FELLOWSHIP PROGRAM

Water Sciences as a National Need

Highly trained water scientists are needed with the background solve complex and diverse crop, irrigation, surface, and groundwater problems on a national as well as regional and state basis. Accordingly, this USDA Water Science Fellowship Program was designed to provide the Fellows with opportunities for innovative, nonlinear thinking as well as the inter-/multi-disciplinary, system science-based training necessary to address water related problems Figure 1.

Water Science USDA/CSRS National Needs Fellowship Program

Since 1988, the USDA/CSRS Food and Agricultural Sciences National Needs Graduate Fellowship Grants Program has funded 15 Water Sciences Fellowships at Michigan State University (MSU). A total of five USDA/MSU Water Science Fellows have been awarded Ph.D.s and are pursuing careers based on their training. Six Fellows are presently in different phases of their training, one elected to stop with a Masters Degree and three fellowships remain to be awarded in December, 1998.

The success of this program depends on identifying promising students and affiliating them with MSU Water Sciences faculty who can mentor the Fellows successfully. Their efforts are reinforced by additional interactions through seminars, conferences, and group meetings. This program has two overall goals: 1) to offer the Water Science Fellows a distinctive experience that helps them understand and develop effective research processes so they will be motivated to pursue careers in research; and 2) to forge mutually beneficial bonds among the Fellows, MSU faculty, and off-campus members of the scientific community in their respective disciplines. The Fellows have the opportunity to establish themselves readily with a specific professor or dissertation advisor so that person assumes first mentor status. However, the mentoring network can be extended among other faculty members who make a contribution to the students' range of knowledge, interactions, and professional development.

Guidance committees for the doctoral candidates should include at least two members of the Water Science National Needs Core Faculty (Table 1), at least one of whom does not work in the same research area as the fellow. Faculty members assume responsibility for new Fellows and insure that they are given the opportunity to participate in seminars and conferences with the faculty members' aid and guidance, to participate in professional networking and socialization not only at Michigan State University but also with future colleagues in other universities as well as government, business, and rural/urban citizens groups.

Without adequate bridges between applied and basic research and technology, universities have been disadvantaged in efforts to solve the multitude of multifaceted, interrelated, water degradation problems. To counteract this, the Water Science Fellows are introduced to various applied water science problems and given the opportunity to design methods to achieve solutions as well as to participate in field activities such as MSU Natural Resources Days, MSU Agricultural Exposition, and interactions with farmers as well as land management agencies and the public. MSU Extension agents serve a valuable function as liaisons and mentors to demonstrate techniques of interaction and cooperation among diverse groups. The Fellows are also enrolled in at least one special problems course in their field of research which may provide opportunities for interaction and mentoring by representatives of agencies such as: the Michigan Departments of Agriculture, Natural Resources, Environmental Quality, and Public Health, as well as the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service and the U.S. Department of the Interior through the U.S. Geological Survey and the U.S. Forest Service. This applied, interactive experience is intended to facilitate understanding and appreciation of the practical side of the water sciences, thereby fostering better communication between basic and applied water scientists, agency officials, and citizens. Being exposed to a variety of people working on diverse projects also provides the Fellows examples of different approaches that will help them break out of conventional linear thinking to express themselves in more creative ways.

This interactive experience is balanced by the basic strength of this training program, a careful sequencing of training that begins with the required systems science courses. These are followed by a depth of subject matter achieved in collateral disciplines and specific applications selected to relate to the students individual research interests. Those who are trained in this format should have the expertise to deal with the nation's water related problems, which are likely to increase in number and complexity in the years to come. However, adaptability and creativity are also needed. Because funds are likely to be insufficient, resources must be optimized; and the Fellows must be able to set and prioritize goals and develop the most appropriate methodology to achieve the maximum results This process requires an extensive knowledge of internal and external costs: monetary, social, and environmental that result from a given system's performance. Accurate specifications must also be delineated for its functions and remediation of water quality problems. However, flexibility is also important in this training to bring out creative thinking patterns.

Graduate Plan of Study

Michigan State University has strong programs within the agricultural, natural resources, biological, environmental, and engineering sciences. The Water Science Fellow Program is centered on the principles of systems science as an integrating factor to train graduate students to participate actively in an inter-/multi-disciplinary approach to creative thinking for problem identification, research objective development, methodology design, implementation, and evaluation (Figure 2).
Defining this inter-/multi-disciplinary approach more specifically is difficult because

Table 1. The Water Science Core Faculty. Their abridged curriculum vitae and respective research interests are accessed via hyperlink.

