, and ecology of Coldwater and Castle Creeks and the upper Toutle River are limiting the spread and relative distribution of NZMS in these bodies of water. She is also looking into whether NZMS colonization in the area indicates an inhospitable habitat for Chinook salmon reintroduction into Coldwater Creek in the summer, as NZMS, which appeared in the system within the last few years, pose severe potential risks to fish populations in Mt. St. Helens waters. However, water chemistry and hydrology may limit the invasion success of the mud snails. Ash is using water and benthic macroinvertebrate sampling and stream channel characterization in her research and focusing on conditions that help or hinder the invasion of NZMS to analyze this risk.

We look forward to hearing more about their research efforts at October’s annual conference in Bellingham.