Frank M. D’Itri, Professor, Department of Fisheries and Wildlife and Associate Director, Institute of Water Research (Co-Principal Investigator

Boyd G. Ellis, Professor and Chairperson, Department of Crop and Soil Sciences (Co-Principal Investigator)

George W. Bird, Professor, Department of Entomology

Stephen A. Boyd, Professor, Department of Crop and Soil Sciences

John P. Giesy, Professor, Department of Zoology, Aquatic Toxicology Laboratory and Institute for Environmental Toxicology

James B. Hart, Associate Professor, Department of Forestry

John P. Hoehn, Associate Professor, Department of Agricultural Economics

David T. Long, Professor, Department of Geological Sciences

Joe T. Ritchie, Professor and Homer Nowlin Chair, Departments of Crop and Soil Sciences, Agricultural Engineering and Resource Development

James M. Tiedje, Professor, Departments of Crop and Soil Sciences, Microbiology and Public Health, and Director, Center for Microbial Ecology.

Roger B. Wallace, Associate Professor, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering

each student's program is tailored individually to merge his/her interests with the appropriate faculty expertise. Part of the inter-/multi-disciplinary approach requires the students to formulate their interests which can then be solidified with their objectives in conjunction with one or more mentors in various disciplines.

To facilitate these off-campus interactions, each Fellow is provided with a $1000 travel grant allowance to attend meetings, workshops, and/or visit industrial laboratories. In addition, off-campus interactions are supplemented by bringing outstanding researchers to the MSU campus to present seminars related to the Fellows' research programs. These presentations include individual opportunities for the Fellows to receive professional mentoring by recognized authorities in their area of study. The Fellows are encouraged to expand the exchanges beyond their immediate projects to encourage the cross fertilization of ideas and approaches to research. By the time the Fellows complete their studies, they will have interacted with a diverse range of experts/colleagues and have developed a personal and professional rapport that enables them to adapt from a mentoring to a collegial networking model as they attain professional standing.

A great variety of research options are available to the Fellows because water science presently is a growing field that is particularly suited for new ideas with innovative applications to study numerous aspects of environmental systems. Not enough is known about how water carries contaminants from soils to both surface and groundwater where the impact is of critical importance to public health and the environment. Process chemistry in soils must also be elucidated to define the reaction rates and residues carried with the water. The effects as well as the chemical and biological transformations of contaminants constitute a critical aspect of surface and groundwater quality now and will continue to in the future. The institutional aspects of water science also mandate comprehensive risk assessment, economic analyses, food safety, social, and legal evaluation. MSU has strong research programs in each of these areas. The USDA fellowship training grants offer an exceptional opportunity to train researchers to meet future needs in the federal, state, local, and private sectors (Figure 3).

The inter-/multi-disciplinary doctoral programs offer theoretical and practical research training coordinated among the fundamental disciplines (Figures 2 and 4). In a core of courses related to production agriculture and forestry as well as biological, environmental, physical,and social sciences. Graduate students can interact in an inter-/multi-disciplinary format to apply systems science methodology to address real world problems creatively and effectively.

Michigan State University is an appropriate institution in which to train water scientists because a well qualified and innovative faculty are already in place, conducting significant research and training other graduate and undergraduate students. The Water Science core faculty are listed in Table 1. Because of the newly recognized and extensive kinds of problems that must be resolved, the training is by no means limited to conventional areas of expertise. Instead, the interests of Fellows are reinforced by a host of MSU researchers in other areas. A wide range of individual specializations are available to call upon as new issues and interests arise. That frequently occurs, so flexibility of mind set as well as research orientation are hallmarks of the faculty, and the students they seek to attract.

The graduate curriculum of the National Needs Fellows centers on a core of courses (FW 820, Systems Modeling and Simulation and FW 821, Applied Systems Modeling and Simulation for Natural Resources Management). In addition, a minimum of three courses are selected from a collateral core curriculum. Depending on their specific interests, Fellows also take collateral core courses in their areas of specialization as recommended by individual guidance committees (See Table 2). The proposed time line for Water Science Fellows is as follows: The Fellows are encouraged to select a faculty academic/dissertation advisor by the end of their first semester (3 months) into their program. Over the next 3 months the Fellows, in consultation with their faculty advisors, are expected to select their Ph.D. guidance committees and have them review and approve their proposed academic program. The Fellows are expected to take between 6 and 9 credits per semester to complete the academic portion of their programs by the end of their second year. The Fellow's actual research program begins with the selection of their academic/dissertations advisors early in their initial year and continues until graduation. During their first year, consultation with their research advisor helps them identify a suitable research problem, library/literature review, followed by the development of a research proposal to be presented to and approved by their Ph.D. guidance committee by the end of their first year or the beginning of their second year. Accordingly, the Fellows' research programs must be initiated as early as possible, but no later than the beginning of their second year. The third year of the fellowship, in most cases, is completely devoted to completing their research problem and writing up their results. While this describes the time line for a three year Ph.D. program, our experience has shown that the typical Fellow usually takes about four years to complete their degree. One factor is the allowance for flexibility and creativity that may permit experimentation in areas where the results are not as predictable as more traditional research would assure.

The Fellows are trained to participate in under the joint direction of the cooperating MSU faculty. Examples of research initiatives incorporated in this training are summarized and described more fully as Innovative Areas of Research. This training program allows the Fellows to specialize and still obtain an integrated overview of problems in the water sciences. This integration is achieved by laboratory group and departmental seminars, guidance committees, participation in the Water Science Study Group, and opportunities to conduct one-term research projects in national facilities such as the USDA Water Conservation (Phoenix, AZ), Sedimentation (Oxford, MS), Salinity (Riverside, CA), and Soils Erosion Research (West Lafayette, IN) Laboratories or the Environmental Sciences Division of the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (Oak Ridge, TN).

Origin and Modification of Contaminants

(1) Reductive Dehalogenation of Chlorinated Organic Contaminants (Boyd)

(2) Attenuating Organic Contaminant Migration by Soil Modification (Boyd).
(3) Bioavailability of Soil-Sorbed Contaminants (Boyd).
(4) Microbial Mitigation of Soil Contaminants (Tiedje)
(5) Processes to Control Nitrate and Phosphorus in Waters (Ellis).
(6) Pest Management/Water Quality (Bird).

Transport of Contaminants by Water

(7) Planning, Management and Intervention to Maintain Water Resources (Ritchie).
(8) Groundwater Contamination: Leaching of Contaminants from the Unsaturated Zone
(Wallace, Hart, Voice and Criddle).
(9) Incorporating Parameter Uncertainty into Contaminant Transport Models (Hart).
(10) Water Relations of Forestland and Rural Watersheds at the Landscape Level (Hart).

(11) Development of a Computer Model to Predict the Dynamics of Bioaccumulation of Xenobiotic Chemicals in Aquatic Organisms (Giesy, Zabik and D'Itri)

(13) Development of Integrated Hydrogeochemical/Isotopic Model for Aquatic Systems (Long and Ostrom).

(15) Societal Implications of Toxic Water Pollutants (Bronstein, Harris and Olsen).

At least monthly meetings are integrated with special seminars and discussions among the Fellows and faculty in inter-/multi-disciplinary groups, a networking system that trains the students not only to conduct research but also to think independently and articulate the important issues.

Faculty who participate in the Water Science Fellowship Program are primarily attached to the Colleges of Natural Science, Engineering, Social Science, and Agriculture and Natural Resources. However, encouraging the exploration of diverse perspectives may entail cooperation with other disciplines where the departments/units have a major commitment to graduate education (see Table 3). Evidence of the quality of this graduate education is indicated by the wide distribution of alumni in agriculture-based industry and in agricultural and plant science departments of universities throughout the. These connections can also be utilized to mentor the students in understanding other levels of experience and applications of ideas.

Table 3. Faculty, graduate and doctoral enrollments in the departments/units involved in this proposal.^a

		Graduate Enrollments
Department/Unit	Faculty^b	1991-92	1992-93	1993-94	1994-95	1996-97
Agricultural Economics	38	82(48)	84(49)	82(54)	87(55)	69(47)
Agricultural Engineering	30	37(23)	49(28)	24(14)	28(14)	10(12)
Civil and Environment Eng.	21	130(45)	135(43)	41(10)	36(6)	107(35)
Crop and Soil Sciences	45	105(69)	105(66)	96(56)	89(51)	89(47)
Entomology	27	43(27)	45(27)	48(27)	42(24)	23(16)
Fisheries and Wildlife	25	60(24)	64(29)	70(25)	73(26)	29(34)
Forestry	19	55(27)	49(25)	42(23)	34(20)	52(22)
Geological Sciences	24	28(3)	37(9)	28(11)	23(8)	36(9)
Resource Development	31	82(34)	105(43)	112(47)	100(47)	82(38)

^a From University Data Book, 1996
^b Tenured/tenure track
^c ( ) Ph.D. enrollments through June of academic year indicated

Isotope Laboratory, the Animal Health Diagnostic Laboratory, the Subirrigation Rainshelter Facility, the W.K. Kellogg Forest and the W.K. Kellogg Biological Station, MSU-NIH Mass Spectrometry Center; the Center for Electron Optics the Microbiology Department Ultrastructure Laboratory; the National Superconducting Cyclotron Laboratory; the Inland Lakes Research and Study Center, a series of four experimental lakes ranging between 8 and 12 acres; and a large complex of greenhouses. All of these facilities as well as the traditional departments offer opportunities to implement innovative ideas and conduct diverse types of experiments.

The cooperating departments make space and equipment available to new Fellows as appropriate. Each participant has an office and is assigned to a laboratory. These laboratories generally contain the standard specialized items appropriate to each core faculty member's research requirements, and they expect to adapt the facilities and equipment as new concepts and methods are implemented. Excellent field and laboratory facilities are also available both on campus and at 14 out-lying Michigan Agricultural Experiment Stations throughout the state. All are well equipped for research and training in various dimensions of water quality. In sum, the Fellows have the opportunity to utilize new and constantly evolving methods and equipment, libraries, and computers under the guidance of faculty who are eager to share their expertise and welcome new ideas and methods.

MSU LIBRARIES

Front line adaptability and flexibility have also been demonstrated at MSU in the evolution of library and computer facilities that are available to the Fellows. The MSU Libraries consist of a Main Library and 13 branch libraries at various campus locations. The MSU Libraries have holdings of over 4 million volumes, including books, bound journals, and government documents. In addition, the Libraries have large collections of nonprint materials such as microforms, computer files, and maps.

The MSU Libraries are a member of the Michigan Research Libraries Triangle or MRLT (University of Michigan, Michigan State University and Wayne State University) and the CIC Libraries (Chicago, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Minnesota, Northwestern, Penn State, Purdue, Wisconsin, Madison, Michigan and MSU). As part of a major Land Grant/AAU institution, the MSU Libraries support the University's mission of preservation, creation, transmission and application of knowledge. The Libraries are a partner in the multifaceted activities related to the University's mission, providing access to resources to serve the educational needs of the students, faculty and staff of MSU, the citizens of Michigan, and the University's national and international clientele. Michigan State University ranks in the top half of the Association of Research Libraries index for United States academic libraries--a measure of volumes held, volumes added, serials, staffing, and other factors relating to the significance of the library. The libraries have an ever growing collection of 3,904,095 volumes. The collection is supplemented by 4,883,791 pieces in microfilm, 205,528 maps, 34,540 sound recordings, and 3,291 machine-readable disks. During the last fiscal year (1996-97) 119,892 pieces were added to our collection. We maintain 28,007 current serial subscriptions.

In meeting our goal of supporting the academic and research programs of Michigan State University, providing broadly based library collections has been essential. MSU, as exemplified by its participation in the founding of the Midwest Inter-Library Center, the forerunner to the Center for Research Libraries and has had a long history of involvement with cooperative library programs. MSU has formal reciprocal borrowing agreements with the research libraries in the state of Michigan and with all Big Ten libraries and the University of Chicago. Approximately 54 percent of our interlibrary lending activity is to institutions outside the state of Michigan and/or the United States.

Many of the most exciting advances in library service this year have been made possible by developments in information technology. Cooperative agreements between the libraries of the Committee on Institutional Cooperation (CIC) are an essential ingredient in many of these initiatives. The Virtual Electronic Library project, or VEL, is being funded by a $1.2-million grant from the U.S. Department of Education. The goal of the project is to provide seamless access to the joint holdings of all 13 libraries of the CIC for faculty, staff, and students of all CIC institutions. The first phase of the project is complete, and MSU library patrons using MAGIC, the libraries' online computer system, can now view the holdings of 12 other libraries with just a few keystrokes. Within the next year, MSU library users will also be able to initiate interlibrary loan requests online. Building on the success of the VEL project, the CIC libraries are also engaged in cooperative efforts to provide greater access to journal index databases at less cost to each institution. The ERIC database for educational research and the AFRI database, which focuses on Africana scholarship, are now accessible to MAGIC users campus wide. This cooperative arrangement also provides scholars in other CIC institutions greater access to MSU's outstanding Africana collection.

A variety of databases in other fields of study will be added in the future. In another cooperative agreement, MSU has joined with the other CIC libraries to provide electronic access to the Beilstein Handbook of Organic Chemistry, an essential reference source for researchers in that field. Faculty and students at any of the CIC institutions can obtain a copy of a graphical interface program that allows them to connect to the Beilstein database through the Internet, without leaving the office or laboratory. Response to the project has been extremely positive.

The MSU Libraries are making important advances in locally developed projects as well. The recent implementation of a local-area network has greatly increase accessibility to CD-ROM databases. At present, the libraries provide access to more than 100 CD-ROM databases covering a wide range of disciplines. Mounting the most frequently used databases on a local server will allow patrons to access these databases from MAGIC terminals throughout the library system, as well as from a home or office computer. The libraries have also provided access to a set of federal government information databases available from the U.S. Government Printing Office (GPO). These databases include the full text of the Federal Register, Congressional Record, U.S. Code, and GAO Reports.

Finally, library staff have been working closely with staff from Computing and Technology to provide access to a wealth of information generated at MSU and support connections to thousands of other computer systems worldwide through the MSU Gopher and the World-Wide Web (WWW). The Libraries' section of the MSU Gopher contains dozens of files and hundreds of links to other libraries. The Libraries' WWW server is undergoing rapid development and already provides a comprehensive listing of our electronic resources, a graphical search interface to MAGIC, and links to a variety of Internet- accessible commercial information sources. Subject guides to Internet-accessible information, prepared by library staff, are also being developed.

MSU COMPUTER FACILITIES

The Computer Laboratory provides modern microcomputer, minicomputer, and mainframe facilities primarily on IBM systems, which are available to the Fellows. A vector processing capability is also available. The Computer Laboratory also operates a time-shared computer with remote terminals at various sites on campus and provides access to research data bases at other universities through Internet and the MERIT network. In addition, many of the cooperating MSU departments have specialized computer hardware and software such as laser scanners, CY-A5P/5 Cybernetics and ROME mobile vision systems. For example, the Sun SPARC graphic work stations in the Case Center for Computer Aided Design/Computer Aided Manufacturing (CAD/CAM) are available in the College of Engineering. The Department of Computer Science has a Sun SPARC server 690 MP in addition to multiple Sun SPARC-2, 10 and 20 systems dedicated to its Pattern Recognition and Image Processing Laboratory. Technology has also been adapted to use a SPARC-20 system with parallel image analysis computers, the basis of the Root Image Processing Laboratory in the Department of Crop and Soil Sciences. The USDA/MSU Water Science Fellows can access these systems through MSU's on-campus, high speed, Ethernet-based network.

Public microcomputer laboratories, equipped with PC-Compatible, Macintosh, NeXT, or Sun computers, are available for all students to use for computer enrollment; classroom assignments; programming; electronic mail; Gopher, Worldwide Web (WWW), and Internet access; and other tasks. Stu-Info, a service of special interest to students, is available in the public labs. Stu-Info lets students check their own academic and financial information, including financial aid, grades, class schedules, and more.

Access to the Library catalog and databases, word processing, student PILOT e-mail, computer enrollment, Stu-Info, and other network resources are available in all public microcomputer labs. In addition, many labs are equipped with page layout, spreadsheet, programming language software, graphics, statistical packages, and other applications. All public lab systems are connected to MSUnet, the campus network, and provide access to the University's mainframe computers, Gopher, and the Internet.

Public labs are located in the Main Library, the MSU Union, the Computer Center, and in numerous classroom buildings and residence halls. A list of public labs and available software is available on MSU Gopher. In addition, many colleges and departments also have labs.

Training and Educational Offerings are provided by the Computer Laboratory through the Computing and Technology Training Program (CTTP). Courses on use of popular hardware and software are free or discounted for students. Offerings range from mainframe operating systems and applications to microcomputer hardware and software applications.

The core faculty also have at their disposal computer systems ranging from microcomputers to an IBM 3090-200 JF. The campus system is constantly being updated, and all cooperating departments have 386, 486, and Pentium personal computers in graduate and faculty offices to which Fellows conducting research have access. In addition, personal computer graphics terminals are available for shared access in selected graduate student offices. Overall, a substantial computer support network is available to assist the Fellows in developing state-of-the-art computer technology to implement new modes of research.

Michigan State University Mentoring Services

Other services include Dissertation Writing Workshops for students at the thesis and dissertation stages of their graduate programs to equip them with tools and practical suggestions for organization, time-management, and professional self-management related to improve their writing skills. One semester Dissertation Completion Fellowships are offered to allow students to devote most of their time to dissertation writing with goal of completion in Spring or Summer. The Graduate School also helps students find external funding support. A funding guide describes externally-funded opportunities for fellowships scholarships, grants, awards, and internships. Students can also access this information on the WWW, accessible via the Graduate School’s Home page.

Recruitment Program

The plan to recruit highly qualified graduate students extends the present procedures within cooperating departments/units. Emphasis is placed on recruiting individuals who, in the judgment of the selection team, possess the greatest aptitude for innovative inter-/multi-disciplinary research in an appropriate area of the water sciences. This must be coupled with a genuine desire for a future career as a food/agricultural or related professional scientist.

A special effort is made to recruit nontraditional students in the food and agricultural sciences such as women, minorities, the physically challenged, and individuals with special experiences, adaptability, and insight. Diversity is a guiding principle at Michigan State University and it is reinforced by a number of Diversity Support Services. Fellowship announcements are sent to historically African-American colleges and universities (HBCU) as well as academic institutions in the District of Columbia, Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, the Northern Marianas, the Federated States of Micronesia, the Republic of the Marshal Islands, the Republic of Palau, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. This plan has been strengthen by initiating cooperative interactions with scholarship officials at selected universities such as Florida A&M University, Tuskegee University, and Clark-Atlanta University of the HBCU group. To supplement our effort to recruit African American Fellows, we plan to enlist the aid of directors of the national minority fraternities and sororities to publicize the availability of our water science fellowships via fax or E-mail to their respective university/college chapters. Others that will be contacted are the University of Puerto Rico at Rio Piedras, the University of Puerto Rico at Mayaguez, the Colegio Universitario de Humacao of the UPR Group, the University of the Virgin Islands at St. Thomas, and the University of Guam, Mangilao, Guam. Such efforts are facilitated by core faculty who contact colleagues and former students on site at diverse locations throughout the world. Their desire to maintain the quality of the university enables them to recruit students with exceptional qualifications both in knowledge and the kinds of innovative thought processes that can generate new research and maintain the reputation of the university.

A recruitment poster announcing the Water Science Fellowship Program as well as a recruitment brochure describing the program, funding, qualifications expected of the candidates, and research training opportunities available at MSU have been developed in consultation with faculty from the cooperating departments to distribute in response to inquiries from prospective applicants. This brochure is regularly upgraded and circulated among the land grant, public, and private universities that offer strong undergraduate programs in water science related fields as identified in Peterson's Guide.

Additional recruiting methods include: (1) placing announcements in appropriate professional periodicals such as Agronomy News, Science Resource, Journal of the Water Pollution Control Federation, Water Research, Agricultural Economics, Environmental Science & Technology, Science, Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry, EOS, Geotimes, Applied and Environmental Microbiology; (2) personal contact by the faculty with colleagues, former students, and alumni at other land grant, public, and private universities to identify and recruit qualified students; (3) announcements at national/regional professional society meetings (4) personal contact with prospective applicants and/or their academic advisors; (5) distribution of the recruitment brochures and posters to appropriate water oriented public agencies and private associations; (6) enlistment of support and advice from members of national water organizations and programs such as the Water Resources Division of the U.S. Geological Survey within the U.S. Department of the Interior, the National Association of Water Institute Directors (NAWID) and the Universities Council on Water Resources (UCOWR); as well as (7) public notices on electronic bulletin boards such as INTERNET, CEENET, and the WORLD WIDE WEB.

Selection Criteria

The highest quality water science students are attracted to this program because it emphasizes individual performance in innovative research along with a selective and challenging series of academic courses. Admission criteria are designed to select for success based on the following: (1) GRE scores, (2) academic transcript(s), (3) letters of recommendation, (4) an essay describing the candidate's career goals, and (5) a personal interview with the selection committee. Past experience indicates that the applicants for admission as Water Science Fellows are likely to possess GPAs of 3.70 to 4.00 and to have scored in at least the 95th percentile on the combined verbal and quantitative portion of the Graduate Record Examination. The selection committee also takes into account the quality of the university attended previously and the rigor of the academic courses as well as any exceptional initiatives demonstrated by the candidates.

Fellows must have a strong background in the following: mathematics (especially calculus), chemistry (including organic and physical chemistry), physics, and biochemistry. Both letters of recommendation and the students' own descriptions of their career goals serve as a basis to evaluate their maturity, mental agility, understanding of graduate study, and motivation. Students with previous research experience and those who show a commitment to becoming professionals in food/agricultural research are given preference. These qualities are also evaluated in personal interviews with core faculty and graduate committee members of the appropriate departments.

Finally, candidates are selected by an eight-member committee representing the cooperating core faculty. To ensure appropriate consideration of minority students, Dr. James E. Jay, Assistant Vice Provost, has been added to the selection committee. While the students must also be admitted by the respective departments, this should be pro forma as the standards for this training program equal or exceed theirs.

Program Coordination

The overall responsibility for program coordination and administration rests with professors Frank M. D'Itri and Boyd G. Ellis. However, the Fellows admitted to the Water Science Program are initially assigned to major professors based on their statement of purpose and/or communications with department faculty. The incoming Fellows are also encouraged to consult with other faculty members within the mentoring framework, and the program's flexibility is sufficient to permit them to change advisors if this becomes appropriate and is mutually agreeable. The major professor advises the Fellow on course selection until their guidance committee is formed and the graduate program approved. The major professor usually is also the research advisor although it is possible to have a separate or co-research advisor, and additional mentors are encouraged. Fellows also have the opportunity to collaborate with faculty from other departments and with adjunct professors from companies or government laboratories as part of their multidisciplinary research. The qualifications of the Fellows initially accepted are such that they should be able to by-pass a Masters Degree. However, depending on the academic department and the program adopted, whether or not the student fulfills a MS program is decided on a case-by-case basis.

When they decide on their Ph.D. research projects, the Water Science Fellows face a preliminary examination and an oral defense individually tailored to their programs before a committee with at least two representatives of the Water Science Fellowship core faculty. At the end of their program, they have comprehensive examinations and a defense of their dissertation. In the interim, the Fellows are encouraged to attend national professional meetings; and every effort is made to subsidize their expenses when they exceed their $1,000 travel allowance, especially when they present research results.

In the past students receiving USDA National Needs Graduate Fellowships have been disadvantaged relative to regular MSU graduate assistants, who receive 16 credits per year tuition free and a health insurance package as well as a stipend. To correct this inequity, the MSU Graduate School has initiated a program to provide matching funds for USDA Fellows to allow them to receive these same benefits and make their stipend more competitive. Accordingly, each in-state and out-of-state Fellows will receive a three-year health insurance and tuition grants to supplement their fellowship stipend. This funding is provided by the participating departments, the Dean of the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources, the Dean of the Graduate School, and the Director of the Agricultural Experiment Station.

Every effort is made to insure that the students are well mentored and advised to enable them to complete all phases of their programs in a timely fashion. However, on the infrequent occasions when grant funding ends before the student's program is completed, participating MSU Department may, on a case by case basis, provide additional support. Based on past experiences, the Fellows usually require approximately four years to complete their studies and research. Consequently, if the Fellow's major professor is unable to provide funding beyond the 3 year grant, teaching or research assistantship may be arranged through the department or college.

While the qualifications required of the candidates may appear to be much the same as those expected for other programs, several factors make this program exceptional. First is the broad base of networks available to identify potential superior candidates. Second is faculty dedication to careful screening to identify candidates who have not only demonstrated academic excellence, but are also highly motivated to pursue careers as food or agricultural scientists. This process is facilitated because a faculty with diverse areas of expertise and willingness to engage in inter-/multi-disciplinary projects is already in place. Another advantage now is that the exceptional caliber of the first twelve Water Science Fellows and the special circumstances of their programs have developed a sense of quality and pride in what they perceive as an exceptional opportunity first to learn and then to serve. The current cadre of peer mentors has an esprit de corps that can spread to the students being recruited now and be an asset in future interactions. Moreover, the core faculty has increasingly developed a similar esprit de corps based on their sense of participation in a very special program that attracts exceptional students.